Introduction Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist who has a great influence on popular music, youth culture and American politics. He combines music and literature to express his philosophical attitude towards life by lyrics. His accomplishments in the literary and musical world have influenced generations of Americans. In 2016 Bob Dylan was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature for ”having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. Bob Dylan#8217;s songs are not primarily treated as songs by critics. In their eyes, his songs should be analyzed and translated from some respects of literature to help readers understand them more accurately. Indeed, his lyrics have both the characteristics of poetry and music. Consequently, I view Bob Dylan#8217;s lyrics as poems in this thesis. The thesis aims to evaluate the Chinese renditions of Bob Dylan#8217;s lyrics from the perspective of skopos theory. Literature review In the 1970s, functionalist translation theory emerged in Germany. Katherine Rei#223; (2014: 85-92) first introduced the functional category into translation criticism, associated language function, text type with translation strategy, and developed a translation criticism model based on the relationship between source language and translation function. Rei#223; believes that the ideal translation should be a comprehensive communicative translation, which is to say that the conceptual content, the linguistic form and the communicative function are equal to the original text, but in practice, the functional characteristics of translation should be given priority. Vermeer (2014: 85-92) proposed the skopos theory to rid translation studies of source-text-oriented theory. The theory claims that translation is a purposeful and fruitful behavior based on the original text. This behavior must be completed through negotiation. The translation must follow a series of rules, in which the principle of purpose is in the first place. In other words, translation depends on the purpose of the translation. In addition, translations must follow the ”intra-language coherence rules” and ”inter-language coherence rules.” Hirsch (1967: 209-214; 292-293) points out intratextual coherence implies a hermeneutic circle: sections of a text are interpreted on the basis of the assumed sense of the whole text, but the sense of the whole text can only be construed from the sections themselves. The consideration of extra textual factors leads to a ”most probable” coherence (Hirsch 1967: 293-294). Inter-language coherence, a general theoretical outline of the relationship between the source and target texts in translation, is determined by the translator#8217;s understanding of the source text. Due to the above two rules proposed by Hirsch, the criteria for evaluating translation are no longer ”equivalence”, but the sufficiency of the translation to achieve the desired goals. Vermeer (1998: 235-237) also proposed the concept of translation commission－the translator should decide whether, when, how to complete the translation task. In other words, the translator should adopt the corresponding translation strategy according to different translation purposes, and have the right to decide which content of the original text can be retained and which needs to be adjusted or modified according to the purpose of the translation. Vermeer (2018: 9-66) believes that the most advanced law in translation should be ”the law of purpose”. In other words, the purpose of translation determines the strategy and method of translation. When it comes to translating songs, Cheng Shuiping and He Gaoda (2009: 100-103) argue that the basic functions of the original text should be kept so that the target audience can have the same emotional feeling and resonance as the source audience through the singing of the singer and the auditory appreciation, In order to enable the audience of another language environment to receive the same artistic effect as the original work, the translator must find the artistic conception and artistic image that can reproduce the original work in the target language, and mobilize and inspire the audience to produce an equal or a similar form of language. To accord with the principle of purpose, you must grasp the original text-emotion, style, and content-in three ways. Additionally, rhythm is also crucial for song translation. Xue Fan (2002: 66-67) believes that ”the rhyming lyrics are more convenient to sing and easy to remember”. Rhymes use the harmonious rhythm to express the artistic conception and emotion of poetry and music more vividly, thus resonating with people. Both rhythm and rhyme in lyrics are all functional. The lyrics are to sing. Consequently, while translating lyrics, the translator should match the lyrics with the need to sing, to convey the original thoughts and feelings, and to be consistent with the rhythm and rhyme of the original. Research on Bob Dylan#8217;s work began as early as the 1960s when his lyrics were first used for course design and promoted to schools by the former British poet Laureate Andrew Motion. However, up until now few studies have focused on the translation of Bob Dylan#8217;s lyrics. Consequently, Bob Dylan's works are only accessible to the Chinese audience in some music magazines, while the related books published after the 21st century are restricted to his lyrics. References Katharina Rei#223; and Hans J. Vermeer. (2014). Towards a General Theory of Translational Action: Skopos Theory Explained. New York: Routledge. Vermeer, Hans J. (2000). Skopos and commission in translation action (Andrew Chesterman trans.). In L. Venuti (ed.) The Translation Studies Reader (pp. 221-232). New York: Routledge. Richard Elliott. (2009). The Same Distant Places: Bob Dylan#8217;s Poetics of Place and Displacement, Popular Music and Society, 32(2), 249-270. Mona Baker. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. New York: Routledge. Moorkens, J., Castilho, S., Gaspari, F., Doherty, S. (Eds.). (2018). Translation Quality Assessment: From Principles to Practice. Switzerland: Springer. 薛范 (2002), 歌曲翻译探索与实践，武汉：湖北教育出版社。

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