Ecological Discourse Analysis of the English Translations of Song of Peach Blossom Land from the Perspective of Transitivity

,


Introduction
Owing to the swift progressions in technology and the thriving economy, individuals can now relish substantial affluence.Nevertheless, this affluence has been acquired at a significant expense to our ecological environment.
The incessant exploitation of nature by humans has solidified their dominion over it, leading to an asymmetrical rapport between humanity and nature.As a consequence, nature is reacting to these deleterious human activities, instigating an increasing emphasis on ecological preservation that has progressively emerged as a salient subject.
Back in the Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei, a pastoral poet, produced numerous eco-beneficial discourses through his pastoral poems.These discourses encompassed the rural life of animate and inanimate participants as well as human beings, fostering a harmonious atmosphere that showcased the equitable relationship between humanity and nature.In this paper, one exemplary poem titled Song of Peach Blossom Land is selected for analysis to raise awareness among individuals regarding the importance of protecting nature.
With the assistance of Alexander and Stibbe (2014) as well as Haugen (1972), this paper integrates linguistics with ecology, wherein Haugen defines this emerging field as "the ecology of language," which has gradually been referred to as "Ecolinguistics" by numerous scholars.Recognizing it as a nascent discipline, Halliday (1990) emphasizes the development of Ecological Discourse Analysis (EDA), while Alexander and Stibbe (2014) consider EDA to be a research methodology within ecolinguistics.As a form of discourse analysis, EDA necessitates ecological philosophies for guidance and employs specific analytical methods.Given that Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) offers a novel perspective for analyzing ecological discourse (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014;Martin, 2000), this paper employs an SFL approach to conduct an Ecological Discourse Analysis of Song of Peach Blossom Land and its translations.Considering that Chinese and English differ in some aspects, this paper summarizes differences between the source text and its translations from the perspective of translation skills and translation accuracy.

Previous Studies on Ecological Discourse Analysis
Due to the escalating global ecological crisis, ecolinguistics has emerged as a burgeoning discipline that has rapidly developed both in the Western world and China.Haugen (1972) initially employed "the ecology of language" to define the relationship between linguistics and ecology, proposing an integration of linguistics and language ecology.Recognizing it as a distinct field, Alexander and Stibbe (2014) provide a refined definition stating that ecolinguistics investigates the impact of language on life-sustaining relationships among humans, other organisms, and the natural environment.Its normative orientation is centered around maintaining these life-sustaining relationships.Ecolinguistics originated from a metaphorical perspective but later evolved into another form known as non-metaphor in 1990 (Fill, 1998;Huang, 2016).Haugen's model is metaphorical because it draws parallels between language and speech communities with living things and their natural environment while examining the ecology of language through an environmental lens (Haugen, 1972;Huang, 2016;He & Wei, 2018).In contrast, Halliday's model introduced in 1990 is considered non-metaphorical as it focuses on exploring how language impacts ecology by studying the entire ecosystem from a linguistic standpoint (Halliday, 1990).
Recognizing EDA as a critical approach in the research of ecolinguistics, its origin can be traced back to 1990s (Alexander & Stibbe, 2014;Huang & Zhao, 2017).In Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By, believing that each ecolinguist should have his own ecosophy intended for analyzing discourses and that there is no a given standard about whether an ecosophy is right or wrong, Stibbe (2021, p. 12) proposes that the ecosophy of the book is "Living!".Based on his ecosophy, Stibbe (2021: 22) divides EDA into three types encompassing beneficial discourses conveying positive ideologies of protecting ecosystem, ambivalent discourses neither following nor contradicting the ecosophy and destructive discourses opposing the ecosophy, thereby calling for resisting negative discourses and promoting positive discourses.Back in 1992, Schultz (1992) puts forward a classification that classifies words into three types, i.e., neutral words, euphemism and pejoratives, and encourages to protect the environment and produce beneficial discourses by means of employing proper language.Similarly, based on environmentalism, Harré, Brockmeier and Mühlhäusler (1999) introduce Greenspeak to point out the relationship between language and ecology, which can be referred to as positive discourses proposed by Stibbe (2021).Based on the claasifications above, ecolinguistics is divided into Ecological Critical Discourse Analysis (ECDA) (Fill & Mühlhäusler, 2001) and Ecological Positive Discourse Analysis (EPDA) (He & Gao, 2019).Fairclough (1989) employs CDA to analyze language so as to find solutions to social problems, puts much emphasis on the language and power and attempts to achieve the balanced relations between language and power.Subsequently, Martin (2000Martin ( , 2004) ) criticizes CDA for paying too much attention to the relationship between language and power, arguing that such discourse analysis basically treats various social issues in a deconstructive way, thereby having great limitations.He argues that a positive attitude should be adopted to deal with social contradictions in a constructive manner in order to build a more ideal society, which lays a foundation of the establishment of Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA).Alexander (2009) employs CDA (Fairclough, 1989) to analyze various kinds of discourses and tends to shape environmental discourses.Stibbe (2014) proposes to use CDA to define discourses and he (2021) employs CDA and PDA (Martin, 2004), showing that the aim of CDA is to make people resist discourses which oppress them and that PDA plays a significant role in searching of the beneficial discourses.In Critical Reading and Writing, a comparison between a destructive discourse and a beneficial one is made, exhibited by comparing a newspaper discourse with a romantic poetry, wherein a conclusion is drawn that the newspaper discourse presents a negative nature and the romantic poetry a positive nature (Goatly & Hiradhar, 2016;Stibbe, 2021).
Compared with ecolinguistics in the west, ecolinguistics in China is relatively late and the term "ecolinguistics" is first used by Zheng Tongtao in 1985 (Huang & Zhao, 2016, p. 9).Given the classification of three discourses of EDA (Stibbe, 2021), Huang and Chen (2018) propose that as different ecolinguists have different ecosophies, it is not easy to divide words into three types definitely because there are many uncertainties.There should be "gray" areas between them, so they should be considered on a Cline employed for showing the differences between words that generally belong to the same type.According to He (2021), there has been two situations in the domestic academic circle after the introduction of EDA in 2014.One is that EDA refers to a discourse analysis in ecolinguistics while another is that it is an independent branch of discourse analysis.Xing and Huang (2013) explain that there is difference between CDA and EDA.Subsequently, He and Wei (2018) distinguish EDA from CDA, PDA and Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) based on reviews about EDA since 1990s and put forward the new definition of EDA which refers to the ecological oriented analysis of discourses from the perspective of linguistics based on a given ecosophy view, with the aim of advocating discourses that are beneficial to the virtuous cycle and development of the ecosystem, improving ambiguous discourses and resisting destructive discourses.
Ecological Discourse Analysis is employed in many fields.For example, in news reports, scholars such as Cao and Yang (2022), Zhang and Yang (2022), Sun and Guo (2022), Cao and Li (2023), Miao (2023), Miao and Liu (2023) analyze the ecological discourses of news reports, thereby appealing to humans for the establishment of a harmonious relationship between man and nature.Zhao (2023) conducts an EDA of a case study on China's Arctic position, elevating the ecological discourses to serve the country.Corporate Social Responsibility Reports are also employed to analyze the ecological discourses, aiming to promote the construction of enterprise sustainable development discourse system (Xia & Xu, 2020;Miao & Li, 2021, 2022).In the field of College English Teaching, Yu and Wang (2020) as well as Liu (2021) apply the EDA to English textbooks in order to arouse students' awareness of environmental protection.In addition, ecological discourse is also applied to specific ecological research.For example, in new media (Zhang & Xiao, 2022), the use of positive ecological discourse will affect users' social participation, such as public concern, public opinion and public communication.Ecological discourse is also used as a new indicator for empirical research on ecological environment.Furthermore, Zhang and Xiao (2023) emphasized that positive ecological discourse, serving as an intermediary, influences individual ecological behavior through ecological cognition and thus indirectly impacts the ecological environment.In line with Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), Huang & Chen (2017) and Liu and Wang (2019) conducted an Ecological Discourse Analysis (EDA) of poetry to enhance human ecological awareness.Building upon this research, Liu (2021) employed a transitivity perspective to analyze the ecological discourses in Wang Wei's pastoral poems; however, no previous study has explored the EDA of Song of Peach Blossom Land.Therefore, this paper aims to fill this research gap.

Previous Studies on Wang Wei's Poems
Compared with studies in China, studies about Wang Wei's poems abroad are fewer.Most of them are about revealing the Taoist in the poems of Wang Wei.Pauline (1980) translates Wang Wei's 150 poems and discusses the Taoist and "metaphysical" traditions in Chinese literature as well as Western Symbolist, post-Symbolist, and phenomenological theories in Wang Wei's poems.Francis (2012) uses Hinton's translations of The Selected Poems of Wang Wei so as to show the artistic conception in Wang Wei's poems.Pilar (2014) analyzes two poems written by Wang Wei, mainly inspired by Taoist, and indicates how Taoist speech and the Taoist view of landscape are presented.In China, most studies on Wang Wei's pastoral poems, his ecosophy and the translations of his poems are made.Wang (2008) proposes that Wang Wei's pastoral poems vividly reflect the highly harmonious living mode, life state and ecological wisdom of man and nature.Wan (2008) and Chen and Li (2009) respectively analyze the dynamic and static characteristics as well as ethereal and distant features in Wang Wei's pastoral poems.Both studies reflect his ecosophy of the unity of man and nature.Zhang (2012) points out the three aspects of ecological aesthetics in Wang Wei's poems.By comparing the pastoral poems of Heidegger and Wang Wei by using eco-criticism, Pan (2018) proposes that both of them insist living in harmony with nature.In 2019, in the 5th International Symposium on Social Science, Cheng and Liu discuss the difference in the pastoral poems of William Wordsworth and Wang Wei, indicating that Wang Wei is influenced by the idea of "unity of heaven and man" and that Wordsworth is influenced by pantheism.Chen (2021) applies the principle of the three-dimensional transformation in the theory of Eco-translatology to the translations in Wang Wei's poems, giving a novel perspective for the translations of his poems.
In relation to the Song of Peach Blossom Land, Luo (2018) conducts a comparative analysis with other poems depicting this idyllic place, thereby illuminating the poet's fantastical imagination of its enchanting natural beauty and his optimistic outlook on life.Gao (2020) and Chen (2023) delve into an examination of the poem in order to illustrate the poet's yearning for seclusion in woodland surroundings and a rustic existence.Wu (2022) and Huang (2023), through juxtaposing Song of Peach Blossom Land with Tao Yuanming's The Peach Colony, draw parallels that highlight how Song of Peach Blossom Land encapsulates profound artistic conceptions associated with immortality.

Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics
Systemic Functional Linguistics, founded by the British linguist Halliday, not only studies the nature, processes and common features of languages but also discusses the application of linguistics.Halliday and Webster (2009) point out that Halliday has been able to focus on how people can employ the language to explain reality and maintain social relationships with others.In a very clear way, they are the interpretations of the three metafunctions of language including ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function which are proposed by Halliday (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014).Experiential function and logical function constitute ideational function, meaning that language is a tool for people to talk about the internal and external world such as things, events, feelings as well as beliefs (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014, p. 30;Thompson, 2014, p. 91).Interpersonal Function recognizes language as a tool for people to interact, thereby establishing and maintaining social relationships with each other (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014, p. 30;Thompson, 2014, p. 45).Textual Function means that language is a tool for people to employ in order to make a discourse or a text become an organic whole (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014, p. 30;Thompson, 2014, p. 145).

Introduction to Transitivity System
Transitivity system is defined as an experiential component that points to meaning (Halliday, 1968, p. 179), indicating that this system can be used to express things, events, feelings and beliefs in the external and internal world.According to Thompson (2014, p. 94), it refers to a system of describing all the components of a clause instead of just describing the verb and its Object.As Halliday points out in 1968, the transitivity system is concerned with the types of processes, the participants as well as the circumstantial elements associated with the processes and the participants, three of which encompass its main elements.Transitivity system begins with a classification of processes and centers on the verb groups (Thompson, 2014, p. 93).Its processes consist of material, mental, relational, verbal, behavioural and existential processes, all of which are introduced as follows.

Material Processes
Material processes form the largest part in transitivity, involve the outer aspects of our world including some physical actions such as walking, drinking, cooking, writing and so on, and consist of Actor representing the 'doer' of the action and Goal representing the 'receiver' of the action.Either Actor or Goal can be a human, inanimate or abstract entity (Thompson, 2014, p. 95).

Mental Processes
Mental processes are meant that through the processes the differences between the things in the external world and the things in the mind can be demonstrated, involving the verbs such as thinking, seeing, wanting, imaging and consisting of at least one human participant called Senser and the Phenomenon representing remaining components in the processes (Thompson, 2014, p. 97).

Relational Processes
Relational processes show the relationships between two objects or between an object and an attribute.There are two types.The first type is called attributive relational processes with the entity called the Carrier carrying the attribute so that the processes consist of the Carrier and the Attribute while the second one is called identifying relational processes relating a concrete realization to a more generalizable category so that the processes encompass a more general category called the Value and a concrete one called the Token (Thompson, 2014, p. 101).

Verbal Processes
Verbal processes perform the act of saying something.According to Thompson (2014, p. 106), these processes are in an intermediate position between mental processes and material processes, for a physical action of saying something reflects some mental activities.The processes are composed of the Sayer which can be human or nonhuman, the Receiver, the Target and the Verbiage.

Behavioural Processes
Behavioural processes represent some physiological actions and they are employed for the purpose of distinguishing the purely mental processes with their expressed physical signs, composed of the Behaver which can only be human and the Behaviour (Thompson, 2014, p. 109).

Existential Processes
Existential Processes are adopted to show the existence of an entity and only consist of the Existent.The processes have to be distinguished from the material processes (Thompson, 2014, p. 109).There are two sentences used for demonstrating their difference.The first sentence is that 'There is a tree', with the verb 'is' recognized as a existential process and the second sentence is that 'Some modes exist', with the verb 'exist' identified as a material process.

Ecosophy
Ecosophy, or called ecological philosophy is proposed by Naess (1973), which means a philosophical idea of ecological harmony.Ecosophy in recent years has attracted more and more attention in the west and in China; therefore, in the following part, a systemic introduction of ecosophies in the west and in modern China as well as a special introduction of ecosophies in Tang Dynasty are presented; therefore, the ecosophy of the paper is determined.Halliday (1990) discusses the relationship between ecology and language, puts forwards "growthism" and "classism" with the former one meaning that humans enjoy life in the deterioration of ecology and the latter one meaning that humans are superior to other species in the ecological environment, proposes that both of them are negative because they tend to separate humans from other species and eventually calls for the establishment of a beneficial ecological view.Classism may appear in another word, that is anthropocentrism.Many scholars including Murdy (1975), Goatly (1996), Fill (1998) and Goatly and Hiradhar (2016) criticize the narrow sense of anthropocentrism, which emphasizes the dominance of humans in the nature, and tend to establish a biocentric ecological view.Besides them, Stibbe (2021) presents the ecosophy of his book which is "Living!".In modern China, many linguists also propose their own ecosophies.He andWei (2017, 2018) introduce the ecosophy of "Harmony without difference, mutual love and benefit".Huang (2016) puts forward one assumption of humansoriented and three principles of conscience, proximity, and regulation.He and Zhang (2017) come up with the ecosophy of harmonious ecological place.

Ancient Ecosophies in Tang Dynasty
Wang Wei is one of leading poets in the writings of pastoral poems.The paper is to employ the EDA to analyze one of his pastoral poems; therefore, an introduction to ecosophies in Tang Dynasty is listed in the following part.Wang (2007, p. 4) states three kind of ecological views.The first one is called Eco-connectionism which starts from nature to analyze the ecological discourses of pastoral poems in Tang Dynasty from the perspective of the relationship between nature and society, nature and man as well as nature and poems.The second one is called Ecological order view meaning that the good ecological order between man and nature makes the world form a natural ecological movement, which not only realizes the balance between man and nature, but also forms a benign ecological climate of mutual coexistence.The third one is called Ecocentrism, which is not only a kind of life spirit with aesthetic meaning that regards nature as an escape from alienation but also a kind of living state that experiences the freedom and joy of the unity of life and nature.In making further elaboration, Wang (2007) emphasizes that the value of nature lies in their very existence, nature embodies the existence of man and the harmony between man and nature is the best ecological order.It lies in nature, fully affirms the objectivity of the beauty of nature, properly deals with the relationship between humans and ecology, and vividly reflects the level of ecological views of an era.
Inspired by the modern ecosophies abroad and at home as well as the ancient ecosophies in Tang Dynasty, the ecosophy of this paper is determined, which is Harmony consisting of the harmony between humans, between humans and nature as well as between humans and their souls.

Data Collection
The original poem employed in this paper is collected from Quan Tang Shi (Peng et al., 1999).The English translations are collected from The Jade Mountain (Bynner & Kiang, 1929) and Selected Poems of Wang Wei (Xu, 2021).The three texts are involved in the analysis.

Data Analysis
Data analysis is divided into three steps: Data analysis can be broadly categorized into three sequential steps: The first step is to use the transitivity system to analyze the poem and its two English versions and summarize the statistics.Quantitative analysis is employed for the analysis of transitivity processes of data.Each process will be calculated.
The initial step involves employing the transitivity system to analyze the poem and its two English translations.This process entails collecting statistics, focusing on the transitivity processes within the texts.Quantitative analysis serves as the primary tool in this stage, allowing for the calculation and categorization of various transitivity processes.
The second step is to employ qualitative analysis to summarize the characteristics of the source text and two target texts' transitivity processes as well as conduct an Ecological Discourse Analysis of three texts, exploring the ecological views from three perspectives encompassing natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology.
The second step involves a qualitative analysis, which aims to summarize the distinctive features of the source text and the two target texts in terms of their transitivity processes.Additionally, an Ecological Discourse Analysis is conducted on all three texts.This analysis explores the ecological views from three domains encompassing natural ecology, social ecology, and spiritual ecology.
The third step is to present a contrastive analysis to compare the source text with its two English translations with respect to translation skills and translation accuracy, thereby pointing out differences.
The final step is a contrastive analysis that compares the source text with its two English translations.This comparison focuses on evaluating translation skills and translation accuracy, thereby highlighting differences.

Distribution of Transitivity Processes in the Chinese and English Versions
Wang Wei, a leading poet in Tang Dynasty, produces lots of poems that make a vivid description of the rural life.Song of Peach Blossom Land belongs to a Yuefu and pastoral poem, wherein the natural scenery, the village landscape and the narrative are derived from Taohuayuanji (The Peach Colony) by Tao Yuanming, in accordance with which the poem portrays a harmonious picture between man and nature, man and man as well as man and his soul.The paper employs the original poem and its two English translations by Bynner (Bynner & Kiang, 1929) and Xu (Xu, 2021) to conduct an Ecological Discourse Analysis from the perspective of transitivity.The distribution of the transitivity processes in both Chinese and English versions is clearly presented in the following Table 1.
Wang Wei, a renowned Tang Dynasty poet, wrote many poems that vividly described rural life.His Song of Peach Blossom Land is a classic yuefu (or 'folk song') poem, wherein the descriptions of natural scenery, the village landscape and the narrative are derived from Taohua Yuan Ji (The Peach Colony) by Tao Yuanming.In the poem, Wang Wei depicted harmony between man and nature, man and man, and man and his soul.As sources for this paper, the original poem and its two English translations by Bynner (Bynner & Kiang, 1929) and Xu (Xu, 2021) are employed to conduct an Ecological Discourse Analysis from the perspective of transitivity.The distribution of the transitive processes in both Chinese and English versions is presented in Table 1.
From Table 1, it is obvious that in the original poem there are 58 processes, of which 63.79% are material processes, of which 18.97% are mental processes, 15.51% of which are evenly distributed among relational processes, behavioural processes and verbal processes, as well as the remaining 1.73% of which is an existential process.With respect to the distribution of transitivity processes in the two English versions, material processes account for 67.39% and 55.10% of the total respectively in Bynner's and Xu's translations while mental processes account for 13.04% and 30.61%; therefore, material and mental processes are two main types in the translations and the remaining relational, behavioural and existential processes are in the minority.
As seen in Table 1, in the original poem, 58 processes were identified.Of these, thirty-seven (63.79%) are material processes; eleven (18.97%) are mental processes; nine (15.51%) are evenly distributed among relational, behavioural, and verbal processes; and one (1.73%) is an existential process.In the two English versions, material processes accounted for thirty-one (67.39%) and twenty-seven (55.10%) of the total in Bynner's and Xu's translations, respectively, and mental processes accounted for six (13.04%) and fifteen (30.61%), respectively.In the translations, material and mental processes emerge as the two primary types, while the other processes including relational, behavioural and existential are less prominent.Given that material processes involve the external aspects of our world including some physical actions performed by humans or animals (Thompson, 2014, p. 95), the poet and two translators from the fisherman's perspective, by employing material processes for the descriptions of his movements as well as the actions of other creatures in his sight, depict the natural scenery of the peach blossom land outside and inside, portray the hospitality of the villagers in the land, narrate what has happened to the villagers, and describe the fisherman's futile efforts and eagerness to find the land again, thereby presenting a picturesque natural, a friendly relationship between humans and an image of a fisherman seeking refuge in the woods.Such an ecological significance can be reflected not in any other processes but in material processes, wherefore material processes, both in the source text and in the English translations, occupy a large part among all types of transitivity processes.
Material processes involve the external aspects of our world, such as physical actions performed by humans or animals (Thompson, 2014, p. 95).Wang Wei, Bynner and Xu show the peach blossom land from the fisherman's perspective by employing material processes to describe his actions, the actions of the other creatures he observes, the peach blossom land's interior and exterior beauty, the villagers' hospitality, the events of villagers' lives and the fisherman's futile efforts and eagerness to find the land again.The poet presents a picturesque version of nature, a friendly relationship between humans and an image of a fisherman seeking refuge in a fairyland.This ecological significance is reflected best in material processes, which serve as a majority of its transitivity processes both in the source text and in the English translations.As such, the utilization of material processes elevates not only the texts themselves but also underscores their ecological significance in conveying deeper layers of meaning across languages.

Ecosophy Reflected in the Chinese and English Versions
Song of Peach Blossom Land describes the natural scenery, shows the friendly relationship between humans as well as exhibits the fisherman's hermitage complex to lead a rural life, three aspects of which correspond to the division of ecology (Lu, 2000, p. 146), wherein natural ecology regards nature as the object of research, thereby putting emphasis on the relationship between man and nature.Social ecology pays attention to the relationship between humans as well as between humans and society, exhibited by describing the economic, political and cultural life of humans.Spiritual ecology employs the internal feeling of humans as the research object; therefore, it focuses on the relationship between humans and their internal feelings.
Song of Peach Blossom Land depicts natural scenery, showcases the amicable ties among humans, and manifests the fisherman's hermitage complex for a rural life, three aspects of which align with the categorization of ecology (Lu, 2000, p. 146).Within his classification, natural ecology focuses on nature as its subject of study, emphasizing the relationship between humans and the natural world.Social ecology, on the other hand, centers on the relationships among humans and between humans and society, exemplified by the portrayal of humans' economic, political, and cultural lives.Lastly, spiritual ecology explores the internal feelings of humans, thereby highlighting the relationship between individuals and their inner feelings.

Natural Ecology
In both Chinese and English versions, there are ten lines depicting the natural scenery, among which the most representative four lines will be analyzed.
Both the Chinese and English versions feature ten lines that vividly depict the natural scenery in the peach blossom land.Of these lines, four particularly representative ones will be the focus of the subsequent analysis.
The animate participants come from nature and the inanimate participant is constructed by humans, reflecting the collision between nature and human beings.In Bynner's translation, in the two lines a material process "faces" indicates the fisherman's sights of the peach blossom, wherein houses are in a harmonious state with the trees and flowers.In Xu's translation, different from the original poem, the animate and inanimate participants become the subject with the two material processes "scrape" "scattered" personifying the action of "forest" and "bamboos and flowers", creating a picture of a vibrant scene.
The initial two lines depict three participants: two animate ones, "云树 yunshu (cloud trees)" and "花竹 huazhu (flowers and bamboos)", along with one inanimate participant, "千家 qianjia (thousands of houses)".These participants are brought to life through a behavioral process of "看 kan (look)" and a material process of "入 ru (enter)".The animate participants hail from nature, whereas the inanimate one is a creation of human beings, jointly symbolizing the collision between nature and mankind.In Bynner's translation, the material process "faces" illustrates the fisherman's view of the peach blossom, where houses coexist harmoniously with trees and flowers.
In contrast, Xu's translation takes a different approach.Diverging from the original poem, it elevates the animate and inanimate participants to the status of subjects.The two material processes "scrape" and "scattered" personify the actions of the "forest" and the "bamboos and flowers", creating a vivid portrayal of a lively scene.
In the subsequent two lines, the poet portrays a scene of the village at moonlight and sunrise.The carrier "房栊 fanglong (houses)"is described to be quiet by using a relational process "is" and the circumstantial elements "月 明 yueming (at bright moonlight)" "松下 songxia (under pines)" reinforce the noiseless atmosphere of the houses.
A verbal process "喧 xuan (cock crows and barks)" is employed to demonstrate the calling of chickens and dogs while circumstantial elements "日出 richu (at sunrise)" "云中 yunzhong (under clouds)" show the clean air quality.In Bynner's translation, he employs adverbials as circumstantial elements in the third line and one material process "fills" to enhance the color and spread of sunrise in the sky accompanied by crowing and barking.In Xu's translation, the participant "cots" is described quiet by using a behavioural process "looked" while the participant "cocks crow" is linked with the dog's bark by using a mental process "was heard", presenting a silent atmosphere.
In the subsequent two lines, the poet captures a serene scene of the village under the glow of moonlight and the rising sun.The carrier, denoted as "房栊 fanglong (houses)", is described as quiescent, emphasized by a relational process "is" and the circumstantial elements "月明 yueming (amidst the bright moonlight)" and "松下 songxia (beneath the pines)", which collectively underscore the serene atmosphere.A verbal process, "喧 xuan (the calls of chickens and dogs)", is invoked to depict the initial stirrings of life, while the circumstantial elements, "日出 richu (at sunrise)" and the "云中 yunzhong (amidst the clouds)", reveal the purity of the air.In Bynner's translation, he effectively utilizes adverbials as circumstantial elements in the third line, along with a material process "fills" to intensify the vibrant hues and expanse of the sunrise, accompanied by the resonating sounds of crowing and barking.Xu's translation, on the other hand, portrays the participant "cots" as serene, employing a behavioural process "looked" to convey their stillness.The participant "cocks crow" is seamlessly linked to the dog's bark through a mental process "was heard", creating an atmosphere of serenity.
Above all, the four lines consider the natural scenery in the peach blossom land as the research object, thereby demonstrating the harmonious relationship between man and nature.
Primarily, the four lines focus on the natural scenery of the peach blossom land, employing it as the central research subject.Through this examination, they effectively illustrate the harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

Social Ecology
Similarly, ten lines in the poem describes the reason of the existence of villagers in the peach blossom land and the behaviors of villagers inviting the fisherman home, in which four lines summarize the two aspects mentioned above.
Analogously, within the poem, ten lines elucidate the rationale for the villagers' existence in the peach blossom land and their actions in inviting the fisherman into their abode.Notably, four lines within this section concisely encapsulate the two aforementioned aspects.
(Bynner's: …At news of a stranger the people all assemble, And each of them invited him home and asks him where he was born.)(Xu's: Curious about the stranger, they came from up and down, Led him to their cottage and asked about the town.)
(Bynner's: They had left the world long ago, they had come here seeking refuge; They had lived like angles ever since, blessedly far away.)(Xu's: Their fathers left the war-torn land to flee from woe, This fairyland was found, away they would not go.) Social ecology regards humans as the research object so that the first two lines omit the pronoun "villagers" to describe their shock of the appearance of the fisherman as well as their actions of inviting the fisherman home by employing a mental process "闻 wen (hear)" and three material processes "集 ji (gather)" "引 yin (invite)" "还 huan (come back)", expressing the simplicity and hospitality of villagers.In Bynner's translation, the first mental process is placed by an adverbial.Though the pronoun "people" appears, it has a broad sense so that employing "villagers" will be more accurate.The subsequent line employs a material process "invite" to cover the meaning of "引 yin (invite)" "还 huan (come back)" in the source text.In Xu's translation, he employs an adverbial modifier "curious about the stranger" and a verbal process "asked" to express villagers' curiosity of the world outside, followed by two material processes "came" "led" which express their eager to invite the fisherman to their houses through continuous characterization of their actions.
Social ecology considers humans as the focal point of its research; thus, the initial lines of the text omit the pronoun "villagers" to portray their astonishment upon encountering the fisherman and their subsequent actions of welcoming him into their homes.This portrayal is achieved through the employment of a mental process "闻 wen (hear)" and three material processes, namely "集 ji (gather)", "引 yin (invite)", and "还 huan (come back)".These processes effectively convey the simplicity and hospitality inherent in the villagers' culture.In Bynner's translation, the initial mental process is modified as an adverbial, which slightly alters the narrative flow.While the use of the pronoun "people" is present, it lacks the specificity of "villagers", making the latter a more precise choice.Additionally, the subsequent line opts for a single material process "invite" to encapsulate the meanings of both "引 yin (invite)" and "还 huan (come back)" from the source text.On the other hand, Xu introduces an adverbial modifier "curious about the stranger" and a verbal process "asked" to capture the villagers' curiosity about the outside world.This is followed by two material processes, "came" and "led", which vividly depict the villagers' eagerness to invite the fisherman into their homes through a sequential narrative of their actions.
The following two lines explain why the peach blossom land exists.Five material processes including "避 bi (escape)", "去 qu (leave)", "至 zhi (arrive)", "成 cheng (find out)" and "还 huan (return)" are employed for the description of the decision their ancestors made and actions they took to indicate their satisfaction and love for the peach blossom land and their decision of never returning.In Bynner's translation, there are four material processes including "had left", "had come", "seeking", and "lived".The material process "seeking" and its phenomenon "refuge" reflect that the reason why they leave the world outside is the political turmoil in the outside world; the following material process "lived" is modified by a circumstantial element "blessedly far away", indicating their happiness of living here.In Xu's translation, he employs four material processes, wherein the material process "flee from" indicates the danger of the land they lived and its phenomenon "woe" demonstrates their troubles.The subsequent line adopts the participant "fairyland" to represent the peach blossom land, indicating that it is a beautiful, special and unusual place as well as reflecting their love for it.
The following two lines elucidate the reason of the existence of the peach blossom land.Five material processes, "避(escape)", "去(leave)", "至(arrive)", "成 (discover)", and "还(return)", are skillfully employed to depict the decisions and actions taken by their ancestors.These processes aptly convey their profound satisfaction and affection for the peach blossom land as well as their resolute decision to never return.In Bynner's translation, four material processes, "had left", "had come", "seeking" and "lived", are employed.The process "seeking" and its associated phenomenon "refuge" reveal that their departure from the outside world was motivated by political unrest.The subsequent process "lived" modified by the circumstantial element "blessedly far away" reflects their contentment in their new abode.In Xu's translation, on the other hand, he employs four material processes, wherein a material process "flee from" underscores the peril of their former land, while its phenomenon "woe" highlights their struggles.The subsequent line introduces the participant "fairyland" as a synonym for the peach blossom land, emphasizing its beauty, uniqueness, and their profound affection for it.
The two lines primarily show the friendly attitude of villagers in the land to a stranger outside the land, indicating the good relationship between humans; subsequent two lines indicate the chaotic political background of the time, thereby enhancing their ardently love for an isolated pastoral life.
Collectively, these two lines primarily exhibit the amicable attitude of the villagers towards an outsider, thereby describing harmonious human relationships within the land.The subsequent two lines, meanwhile, allude to the tumultuous political background of the era, further intensifying their ardent love for an isolated, pastoral life.

Spiritual Ecology
Spiritual ecology focuses on the exploration of humans' heart.In the poem, four representative lines express the spiritual ecology through the comparison.
(Bynner's: …The fisherman, unaware of his great good fortune, Begins to think of country, of home, of worldly ties.)(Xu's: Knowing not such fairyland was hard to be refound, The fisherman longed to go back to his native ground.)
(Bynner's: Finds his way out of the cave again, past mountains and past rivers, Intending some time to return, when he was told his kin.) (Xu's: He left the place and passed over mountains and streams, But how could he forget the scene of his dear dreams?) In the first two lines, the poet describes the fisherman's mental state by employing three mental processes to express the difficulty of finding the peach blossom land and expresses his homesickness by means of a material process "尽 jin (end)" and a mental process "思 si (miss)".In the subsequent two lines, five material processes including "出 chu (leave)", "隔 ge (separate)", "辞 ci (leave)", "拟 ni (prepare)" and "游衍 youyan (linger)" are adopted to make a description of fishermen's actions, thereby revealing his yearning to lead a rural life in the land.In Bynner's translation, four lines form a long sentence by employing two material processes "begins" "finds" and an adverbial clause.Material processes adopted are to indicate his behaviors of returning home and seeking the land while mental processes including "think of" and "intending" to present his long for his home and his yearning for the peach blossom land.In Xu's translation, he uses three mental processes encompassing "knowing", "longed to" and "forget" to reveal his conflicted state of mind as well as three material processes consisting of "go back to", "left" and "passed over" to describe his movements to his home.
In the first two lines, the poet employs three mental processes to capture the fisherman's struggle in seeking the elusive peach blossom land, coupled with a material process "尽 jin (end)" and a mental process "思 si (miss)" to evoke a sense of homesickness.The subsequent lines depict the fisherman's actions through five material processes, such as "出 chu (leave)", "隔 ge (separate)", "辞 ci (leave)", "拟 ni (prepare)", and "游衍 youyan (linger)", revealing his profound yearning for a rural lifestyle.In Bynner's translation, the four lines are formed into a single, cohesive sentence, highlighting the fisherman's behaviors of returning home and searching for the land through material processes like "begins" and "finds".Mental processes such as "think of" and "intending" further emphasize his longing for both his native soil and the idealized peach blossom land.In contrast, Xu's translation uses three mental processes encompassing "knowing", "longed to", and "forget" to expose the fisherman's conflicting emotions.Additionally, three material processes, including "go back to", "left", and "passed over", describe his movements towards home.
The fisherman, as an embodiment of the poet, longs for his hometown though; he still makes up his mind to retreat to the peach blossom land, through the comparison of which his extreme desire for the pastoral life is demonstrated.
As a symbolic figure representing the poet, the fisherman's ambivalent feelings towards his hometown and the peach blossom land are portrayed.His ultimate decision to retreat to the latter demonstrates the overwhelming desire he holds for a pastoral life.

Discussion
Although the scenery, friendly villagers and a fisherman yearning for freedom are exhibited in the poem, Song of Peach Blossom Land is derived from 桃花源记 Taohuayuanji (The Peach Colony) by Tao Yuanming, which was written in a dynastic period of great corruption when the warlords fought for years and the heavy taxation deepened the exploitation of people, thereby a fantasy of the peach blossom land coming into being.The fisherman in the poem is an epitome of the poet and people living in that social background, who attempt to seek such a peaceful and safe place to lead a life.Their strong desire for living in the peach blossom land is demonstrated by the material processes "逐 zhu (chase)" "不还 buhuan (never return)" "辞家 cijia (leave the hometown)" "游衍 youyan (linger)" and the mental process "爱 ai (love)".Participants such as "武陵源 wulingyuan (peach blossom land)", "田园 tianyuan (idyll)", "云林 yunlin (a place with clouds and forests)" and "仙园 xianyuan (fairyland)" reveal the people's affection for the peach blossom land.
Although the poem, Song of Peach Blossom Land, exquisitely portrays the scenery, amiable villagers, and a fisherman yearning for freedom, its origins can be traced back to Taohua Yuan Ji (The Peach Colony) by Tao Yuanming, which was penned during a tumultuous dynastic era, when warlords clashed for years and oppressive taxation deepened the exploitation of the people.As a result, a fantasy of the peach blossom land emerged, offering an escape from the harsh realities of the time.The fisherman in the poem serves as an epitome of both the poet and the people living in that era, sharing aspiration to find a peaceful and secure haven.Their intense longing for the peach blossom land is evident through material processes such as "逐 zhu (chasing)", "不还 buhuan (never returning)", "辞家 cijia (leaving the hometown)" and "游衍 youyan (lingering)", as well as a mental process of "爱 ai (loving)".Furthermore, participants like "武陵源 wulingyuan (peach blossom land)", "田园 tianyuan (idyll)", "云林 yunlin (a place shrouded in clouds and forests)", and "仙源 xianyuan (fairyland)" underscore the people's affection for this utopian realm.
People's fantasy of such a peaceful land exposes an insufferable reality.The brutality of war is devastating in the destruction of nature and loss of countless life; therefore, people are deprived of the opportunity to close to nature and live a pleasing life with their family and their neighbors.In the poem, villagers living in the peach blossom land construct a harmonious relationship with nature, exhibited by integrating lush peach blossoms, thick red balls, clear streams, vibrant cock crows and barks and the dense jungle with the flat land and tidy houses.In contrast to the delightful scene, wars exist in that social background, revealed by the line "初因避地去人间 chuyin bidi qurenjian (they left the outside world primarily because of the war)".Continuous wars, launched by humans, lead to the disappearance of these natural beauties, thereby revealing the unequal and disharmonious relationship between man and nature in that society.Besides, in the poem, the line "峡里谁知有人事 xiali shuizhi yourenshi (villagers lived in seclusion in the land, regardless of the outside changes)" demonstrates that although villagers were curious about the outside world, they would not leave the peach blossom land.After that, the fisherman returned to the peach blossom land, but searched in vain.On the one hand, it shows the concealment of the peach blossom land.On the other hand, it reveals the unwillingness of villagers to be found.The fact is that they don't want to go through the hardships of wars again and they are suspicious of the people outside the land, thereby revealing a crisis of trust between people.
People's longing for a peaceful land starkly contrasts with the unbearable reality of war.The destructive nature of conflict wreaks havoc on the environment and claims countless lives, denying individuals the opportunity to intimately engage with nature and enjoy a harmonious existence with their loved ones and neighbors.In the poem, villagers residing in the idyllic peach blossom land forge a seamless bond with their surroundings, evident in the lush peach blossoms, verdant jungles, clear streams, and the peaceful coexistence of domestic animals and tidy dwellings.However, the serene scene is juxtaposed against the existence of wars in the poem's social background, as alluded to by the line "初因避地去人间 chuyin bidi qurenjian (they fled the external world primarily due to war)".These perpetual wars, perpetrated by mankind, result in the disappearance of natural beauty, thus exposing the unequal and discordant relationship between humanity and nature within that society.Furthermore, the poem's line "峡里谁知有人事 xiali shuizhi yourenshi (villagers dwelt in secluded solitude, oblivious to external changes)" suggests that despite their curiosity about the external world, the villagers refused to abandon the peach blossom land.Subsequently, the fisherman's futile search upon returning to the peach blossom land not only highlights the land's concealment but also emphasizes the villagers' reluctance to be discovered.Their aversion to reliving the horrors of war and their distrust of outsiders reveal a profound crisis of trust among people.
In summary, a chaotic war background causes an imbalanced relationship between man and nature as well as a serious confidence crisis between man and man.
In summary, a chaotic war background disrupts the harmonious relationship between humans and nature, leading to imbalances and conflicts.Simultaneously, it also results in a profound crisis of trust among individuals, causing uncertainty and distrust.in Xu's.
Four inaccurate expressions appear in Bynner's translation and one in Xu's translation.The initial inaccurate translation appears in the fourth line in Bynner's translation.The fourth line in the original poem describes that the fisherman came to the end of the blue stream but no one appears while Bynner translates that there are "strange men", thereby incorrectly expressing the meaning of the source text.The subsequent inaccurate translation is in the sixteenth line, where in the original poem the poet expresses that villagers in the land ask for news from the outside world but Bynner mistakenly translates into asking for "where he was born".In the twentieth line the poet employs the word "仙 xian (fairyland)" to point to the peach blossom land; however, Bynner translates the word into "angles" to point to the villagers.In addition to Bynner's translation, Xu's translation also has one inaccurate expression, that is, "a style now no one could know", which appears in the tenth line but the poet directly points out that villagers wear clothes from the Qin Dynasty, thereby mistranslating the original meaning.
In Bynner's translation, four inaccuracies stand out.Firstly, in the fourth line, the original poem depicts the fisherman reaching the end of a blue stream with no one in sight, but Bynner mistakenly translates it as the presence of "strange men", altering the intended meaning.Secondly, in the sixteenth line, the poet writes about villagers inquiring about news from the outside world, but Bynner incorrectly translates it as asking about "where he was born".Thirdly, in the twenty-first line, the word "仙 (xian)", which refers to the peach blossom land, is translated by Bynner as "angles", misleadingly pointing to the villagers instead.Meanwhile, Xu's translation also contains one inaccurate expression.In the tenth line, the poet clearly states that the clothes the villagers wore are from the Qin Dynasty, but Xu mistranslates it as "a style now no one could know", deviating from the original meaning.
There are three ambiguous meanings.In Bynner's translation, one is in the ninth line, in which the poet intends to indicate that the name is from the Han Dynasty but the adverbial "in the ancient speech of Han" in Bynner's translation can either modify the predicate or the object, leading to the ambiguity in the modification.Another is in the twenty-eighth line, wherein the poet expresses fisherman's astonishment for the change of the mountains but Bynner employs a mental process "forget" and a material process "may vary", which indicate that fisherman has already knew the change of cliffs and peaks, causing the ambiguity in tense.In Xu's translation, Xu translates "都邑 duyi (the outside world)" into "town" to rhyme with "know" but it is not clear whether it refers to a specific town or the outside world, causing ambiguity in meaning.
There are indeed three ambiguous meanings in the translations.Firstly, in Bynner's translation, the ninth line poses an ambiguity due to the use of the adverbial phrase "in the ancient speech of Han".This phrase could potentially modify either the predicate or the object, leading to uncertainty in modification about whether the name is derived from the Han Dynasty or if it's simply being referenced in the context of Han's ancient language.Clarity is sacrificed in this instance, resulting in a loss of precision.Secondly, in the twenty-eighth line, Bynner's translation introduces ambiguity through the use of a mental process "forget" and a material process "may vary".These choices suggest that the fisherman is already aware of the changes in the cliffs and peaks, which conflicts with the original intention of expressing the fisherman's astonishment upon witnessing the changing of the mountains, causing the ambiguity in tense.Lastly, in Xu's translation, the use of "town" to translate "都邑 duyi (the outside world)" creates ambiguity.While rhyming with "know" might seem like a clever choice, it fails to capture the broader meaning of it, which often refers to the outside world, thereby causing ambiguity in meaning.

Conclusion
This paper validates the applicability of employing a SFL approach to conduct an Ecological Discourse Analysis of pastoral poems.On the one hand, it provides a fresh perspective for analyzing pastoral poems.On the other hand, it examines the discourses within the poem and its translations from three ecological viewpoints encompassing nature ecology, social ecology, and spiritual ecology.The objective is to enhance awareness about environmental protection and foster a harmonious relationship between humans and nature.Moreover, this study emphasizes that due to inherent linguistic barriers between Chinese and English, inevitable inaccuracies and ambiguities arise in translating pastoral poems.Therefore, this paper urges translators to accurately comprehend the profound meaning of the original text in order to bridge the gap in Chinese-English translation.

(
Bynner's: And far beyond he faces clouds crowning a reach of trees, And thousands of houses shadowed round with flowers and bamboos….)(Xu's: Viewed from afar, the forest seemed to scrape the sky; Bamboos and flowers scattered in houses nearby.)月明松下房栊静，日出云中鸡犬喧。 Yueming songxia fanglongjing, richu yunzhong jiquanxuan.(Bynner's: Their dwellings at peace under pines in the clear moon, Until sunrise fills the low sky with crowing and barking.)(Xu's: Under moonlit pines cots looked quiet in the dark, Up to the sunlit clouds cocks crow was heard with dog's bark.)

Table 1 .
Distribution of Transitivity Processes in the Chinese and English Versions