Songhua Jian "is an important collection of Chinese poetry translated into English in the early 20th century. It was co translated by American sinologist Isaac and imagist poet Lowell, and includes more than 160 Tang Dynasty poems, mainly by Li Bai. Lowell was an Imagist leader who began collaborating with Isaac in 1917. At that time, the English translation of Chinese poetry by British sinologist William Waley had already received attention. Initially, Lowell was discouraged by Waley's translation, but later publicly praised it, believing that Waley had truly conveyed the feeling of Chinese poetry. Lowell and Isaac discussed Wesley's translation in the letter, and Lowell even advertised Wesley's "170 Chinese Poems" in "The New Republic", praising it as the best Chinese poetry translation.

1、 Weili's criticism and Aisco's response

Weili criticized the Chinese poetry translated by Aisco and Lowell, pointing out the translation errors of Tao Qian's poetry and the misreporting of Wang Changling's era. Aisco responded to Weili's criticism, stating that Weili's assertion of Tao Qian's Taoist identity was inaccurate, and proposed his own revised translation in the letter. Aisco and Lowell attached great importance to criticism, adjusted the principles of poetry selection, translation standards, and methods, emphasizing faithful and elegant communication of the original meaning. Lowell incorporated his personal poetic creation techniques into his translation, while Isaac proposed that the author's content should be conveyed as vividly and faithfully as possible. The translation methods of the two individuals differ significantly from the initial exploration stage to the later precise communication, especially in terms of poetic line changes and word processing.

2、 Weili's book review and Lowell's response

In a book review in the New York Evening News, Weili praised "Songhua Jian" and raised three questions: the necessity of collaborative translation, Aisco's level of Sinology, and the translation method of lyrical poetry. Weili believes that an ideal translator should be able to translate independently without having to study Chinese for a lifetime. He holds a critical attitude towards Aisco's level of Sinology, believing that his research on Chinese literature is limited, especially in the rhythmic explanation of "fu". He also pointed out Lowell's shortcomings in translating lyrical poetry, believing that he failed to preserve the musicality of the original poem like Zhailis did. Lowell responded to Weili's book review by adjusting the rhyme of "fu" and its similarity to "polyphonic prose" through discussions with Zhao Yuanren, emphasizing the importance of emotions in poetry creation. She also responded to Weili's criticism of the translation of "Quiet Night Thoughts", believing that excellent translators should strive to present the meaning and artistic conception of the original poem, rather than just its musicality. Aisco did not publicly respond to Weili's criticism, but admitted in private conversations with Lowell that he did not possess the knowledge of a professional sinologist. Later, while writing a book review for Weili's other translation, Aisco discovered issues, such as questioning the word 'quog'.

3、 Conclusion

There are a total of 15 overlapping translated poems between "Songhua Jian" and Weili's Chinese poetry translation, with comparable quality, but each has its own advantages and mistranslations. Weili's translation practice was slightly earlier than that of Aisco and Lowell, but the three were in the same stage of translation and had fierce competition. Lowell and Isaac hoped to surpass Willy, sometimes succeeding, sometimes difficult to distinguish, and sometimes failing. Zhang Xinhai and Ang Temaier highly praised the translation of "Songhua Jian" and believed it could be compared to Weili's translation. Weili and Zhaili had a heated debate on the translation of Chinese poetry, while the competition with Aisco and Lowell was benign, promoting friendship and translation improvement between the two sides. Lowell also helped Weili's translation of "The Tale of Genji" be published in the United States.