Critical Terms and Their Resonances in Translation: The Case of Feng

Abstract

Critical terms in Chinese poetics pose difficulties to those who expect clear definitions and scopes of reference since many such words are not “properly” defined in their first appearances. To make matters worse, they gain new meanings when they are used and re-used in different contexts. By tracing the origins and the further resonances of feng in Chinese poetics, this essay demonstrates the discrepancy between the varied meanings of the word in Chinese and those in the English translations. This essay argues that one should not use their preconceptions to judge other literatures and cultures but to respect this “otherness” by probing the other intellectual traditions to find out their particularities.