Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin: The Confl uence of Their Poetic Worlds via Translation

This article deals with the poetry of two prominent writers: Ukrainian poetess Lesia Ukrainka (1871–1913) and Chinese poetess Qiu Jin (1875–1907). The diversity of wide fi elds of selfexpression of both poetesses created the grounds for a broad and comprehensive comparison in terms of poetic, thematic, and literary similarities. The article provides a background to the translations of Lesia Ukrainka in China and accounts for the perception of Lesia Ukrainka’s poetry in China in the light of the poetic world of Qiu Jin. The main aspects of the poetic discourses of Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin are outlined and studied within the core concept of the national heroine in China, formed by Qiu Jin, consisting of key elements important for the perception of Lesia Ukrainka’s works – revolution, nationalism, and feminism.


In Search of Translation: Lesia Ukrainka's Works in China
The issue of the reception of the translation of Lesia Ukrainka's poetry and the perception of the poetess's artistic image in China is a component of the general process of Ukrainian-Chinese literary communication. Pavel Toper made an essential remark noting that in the 21st century translation should be understood as a "special 'layer' of fi ction works, which holds a very defi nite place in the system of literary relations, with its characteristics, typological properties, rules of functioning, etc., associated with their 'double' affi liation and the emergence 'on the border' of two diff erent cultures…" 1 Therefore, the study of translation as the "main channel of interlingual literary N I , O V . Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin: The Confl uence of Their Poetic Worlds via Translation opposite tendencies emerged in Chinese fi ction discourse. The fi rst was focused on strengthening the subjective principle in literature with an emphasis on individual characteristics, emotions, and perception of the lyrical hero. 7 It was inherent, especially, in the artistic imagination of the representatives of Chuàngzàoshè (The Creation Society), who were involved in the translation of the works of European Romantic poets such as Byron, Heine, Goethe, Keats, Shelley, Schiller and others, and were thus inspired by these authors. 8 The main criterion for choosing texts for translation had always been artistic merit. Unfortunately, Lesia Ukrainka's 9 poetic texts, which were spiritually and aesthetically close to European Romanticism, were not examined by Chinese artists in their discourse. Instead, the ideological orientation of the works of the Ukrainian poetess attracted the attention of supporters of a second direction -a utilitarian one. These were the members of Wénxué yánjiūhuì (Society for Literary Studies), headed by famous writer, literary critic, and public fi gure Mao Dun (Shen Yanbin, 1896-1981. Members of this literary society believed that literature should refl ect human life, and the object of its images should be the "blood and tears" 10 of the humiliated and off ended. It is from this point of view that Mao Dun interpreted the poetic works of Lesia Ukrainka. In 1921, in a thematic issue of Xiǎoshuō yuèbào (Short Story Monthly), devoted to the literature of enslaved peoples, Mao Dun published his own translation of Lesia Ukrainka's dramatic poem "Vavilonskyi polon" (The Babylon Captivity). 11 The criterion for choosing this drama for translation was the socio-historical concept, which Mao Dun mentioned in the foreword: "The literature of each nation refl ects its national character, a fusion of historical, social background, and the leading ideas of the time!" 12 7 Vladislav It is quite remarkable that the primary source for Mao Dun was the Englishlanguage edition Five Russian Plays: With One From Ukrainian (1916). 13 The compiler and translator of this edition, Carl Eric Bechhofer Roberts, in his foreword described Lesia Ukrainka as a European author who overcame a narrow "ultra-national" framework of writing, underlining: "The Babylonian Captivity … represents the enslavement of the Ukraine by its powerful neighbors; but its style is a victory." 14 This idea probably infl uenced the interpretation of the poem translated by Mao Dun. In this issue Lesia Ukrainka's work represents Ukrainian literature as a component of the European artistic space of those peoples who fought for their self-determination -Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, Finns, and others. Mao Dun adds general comments that the Ukrainian people "always fought back against the invaders" and "passed their song heritage, also a kind of historical chronicle," from generation to generation. 15 The translator did not comment on the text of the poem, but in this context noted that the image of Lesia Ukrainka combined the features of a European intellectual and at the same time -a profoundly national poetess who cares about patriotism, national resistance, and human dignity.
Further interpretation of Lesia Ukrainka's works in China (especially since the late 1940s) was provided within the scope of the offi cial discourse of Sino-Ukrainian (or rather Sino-Soviet) literary relations, "which have reached the most intensive development and covered all known types of interaction." 16 Among other things, the solemn cultural events of this interaction include the celebration of literary anniversaries and the awarding of literary prizes. Oksana Zabuzhko notes that such "solemn events" formed, in particular, "party resolutions, and a canon of the general perception and interpretation of the awarded fi gure." 17 In 1948, on the 35th anniversary of Lesia Ukrainka's death, fi ve of her poems were translated by Ge Baoquan 18 and published in the July issue of Sūlián wényì (Soviet Literature and Art). These were: "Mii Shliakh" (My Path), "Nadiia" (Hope), "Skriz plach, i stohin, i rydannia" (Vain Tears), "Vechirnia hodyna" (Evening Hour), "Hrai, moia pisne" (Sing, O My Song). An article of Soviet critic Genrikh Eichler, "On Lesia  Ukrainka," was also published in this issue. 19 In it the author presented a canonical version of the poetess-fi ghter, revolutionary, and follower of Taras Shevchenko's ideas, and also referred to Ivan Franko's emblematic statement about Lesia Ukrainka "as the only man in Ukraine." 20 Such a conception was designed to meet the ideological requirements of Chinese literary criticism, adhered to by researchers almost until the end of the 20th century. Ideological clichés, often used in these articles, described Lesia Ukrainka as "a writer of the revolutionary-democratic trend"; "the main theme of her poetry is resistance to despotism and the struggle for national liberation" 21 ; "her poems are full of revolutionary-democratic ideas and love for the Ukrainian land and people" 22 ; "in her works [she] highly praised the courage and fervor of the fi ghters for a better future for all of mankind" 23 ; Lesia Ukrainka "inherited the glorious traditions [of Taras Shevchenko] and continued his holy cause of struggle for the liberation of his people," 24 etc.
However, translation practice in China was not so radical and unambiguous, 25 which allows us to talk not only about the ideological, but also about the aesthetic factor in the choice of texts for translation. The well-known Ukrainian orientalist Olena Ohnieva drew attention to this in her article "Kanon fengliu i osobystyi shliakh Lesi Ukrainky" (The Fengliu Canon and Lesia Ukrainka's Personal Path), 26 where she analyzed the above-mentioned translations of Ge Baoquan in terms of the reception of Lesia Ukrainka's works in the Chinese poetic tradition. It is noteworthy that the researcher paid considerable attention to the personality of the translator, on whom, in her opinion, the psychological and ethnic compatibility of the work with targetdomain literature depends. In the hieroglyphic "visualization" of the images of the poem "Vechirnia hodyna," Ohnieva traces the aesthetics of the Yin-Yang contrast, 19 Ge which is quite inherent in traditional Chinese poetry, and fi nds fi gurative and emotional associations with the works of Chinese classics (e.g., Li Bo, Xie Lingyun, Ou Yangxiu) and poets of the fi rst half of the 20th century (Dai Wangshu, Qiu Jin, Bing Xin, etc.). Overall, Ohnieva's concept is interesting and promising, although it requires a wider range of typological comparisons for deeper textual analysis. Additionally, the researcher does not pay enough attention to the important problem of the mediation of Russian translation for the translation of Ukrainian literary works. Ohnieva claims that in the line of the poem "Vechirnia hodyna" "orchards and white huts are all about," 27 Ge Baoquan deliberately introduced the image of snow: "gardens are all around, and huts more beautiful than snow" 28 in order to complement the image of the night according to Chinese poetic tradition. 29 However, this image was added by Russian translator Vera Zviagintseva. It is worth emphasizing that the poetry of Lesia Ukrainka was translated into Chinese exclusively from Russian translations throughout the 20th century. 30 It is obvious that Chinese translations were signifi cantly infl uenced by the interpretations of Russian translators, who sometimes changed the text of the original quite freely. In 1962 four poems of Lesia Ukrainka translated by Mai Xinhe were published in the journal Shìjiè wénxué (World Literature): "Slozy-perly" (Pearl Tears), "Slovo, chomu ty ne tverdaia krytsia" (Word, Why Aren't You Cold Steel…), "Son" (The Dream", and "Khto vam skazav, shcho ya slabka" (Who Told You That I'm Weak). In the afterword, the Chinese translator noted that in the Russian translation of the poem "Khto vam skazav, shcho ya slabka," poet Samuil Marshak added the last line "to make the idea of the poem sound more complete." 31 In this way, the last stanza took the following form: And meanwhile I shall stay alive, like sea-waves in the doldrums, that seem to sleep and will not revive, But the sea is longing for the surf. 32 Given that Lesia Ukrainka crossed out this entire unfi nished stanza in the manuscript of the poem, it becomes obvious that the translator distorted the author's idea. Marshak reconciled the image of the lyrical heroine with the offi cial concept of a strong woman-fi ghter, always ready to resist, and Mai Xinhe consciously reproduced the concept in his translation.
In the 1980s the ideological climate in China began to change -society was going through the traumatic experience gained during the Cultural Revolution (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976). Literature reacted symptomatically to these events, and the main problem for poetry, fi rst of all, was the rethinking of history and human existence from humanistic positions, the recognition of the value of the human personality, and the complexity of its inner world. In this regard, Lesia Ukrainka's early lyrics translated by Lan Man were published in 1987 in a specialized issue of Soviet Literature and Art (Sūlián wényì), devoted to Ukrainian literature: "Naprovesni" (In Early Spring), "Konvaliia" (Lily of the Valley), "Shliu do tebe malyi sei lystochok" (Sending You This Small Leaf), "Mii schliakh, rozbyta charka" (My Path is a Broken Glass), "Yak dytynoiu buvalo" (What it Was Like as a Child). The sad mood and allegorical imagery of these poems evokes associations with Chinese Misty poetry. 33 Signifi cantly, feminine discourse appears in these translated poems. Lesia Ukrainka's lyrical heroine feels the girlish confusion of her existence and the "romantic confrontation of fate" 34 in choosing her life path, and fi nally -love experiences veiled by allegorical images.
The short "lyrical digression" in the reception of the poetic world of the Ukrainian poetess was replaced in the 1990s by Lan Man's revolutionary-feminist reading of her poetry. The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing marked a signifi cant turning point for the global agenda on gender equality. The event revealed extensive contacts between Chinese scholars and feminists around the world, as well as stimulating the development of gender-sensitive literature in China. 35 An anthology, Měiōu nǚzǐ shīxuǎn (Selected Women's Poetry of Europe and America), containing iconic (according to Chinese compilers) works of prominent poetesses from ancient Greece to the 20th century, was published in conjunction with the conference. The anthology included two poems of Lesia Ukrainka translated by Li Hai: the poetic manifesto "Mii shhliakh" (My Path), and the revolutionary march "Choho marselsku 33 Misty poetry (ménglóngshī) -a modernist trend in Chinese poetry of the 1970s-1980s. It is characterized by "a critical understanding of reality, high ideals, the spirit of resistance, deep refl ection on history, society and human existence, pisniu chuty"? (Why is the Marseille Song Heard?) from the Pisni pro voliu (Songs of Freedom) cycle. The lyrical heroine of these works is a determined, strong, freedomloving woman who would meet the feminist ideals of any national environment. She has the characteristics of the woman warrior, who in Western culture is associated with the phenomenon of Joan of Arc. 36 In 20th century Chinese culture such a phenomenon was represented by legendary poetess-revolutionary Qiu Jin (1875-1907. Thus, consciously, or involuntarily, Chinese literary critics chose those poems by Lesia Ukrainka that evoked in the imagination of their compatriots the image of their own national heroine. This thought is supported by Chinese Ukrainian scholars Zhu Hong and He Rongchangin in their article "Lesia Ukrainka v Kytai" (Lesia Ukrainka in China). 37 They consider that comparative studies of the works of Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin are appropriate, as both poetesses, according to the researchers, are united by "a sense of protest, a thirst for achievement, and the spirit of revolutionary struggle," 38 as well as a call for the liberation of women. Although the rhetoric of biased Soviet literary criticism is heard in this thesis, a deeper meaning behind these ideological clichés can be found. The fi gure of Qiu Jin in China is shrouded in legends that refl ect the national concept of female heroism and sacrifi ce (martyrdom). 39 It is worth assuming that this very concept prepared the ideological and fi ctive discourse for the perception of Lesia Ukrainka's artistic image in China.

Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin: The Typology of Poetic Thinking From a Translation Perspective
Literary translation is usually motivated by the willingness of a national culture to accept and/or borrow certain foreign material. Aleksandr Veselovskii's thought that "the process of borrowing does not assume empty space in the target literature, but, on the contrary, it needs countercurrents, a similar direction of thinking, and analogous 36 Notably, Ukrainian poet Maksym Rylskyi called Lesia Ukrainka the "Joan of Arc of our literature." As well, Yevhen Malaniuk compared Lesia Ukrainka with Joan of Arc: "Yes, the character and will of this weak woman were and remain exceptional, so to speak, throughout all of Europe. There was something of the images of fantasy," is well-known. 40 The poetic world of Qiu Jin became such a direction of thought and fi gurative imagination for the perception of Lesia Ukrainka's poetry in China. Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin were contemporaries, living during the past fi n de siècle. Lesia Ukrainka was born in 1871 and died in 1913 after a "30-year battle with tuberculosis" 41 ; Qiu Jin was born in 1875 and was executed by Qing authorities in 1907 after an assassination attempt on Governor En Ming on the eve of the Xinghe Revolution (1911)(1912)(1913). Both women lived short lives, full of dramatic collisions and tragic events that took place against the cultural and historical background of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Vira Aheieva notes:   Scholars today underline that Lesia Ukrainka represented a "phenomenon of female genius" 43 and "uniqueness." 44 The main point here concerns her outstanding talent, incredible willpower, broad worldview, European thinking, and deep national self-awareness, etc. 45 The extraordinary personality of Qiu Jin is today seen in a similar way. Jen Kucharski, for instance, remarks that her legacy is far richer and more complicated than being a female revolutionary martyr… Qiu Jin was a well-educated and prolifi c writer, a self-proclaimed knight-errant, an outspoken critic of the Qing Dynasty and traditional Confucian ideals, a fervent supporter of women's rights, ... a revolutionary martyr, a gifted poet… 46 The diversity of the talents and the wide fi elds of self-expression of both poetesses create grounds for a broad and comprehensive comparison of the two, but within the objectives of the article it will be focused on those aspects that form the concept of the national heroine in China, which become countercurrents for the Chinese perception the works of Lesia Ukrainka. These aspects are revolution, nationalism, and feminism. 47

Revolution
Qiu Jin was canonized in China as the fi rst woman revolutionary. At the age of 29 she shocked the patriarchal society of the Celestial Empire, leaving her family and children in return for studying in Japan and continuing her revolutionary activities. In Tokyo, she became close with her progressive-minded compatriots and fi nally absorbed the idea of the national liberation of the Chinese from the oppression of the Manchu Qing dynasty. Qiu Jin took an active part in the work of revolutionary communities: Sānhéhuì (the Triad in Tokyo, 1905), Tóngménghuì (the Revolutionary Alliance in Tokyo, 1905), Guāngfù huì (the Restoration Society in Shaoxing, 1905 woman warrior. According to Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, "she also adopted a revolutionary style to match her revolutionary zeal. With her Japanese sword, her practice of the martial arts, and her man's attire, she defi ed the conventional stereotype of a woman. 49 However, it is worth noting that the image of the female warrior has been cultivated in Chinese history and literature for over 5000 years. As Xiaolin Li states: Both in ancient and modern times, numerous literary and artistic works portray these historical and fi ctional women warriors… No matter how educated or where they are located, all Chinese women know the names of such heroes as Mu Lan Hua or Hong Yu Liang. 50 Dressing in men's clothing (and, in fact, the acquisition of an external masculine identity) became a ritual in China for women who joined the military or liberation struggles. Qiu Jin did not avoid this "ritual," although in her rendition it acquired a new meaning -a demonstration of the strength, will and resilience of an emancipated woman on an equal footing with men.
These circumstances explain the organic entry of the masculine image of Lesia Ukrainka into Chinese cultural space. Chinese researchers only briefl y mention her illness in biographical commentaries, avoiding the "Great Patient paradigm." 51 Instead, they desperately attempt to maximize the spirit of resistance and willpower of the "ardent revolutionary." Of course, the infl uence of Soviet criticism played a great role, but the special sense of the masculine in Lesia's poetry, which attracted the attention of Chinese translators, should also be noted. Nila Zborovska defi ned this sense as "specifi cally a female complex of masculinity, which is manifested not in external power eff ects, but imperceptibly from the outside, as an individual spiritual choice." 52 In the poetess's poetic palette, this is conveyed by the ideologeme of the "word-weapon," which expresses the incredible strength of spirit and disobedience. The lyrical heroine "uses the word as a spiritual sword (italics mine. -N. Z.), but a real sword causes suff ering of the soul…" 53 In Chinese cultural space of the 20th century the images of word and weapon are clearly distinguished. This can be seen in the poetic world of Qiu Jin, where images of 49 "Qiu Jin (c. 1875-1907 the sword and book are pervasive. They symbolize, respectively, military victory and education (knowledge), as two ways of fi ghting for the self-determination of a nation. If in the early works of Qiu Jin motifs of a struggle for enlightenment prevailed, over time her protest became more persistent, the poetess realizing that the confrontation would be diffi cult, and to be armed only with words would not suffi ce for victory. Eventually, her life 54 and poetic works became fi lled with images of precious swords, daggers, and steel, which would all inevitably shed blood in the struggle for independence (for example, in the poems "Bǎojiàngē" (The Precious Blade Song), "Hóngmáo dāogē" (The Red-Bearded Men's Dagger Song), "Jiàngē" (The Blade Song), "Bǎodāogē" (The Precious Dagger Song), and many others). Thus, if over time the faith of Lesia Ukrainka's lyrical heroine disappears and perhaps stops before an inner caution about the probable social consequences of the use of the "word-weapon," in Qiu Jin's poetry -to the contrary -it intensifi es.
Particular mention should be made of the Chinese translation of Lesia Ukrainka's poem "Slovo, chomu ty ne tverdaia krytsia," where the translator Mai Xinhe uses vivid images of Qiu Jin's late poetry and therefore promotes the perception of Lesia Ukrainka primarily as a woman warrior. Thus, in the line "Oh word, why art thou not like tempered steel, / Which in the battle gleams with vengeful zeal?" 55 the image of steel is reproduced by the token bǐshǒu, which is a part of the Chinese idiomatic expression chengyu 56 -"to unroll a map to reveal a dagger" (tú qióng bǐshǒu xiàn), and is used by Qiu Jin in the poem "Bǎodāogē": Have you not seen Jing Ke coming as an assassin-retainer to Qin? The map completely unrolled, the foot-long dagger had been exposed? 57 In addition, in translating the line "The blade will ring against the iron yoke" 58 in the poem "Slovo, chomu ty ne tverdaia krytsia" into Chinese, Mai Xinhe also used a 54 Qiu Jin regularly carried a sword or a knife and made much show of her skills in their use. Many are the reports of her performances of martial arts sword dances. She was not averse to more aggressive uses of knives either. ideologeme of Qiu Jin's mature poetry -bǎojiàn (the precious blade), which the Chinese poetess considered to be an instrument not of a verbal, but of a liberation struggle, devoting several poems, e.g., "Bǎojiàngē, Bǎojiànpiān" ("The Precious Blade Chapter"), etc. to the precious blade.
Thus, the translation of the above-mentioned poetry played a complementary role: it not only actualized the semantic fi elds of these Chinese symbols, but also synthesized them in a new meaning.

Nationalism
National liberation issues intersect in the works of Qiu Jin and Lesia Ukrainka. American researcher Hu Ying underlines, that in essays written by her revolutionary colleagues, Qiu Jin is presented as a martyr simply "for an explicitly nationalist cause." 59 Drawing on Hu Ying's research, Jen Kucharski pointed out that after the Cultural Revolution "the Chinese Communist Party used Qiu Jin as a symbol of 'revolutionary nationalism' …" 60 The grounds for this statement are the civic lyrics of Qiu Jin with their pervasive anti-Manchurian (and more broadly -"anti-foreign") motifs. The authoress condemns the humiliation of Chinese national dignity by the Manchu authorities and at the same time criticizes her compatriots who have come to terms with slavery, for instance in the poem "Shūwú liètǔyuè" (Grieving the Hero Wu Yue): The Kunlun mountain range recalls beloved sons, for more than two hundred years the Chinese voices are dumb. Being downcast and walking in foreign garments, fi lthy skunks disgracing their forefathers. 61 Analyzing the political poems of Qiu Jin, Tatiana Zaiats rightly notes that the poetess "was alien to narrow nationalism, but it is natural that at that time her patriotic aspirations often took on an anti-Manchu ... form." 62 According to Zaiats's interpretation, the national essence of Qiu Jin's poetry was expressed in a wide range of patriotic motifs, where the condemnation of foreign enslavement was only one of them. Similar considerations are valid for the works of Lesia Ukrainka, which have infl uenced the translation repertoire of her civic lyrics in China.
The national fullness of the Ukrainian poetess's works was aptly defi ned by Yevhen Malaniuk, who noted: 59 Ying Hu, "Gender," 127. 60 Kucharski, "Qiu Jin," 106. ). This is a manifestation of the nation -on the eve of its political revival and late cultural self-awareness. 63 Unlike Qiu Jin, who expressed her ideas declaratively, sometimes mixing poetic and journalistic discourses, 64 the Ukrainian poetess often used plots of world literature stories and made the most out of allegorical means. In ancient material, she always found a national aspect, "which could generate patriotic feelings and literary motifs." 65 A striking example is the dramatic poem "Vavilonskyi polon," translated into Chinese in 1921.
The story about the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people, according to Antin Kharchenko, became a universal symbol for "the suff ering and destruction of every conquered and oppressed nation." 66 Chinese translator Mao Dun noted the deep socio-historical resonance of Lesia Ukrainka's poem, in line with the Chinese reality of the early 20th century, and presented it as a landmark work of "the literature of enslaved peoples" (mentioned in the introduction). At the same time, the leitmotifs of the dramatic poem "Vavilonskyi polon" evoke strong associations with the civic lyrics of Qiu Jin, placing its translation in the context of Chinese literature. Such a leitmotif is meant to expose the slavish existence of enslaved peoples and the motivation to fi ght for freedom, for instance in the speech of the singer Eleazar: To suff er chains is inhuman shame, to forget them unbroken yet greater ignominy. Two paths we have, death or disgrace, till we fi nd a way to Jerusalem. 67 Another common leitmotif that reveals the patriotic themes of the poetry of Lesia Ukrainka and Qiu Jin is mental pain and almost physical suff ering for the fate of the native land and people. In her letter to Mykhailo Pavlyk, Lesia Ukrainka wrote: Ukrainka and Qiu Jin: The Confl uence of Their Poetic Worlds via Translation "Shame and pity for my country just festers me… and I did not realize that in my soul there is such a great store of spite." 68 This confession also characterizes the works of Qiu Jin. It is important that both poetesses, deeply concerned with harsh reality, did not fall into despair and helplessness. Instead, they mixed a palette of feelings ranging from suff ering to resistance, expressing them in the intersecting poetic symbol of tears, which is undoubtedly based on resignation, i.e., the fl at refusal of obedience, an awareness of the necessity to resist the grief.
The image of fi ery tears is quite vivid in the works of Qiu Jin: the poetess, while in Japan, worries about the fate of her Motherland and sheds bitter, ardent, and bloody tears leaving China. For instance, in the poem "Mǎnjiānghóng. Juān." (All River Red. Cuckoo): I am addressing a question to Heaven if the waning Moon can turn the full one? Heaven bleeds with crying. 69 It is noteworthy that the poems of Lesia Ukrainka selected by Chinese translators contain an intersecting image of fi ery and bloody tears, which correlates with the image of Qiu Jin as a revolutionary woman who renounces the useless tears of powerlessness. Especially noteworthy of attention is "Slozy-perly," a series of poems dedicated to Ivan Franko: O hot burning tears! They burn deep in my soul: The fi ery traces they leave are eternal. 70 Thus, for both poetesses, there is a common image of ardent, bloody tears as a means of forming a protest victory, a willingness to sacrifi ce themselves, but in no case to put up with a sense of hopelessness in the face of cruelty and injustice in the world.
The process of drying up tears is a traditional gender initiation and prerogative of men who focus on the behavioral scale of the Nietzschean superman. The Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, whose work Lesia Ukrainka found interesting, noted in his last novel Forse Che Sì Forse Che No (Possibly Yes, Possibly No), that non-female tears are the tears of a warrior-traveler. They do not fl ow because of torment, but "…because of fury. In a fume they respond to the fumes of a storm. The wind of victory will dry them up." 71 Perhaps, subconsciously referring to the masculinized image of a militant woman embedded by Qiu Jin, Ge Baoquan translated the line in the poem "Mii shliakh" -"Common tears are not so bitter" 72 -precisely as a process of drying-out tears: "Our solidarity would dry-out the tears," 73 thereby essentially changing the context presented by the Ukrainian poetess. Another intersecting motif that completes the construction of Lesia Ukrainka as a woman liberator and revolutionary in the worldview of the Chinese reader is a collective lament of the disadvantaged, whose savior is each poetess. The motif of the bitter tears of the Chinese people sounds in many poems of Qiu Jin, for instance in Shūwú liètǔyuè: I bid you all to lament bitterly to summon up the dead men's spirits. 74 Thus, the poetess's personality in this context becomes the collective personality of the nation, and it is diffi cult to determine where she complains about her own suff ering and where she mourns national grief -her person is intertwined with the nation. The Chinese translations of Lesia Ukrainka's poems convey the whole semantic palette of these common, folk tears, as in the poem "Skriz plach, i stohin, i rydannia…": "Laments, groans are all around, / Irresolute, faint challenges," 75 where in his translation Ge Baoquan used almost the same lexical units: "laments and deep sighs are all around, / the outcries are lacking courage." 76 At times this is even intensifi ed, as in the translation of "Slozy-perly" by Mai Xinhe, where in the line "My Ukraine! I weep for you many a tear..." 77 the translator on purpose deepens the poetess' grief for the fate of Ukraine by comparing tears with a rough torrent: "My Ukraine! I stand before You and cry a torrent of tears." 78 In such a way, the collective lamentation of both poetesses is involved in the structure of the text in order to strengthen the mode of experience. The images of tears and lamentation create a picture of despondency and unspeakable sadness. But collective crying is seen as a guarantee of the unity of the underprivileged, and thus -

Feminism
In the 1990s, in China, as well as in Ukraine, interest in feminist studies increased rapidly, which caused the inclusion of relevant concepts in the further research of female writers' works, including Qiu Jin's and Lesia Ukrainka's. However, it should be noted that Ukrainian literary critics 79 focused primarily on Lesia Ukrainka's literary texts, searching for a national "feminine code" in them, while researchers of Qiu Jin's works (and not only in China) often preferred her emancipatory ideas in the context of revolutionary struggle. For instance, Hu Ying notes: "What makes Qiu Jin a 'true' New Woman is thus her subordination of 'women's liberation' to 'national liberation.'" 80 The sociological approach also aff ected comparative studies. Thus, Zhu Hong and He Zhongchang, professors at Wuhan University came to a quite general and tendentious conclusion that "Qiu Jin, like Lesia Ukrainka, fought all her life for the liberation of women from feudal oppression." 81 The harmonization of the views of Qiu Jin and Lesia Ukrainka on the "women's issue" was not limited only by socio-political issues but can be traced in poetic concepts as well.
According to Jen Kucharski, "Qiu Jin's rich legacy comes as much from her unique feminism, willingness to act, and bold personality as it does from her essays and poetry." 82 She understood the idea of gender equality primarily in the ability of women to overcome the boundaries of traditional gender roles and, along with men, to participate in deciding the fate of the Motherland. In the poem "Mǎnjiānghóng" (Crimson Flooding into the River) she says: Despite our abilities, men hold the highest ranks But while our hearts are pure, those of men are rank My insides are afi re in anger at such an outrage How could vile men claim to know who I am? 83 Kucharski, "Qiu Jin," 106-07. 83 "Jinxiandai Shiren." ("Shēn bùdé, nán'ér liè; xīn què bǐ, nán'ér liè! Suàn píngshēng gāndǎn, bù yīn rén rè, sú fū xiōngjīn shéi shí wǒ," translated by Michael A. Mikita.) Qiu Jin considered the education of Chinese women to be the key to women's independence. In 1906 she taught at the Míngdào (Bright Way) Women's School in Shaoxing, and in 1907, together with like-minded people, she began publishing Zhōngguó nǚbào (Chinese Woman Magazine) in Shanghai. On its pages, Qiu Jin actively criticized the brutal tradition of foot binding, as well as advocating for women's rights to free marriage and education. In the foreword to the fi rst issue of the journal she called on her compatriots to end the present darkness and ignorance: Isn't it better to break out of the realm of darkness towards the light than to risk your life by obeying the law of life? The sacred lantern will lead millions of people to the other shore, isn't that the highest mission? 84 Motives of Prometheism, inherent in the worldview of Lesia Ukrainka, can be traced in this statement. However, it should be emphasized that the ideas of women's emancipation in Lesia Ukrainka's worldview were not overt. Nila Zborovska, basing her views on Klyment Kvitka's memoirs, noted that Lesia Ukrainka acknowledged the idea of women's equality, but did not follow the feminist movement, did not like women's journals, clubs, etc. 85 However, Professor Roman Veretelnyk justifi ably called Lesia Ukrainka an "intellectual feminist," 86 noting the "extraordinary women of great strength of will and intellect" in her work and underlining that in her article "Novye perspectivy i starye teni" (New Perspectives and Old Shadows," 1900) the author comprehensively covered the "women's issue" in European literature. In terms of the depth of material analysis and the logic of its coverage, Mariia Karmazina considers this work on par with other classic works of feminist criticism, in particular Virginia Woolf's essay A Room of One's Own. 87 In her article, Lesia Ukrainka also drew attention to the issues her Chinese counterpart was concerned about -the education and socialization of women, which are key to women's economic independence. However, the essential diff erence of Lesia Ukrainka's position is her exceptional attention to "extraordinary," "talented" women, their recognition, and acquired rights.
According to the conclusion of Solomiia Pavlychko, two positions can be delineated in the views of Lesia Ukrainka: on the one hand, she speaks of the naturalness of the feminist idea, which does not require proof, and on the other -indicates the rather sad predicament of women and the need to fi ght for their rights. 88  are in "cataclysmic crises and disturbing circumstances," 89 and lyrical heroines are often masculinized, 90 embodying the idea of resistance. However, the poetess sometimes expresses quite radical thoughts, accusing her compatriots of self-denial in favor of men. In the poem "Zhinochyi portret" (A Woman's Portrait) Lesia Ukrainka reproaches the "honest" and "good" woman with voluntarily obeying the laws of humiliating patriarchal marriage and becoming a slave to her husband: Not the body you sold, but your soul, your talent and mind you sent into captivity, condemned to lifelong drudgery,so bitterly and sweetly you feel this rigidity. 91 This theme was extremely relevant for Qiu Jin as well. In her essay "Jìnggào zǐmèimen" (To My Sisters), she raised the issue of the inaction of the Chinese women who had come to terms with slavery and wanted no changes. Qiu Jin was indignant at her compatriots who mocked their own bodies to please their men: they bound their feet, combed their hair tightly, and covered their faces with a thick layer of powder and blush. Qiu Jin makes a conclusion similar to Lesia Ukrainka's: In each and every case, men occupy a position of authority and women occupy a position of slavery. Because they want to depend on others, they themselves do not have the slightest desire for independence. These prisoners locked up in their inner apartments do not have even the slightest inclination of their own suff ering! 92 Typological aspects of the gender thinking of both poetesses are refl ected in similar poetic motives and images. It is worth taking into consideration the opinion of Pavlychko that "in the context of Ukrainian literature at the turn of the (20th) century, the feminine and the feminist have become synonymous, and a source for modernity." 93 89 Veretelnyk,"Feminizm u dramaturhii," 29. 90 Solomiia Pavlychko emphasizes that all the images of Lesia Ukrainka's dramas are "variations on the theme of women's tragedy," ignoring the strength of character and will of the portrayed heroines. This point of view is also true for Chinese literature of the same period. New "women's themes" in fi ction discourse and women's interpretations of existing material (e.g., mythological images, classical plots and motifs) were a way of "expressing the spirit of the time's urgency" and were often seen in the vein of feminism. Two new symbolic motifs can be traced in the works of Qiu Jin and Lesia Ukrainka -"female friendship," and "dedication to a hopeless cause." Professor Charles Patrick Fitzgerald mentioned that in Chinese traditional poetry friendship fi lls the place which love occupies in European poems, and, as the emotional crisis of friendship is the moment of separation, parting from a friend inspires many of the best poems in China. 94 It is important that this statement was valid exclusively regarding male companionship, which was endowed with a special "emotional value." Poets often wrote poems to distant friends to tell them about their grief. Fellowship between women was impossible because of their solitary lives, which were strictly regulated by the norms of patriarchal morality. Thus, the theme of friendship was not included in the repertoire of traditional women's lyrics. Qiu Jin broke this tradition by creating a series of poems-messages to her like-minded friends (both men and women). Furthermore, according to the research of Tatiana Zaiats, "intimate emotional impulses [of the author], confessions of love are peculiar only to verses addressed to femalefriends." 95 Often such messages reproduce the sad mood of the lyrical heroine and are characterized by emphasized aesthetics. For example, in the poem "Jì Chéngmèi" (Sent to My Sister Cheng) Qiu Jin uses images and symbols of traditional landscape poetry: The bright jinlin (or unicorn) is a mythical animal, the embodiment of absolute good. Its appearance is a happy sign, and its disappearance, respectively, a sign of the loss of hope for the better. According to Tatiana Zaiats, the phrase jinlin also means "velvet scales" and symbolizes a letter to a related soul. 97 Wild geese symbolize letter, news, or tidings. 98 Moon -a symbol of the reunion of relatives and friends who are separated (they can simultaneously contemplate the moon from diff erent parts of the Celestial Empire). The theme of women's friendship is present in the epistolary works of Lesia Ukrainka. The poetess's close emotional relationships with Olha Kobylianska is probably the most discussed fact in post-Soviet Lesia Ukrainka studies. These relations have given rise to a number of interpretations: beginning with a "women's platonic romance" 100 and ending with "lesbian fantasies." 101 Within the framework of this research, the opinion of Vira Aheieva about the correspondence of women writers is quite convincing. She notes that it is an example of an "openness of women's selfdisclosure, very exceptional in its intimate sincerity evidence of friendship between women writers, which allowed the destruction of common and ... stylistic stereotypes." 102 The same can be said about Lesia Ukrainka's poem-message "Schliu do tebe malyi sei lystochok…" addressed to Oleksandra Sudovshchykova. The poem attracted the attention of Chinese translators through its emotional and psychological echoing with the candid poetry of Qiu Jin: Right, my dear, I am so lugubrious, My fate made me so dolorous, It is the best bondage for the hopes and joy, it led all my intentions to the destroy. … Can the sorrow be so unamused? This question sending for Your muse, -Let her like a cuckoo in the meadow, liven up your dolorous fellow. 103 Another common motif in the works of Qiu Jin and Lesia Ukrainka is "dedication to a hopeless cause," which has mythological roots in both poetesses' works. Speaking about Lesia Ukrainka, this motif was dramatically voiced in the poem "Contra spem spero!" where the author reinterprets the image of Sisyphus, projecting it onto her real self. If for the mythological hero rolling a stone up the mountain is a punishment (conscious useless work), then from the point of view of Lesia Ukrainka's heroine the hard work generates faith in the realization of the impossible and encourages struggle. This optimistic motif can also be traced in the drama Orfeieve chudo (The Orpheus Miracle). In various variations, it is also presented in the early poems "Nadiia" and "Mii schliakh," which have been repeatedly translated in China. According to research conducted by Halyna Levchenko, Lesia Ukrainka's early lyrics are the refl ection of the poetess's romantic worldview, which formed the image of a lyrical heroine who "consciously chose her path of competition and romantic confrontation of fate." 104 This type of lyrical heroine is inherent in the works of Qiu Jin as well. The motif of "dedication to a hopeless cause" in her works is associated with the image of the mythical Jingwei bird. 105 This motive is meaningful in Qiu Jin's semi-biographical tanci 106 fi ction Jīngwèishí (1905-1907Stones of Jingwei). It tells the story of fi ve female friends who escape from their repressive families to study abroad in Japan for the sake of liberating Chinese women and China. The image of the Jingwei bird and the motif of the "dedication to a hopeless cause" can be traced in the poem "Jiànyuè" (Viewing the Moon) and the author's articles. According to Xian Wang, "Qiu Jin used the Jingwei bird as a romantic symbol that encouraged her to dedicate herself to changing the world despite insurmountable obstacles." 107

Conclusion
Summing up the research, the translation of Lesia Ukrainka's poetic works in China during the 20th century reveals the ideological and aesthetic factors of the reception of the image of the Ukrainian artist in China. The choice of texts and the reproduction of the image-emotional system of Lesia Ukrainka's poetry made by translators reveals a much deeper and more complex endeavor than the one-sided assessments of Chinese literary critics, who were motivated by ideological factors.
The work of the revolutionary poet Qiu Jin played an important role in formation of the artistic image of Lesia Ukrainka in China. The poetic worlds of both artists reveal spheres of intersection and complementarity. Against the background of the 104 Levchenko,"Semiosfera liryky," 106. 105 The ancient Chinese myth Jīngwèi tiánhǎi (The Jingwei Bird Fills the Sea) tells of how Jingwei, the daughter of God Yandi, drowned in the East Sea. She was reincarnated as a bird and was determined to fi ll the sea with pebbles and branches. The myth connotes the meaning of tireless dedication to a hopeless cause. See Xian Wang, "Flesh and Stone," 127. 106 Tanci was originally an oral performance genre from southern China that was popular with female audiences. In late imperial China, especially during the late Qing, women from gentry families participated in writing prosimetric tanci novels. See Xian Wang, "Flesh and Stone," 126. 107 Xian Wang, "Flesh and Stone," 128.  heroine image formed by Qiu Jin, the Ukrainian poetess appeared in Chinese translations as a strong-willed, steadfast and masculinized liberator with a spirit of militant resistance (the symbol of the sword) and heartache for the fate of her people (the symbol of burning bloody tears). The feminist code of the image of Lesia Ukrainka is expressed in the emphasized sincerity of sisterhood relationships and unfailing faith in the realization of dreams despite insurmountable obstacles. The individual motifs of Lesia Ukrainka's poetry complement this image with a "specifi cally female complex of courage," which concentrates on the power of the spiritual sword (the ideologeme of the word-weapon) and the character of an extraordinary woman-intellectual (references to images and mythologemes of European cultures). Olha Vorobei holds a PhD in philology and is an assistant lecturer at the Department of Far Eastern and Southeastern Languages and Literatures of the Institute of Philology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Her research interests include Chinese literature of the 20th century, the literary translation of Chinese spoken drama, and issues of the interpretation and perception of Chinese modern literature. She is the author of more than 20 scholarly works devoted to the history of Chinese drama, including four textbooks.