The first English translation was completed by Sir William Jones in the 18th century.
The first English translation was completed by Sir William Jones in the 18th century. Jones is a Sanskrit scholar, poet and the originator of modern comparative philology. He first translated the "Book of Songs" into Latin, dividing it into two styles: prose and rhyme. Later, he translated the English version based on the Latin text, still in prose and rhyme. It is said that the reason why he made two translations every time was because he believed that only such translations were worthy of Asian poetry. In fact, Jones's verse translation is a poem written by an eighteenth-century British writer under the influence of ancient Chinese poetry for eighteenth-century British readers. Strictly speaking, it is not a translation. It was not until the 1860s that the British missionary James Legge of the London Missionary Society translated the entire "Book of Songs" into prose English. By 1871, he published another 305 chapters of the "Book of Songs" in London. The rhyme translation was reprinted in New York in 1967. His translation is rich in annotations and is a scholar's translation, which has a great influence on later generations. Lin Yutang believes that the "syntax, rhythm and overall effect of his translations often lack true poetic flavor, but his translations are accurate...although there are many successful works among them." This assessment is fair. In 1891, an English translation by C.F. Allen and William Jennings was published in London. Alianbi once served as the British consul in Zhenjiang, Fuzhou and other places. The translation of "The Book of Songs" mainly refers to Sun Zhang, James Legge and two German translations. Its translation focuses on British appreciation and rhymes, but it changes the original text at will, almost rewriting it. Before the latter was written as a book, it was published in "China Translation Theory" in Hong Kong. In his preface, he criticizes Confucianism for tying the interpretation of some love poems to political events. He believed that Legge sometimes avoided annotating some difficult verses and criticized his handling of the rhymes.