Xu Yuanchong’s Translation Aesthetics in Practice: A Systematic Study of the Three Beauties and Three Transformations

Abstract

This study examines Xu Yuanchong's translation aesthetics and practice through a qualitative analysis of his theoretical writings, representative translations, and major scholarly discussions. Rather than treating theory and practice as separate domains, the study relates Xu's aesthetic commitments to his concrete handling of imagery, rhythm, parallelism, and condensed poetic syntax in selected renditions of classical Chinese poetry. It argues that Xu's translation project is driven by two intertwined aims: the international circulation of Chinese literary culture and the re-creation of poetic beauty in the target language. The analysis further shows that the Three Beauties principle-beauty in sense, sound, and form-functions less as a rigid checklist than as a dynamic decision-making framework, while the Three Transformations-deepening, equalizing, and simplifying-operate as practical procedures for dealing with semantic density, cultural imagery, and formal asymmetry between Chinese and English. Close reading of representative examples indicates that Xu consistently privileges aesthetic reception and poetic readability, even when this requires interpretive intervention or partial domestication. His practice therefore expands the translator's creative agency while also inviting criticism concerning cultural attenuation and over-interpretation. By integrating motivation, corpus, method, and reception, this article repositions Xu not simply as a prolific translator, but as a major architect of cross-lingual poetic mediation in modern Chinese translation studies.