Poem Translation

On October 17th and 18th, 2019, Professor Roger Mason gave two wonderful lectures to the faculty and students at the invitation of the School of Foreign Studies (the SFS). Professor Mason, Ph.D. from Cambridge University, is a retired professor from the University of London and a national famous petrologist. He discovered the famous Precambrian fossils—Charnia masoni. With an extensive interest, Professor Mason has made in-depth research in poem translation and translated many Chinese poems. From 1986 to 2014, Professor Mason had visited China to teach and research for many times. He got PRC Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card and won Chime Award and Chinese Government Friendship Award (the highest honor for foreign experts bestowed by the Chinese Government)

Part I：English-Chinese Poem Translation

From 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on October 17, 2019, the English-Chinese Poem Translation Sharing Session was held in Room 301, Foreign Language Building. Professor Roger Mason shared his translation of three Chinese poems.

First, Professor Mason shared his translation of Du Mu’s poem—Travelling in the Mountains and added his explanation. He mentioned that metaphors were very common in Chinese poems. To understand the multiple meanings of them, he looked up in the dictionary and discussed with his Chinese friends to improve his understanding of the source text. Professor Mason also analyzed the similarities and differences of different translations with students.

Later, Professor Mason shared his translation and explanation of Mao Zedong’s poem—Snow—to the tune of Qin Yuan Chun. He explained that he translated the First Emperor of China and Emperor Wu of Han and Genghis Khan as “Caesar and Alexander” in his translation to let the English users who was unfamiliar with ancient Chinese culture better understand the original meaning, so as to achieve functional equivalence. The students also presented their translations of this poem and discussed the influence of writing background on the poems. The last poem translation shared by Professor Roger Mason was Xu Zhimo’s work—Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again. He talked about his experience related to River Cam and Cambridge when he was studying there and how it helped in his translation. The students also shared their versions and puzzles about the original poem.

In Q&A session, students actively raised their questions, which were discussed together with Professor Mason one by one. He said that there was no correct answer to poem translation because everyone had his or her own understanding of it.

This poem translation sharing session provided the MTI English students with a platform for learning and communication, created a learning atmosphere, which stimulated the students’ passion for professional study and enabled them to have clearer cognition of poem translation.

Part II: Charnia Masoni and the Journey of Scientific Discovery

At noon of October 18, 2019, the lecture—Charnia Masoni and the Journey of Scientific Discovery was held by the SFS, USTB at Room 108, Foreign Language Building. Based on Professor Mason’s personal experience of learning and exploration, he described his years of geology study, which was helpful for students and teachers to know about geological and biological evolution.

Professor Mason said that when he was young, he was influenced by the biologist Darwin and then started his journey as a geologist. In particular, he talked about the twists and turns in his discovery of Charnia masoni and the help and influence from his family, teachers and fellows. His decades-long interest and persistence in scientific discovery deeply moved participators. He is not only an outstanding natural polymath, but also a brave explorer and traveler. His lecture played a certain role for students to understand science. More importantly, it stabilized their original aspiration over translation study and boosted students’ confidence improve their translation skills