Reading «Valley Wind» (谷風) and «A simple peasant» (氓) through traditional commentaries: aspects of interpretation and translation

In this paper I will compare the reading of the poems «Valley Wind» (谷風, Mao 35) and «A simple peasant» (氓, Mao 58) in selected traditional commentaries on the Shi jing (Book of Poems) from the imperial era and will consider the strategies adopted in each work to convey the meaning of the text and to facilitate its reading and interpretation. In my presentation I will focus in particular on the description of the rewording practices and will try to define the parameters informing these practices along a broad diachronic perspective. The aim is to highlight the complex interplay of issues of interpretation and translation at the heart of the commentarial tradition.