Preface to Hong Fan's new edition In the autumn of 1985, I received a scholarship to travel to universities in Europe, the United States, and Japan for a period of three months. The first stop is London, England. I spend most of my time in the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books, The British Library, British Library, Check out the ancient and modern editions and research materials of "Pillow Grass" in the library. At that time, it had been nearly ten years since I finished translating "The Tale of Genji". Subjective and objective factors prompted me to start a new project of translating again.

The reason why he chose "Pillow Grass" as the second translation object is because of its short length.I estimate that it is unlikely that I will devote another five or six years to complete the translation and annotation of a classical literary work; The two can be seen in the author of "The Tale of Genji", when Murasaki Shikibu commented on Kiyosho Nagan in her diary, the language is mysterious, showing her jealousy and envy. What's more, in the history of Japanese literature, "The Tale of Genji" and "Pillow Soko" are known as the twin jades in the Heian literary circle, and there has long been a conclusion.This book is worth my hard work again, translated between Chinese people.

The time I stayed in England was limited, and I couldn't read the texts about "Pillow Straws" in detail, but I generally read some treatises related to this book, such as Ikeda Kamekan's "Full Talk on Pillow Straws", Jui Shun's "People Around Kiyosho Nagon", Yasutani Fujieda's "Women's Costumes of Pillow Soko" and Tanaka Shigetaro's two great works "Study on Kiyosho Nagon Pillow Soko" and "Research on Pillow Soko". The purpose of browsing these books is to prepare knowledge for my future translation of "Pillow Grass". Unexpectedly, the more I read the treatises of experts, the more timid I become.

It turns out that although the length of "Pillow Grass" is shorter than "The Tale of Genji", it has many problems and is difficult to deal with. For example, there have been many differences of opinion in ancient times, such as the different versions, interpretation of the meaning of the text, and even the textual research on the names of people and places, etc., and there is no consensus.Some doubts almost made me give up the idea of ​​translating "Pillow Grass"; It wasn't until one morning that I found The Pillow-Book of Sei Shonagon translated by Englishman Ivan Morris that I regained my interest and confidence.

I thought, if the British can translate, why can't I? Afterwards, when I stayed in the United States and Japan for one month each, I also tried my best to search for "Pillow Grass" and its related treatises, and discussed them with Japanese academics. Gradually cultivate the mood and atmosphere of translating Qing Shao Na Yan's "Pillow Grass".By the time I finish my visit and travel, it will be the end of the year: However, it took more than half a year for the translation and annotation to be officially published in "Chinese and Foreign Literature", and it was not put into practice until July 1986.

The regular posting of translation notes is a good way for me to urge myself to do this extra work after my regular job. The uninterrupted submission process of the twenty-two issues is easier than the sixty-six issues of "The Tale of Genji" in the past, but the consideration of words and sentences when translating prose is very important. Sometimes it is better than a translation of a story with a story line to follow. In fact, when I translated "Pillow Grass", Mr. Zhou Zuoren had already finished translating his "Pillow Grass". It's just that Zhou's translations were published in mainland China. After I assembled 22 issues of translations and revised them into a volume, I personally received books donated by people in mainland China.

Even after several years, there is no reason to refer to the achievements of the predecessors. This situation is exactly the same as when I translated "The Tale of Genji" without referring to Mr. Feng Zikai's translation. However, because of this, I was able to fight and grope forward in a situation where I mistakenly believed that "there is no one before", without the psychology of relying on luck. Zhou's translation method seems to be more literal translation, sticking to the original text. For example, the word "をかし" appears frequently in the original work, and the translations are all "interesting" or "very interesting".

In fact, the connotation of "をかし" is quite complicated, and it can be interpreted as "interesting", It can also be interpreted as "interesting", "appreciative", "fascinating", "wonderful", or " Ridiculous" and so on different levels, Even the meaning of different directions depends on the atmosphere of the context; The translation of The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon by the Englishman Ivan Morris also uses multi-directional translation without fixing on one word. In this revision, although Zhou's translation was available as a reference, I still did not abandon my old translation and follow his method.

As for the waka that appeared from time to time between prose and writing, Zhou created his own vernacular poem in the form of three lines to translate; This is very different from Feng's "The Tale of Genji" using five-character quatrains or seven-character two-sentences, but it is closer to my translation method using the three-line Chuge style. Let’s try Zhou Yi’s and my translation of the same waka for comparison: The lotus lotus dew that was so hard to find, Could it be that you just let go of the benefits? Do you want to go back to the troubled world? (Translated by Zhou Saner, Bodhi Temple)

You are hard to find, and I urge you to return, On the lotus petals there is dew, How can you bear to leave Sri Lanka and rely on the world. (Lin translated Siyi, Bodhi Temple) If I knew you were listening to Shigui's cry, I just can't walk together, Let my heart go with you too. (Translated by Zhou Baqi, Ting Zigui) Zigui cried and Xiqing went to look for it, If I had known that Yaxing was so strong, I wish to be with you and remember my heart. (Lin Yi ㄧ 04, May fasting and diligent time) Although using the same three-line form, Zhou's translations are completely vernacular poems, while my translations retain a little bit of classical interest.

Regarding my personal considerations for translating Waka, I have already discussed them in another article, so I won’t go into details here. As for the inconsistency between Zhou's translation and my translation in terms of chapters and paragraphs, it is because the original text has quite different genres, and each person relies on it differently. Eleven years have passed since the first Chinese translation of "Pillow Grass" was published. Thanks to the kindness of Hongfan Bookstore, it will be revised and republished today. The content of this book and related incidents have been explained in the preface of the first edition "Qing Shao Na Yan and Pillow Grass", and this article makes a few supplements. The pictures of ancient editions attached to the front of the book are precious materials specially purchased by Mr. Ye Burong from Tokyo Bookstore, which can be used for reference and verification by readers when reading. I also express my sincere thanks for this short article. Lin Wenyue Known at the apartment on Xinhai Road, Taipei Spring 2000