Abstract
E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) published an article reviewing Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) in the ＂Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung＂ in 1810. In this review, Hoffmann not only offered a detailed music analysis, introduced the idea of Romantic Movement originated around 1800, but also suggested that instrumental music is the most romantic of all arts. This review inspired Hoffmann's contemporaries and its influence looms large in the development of music aesthetics for generations to come, making it one of the most important treatises for understanding western music history. In this translation, the translator tries to reproduce Hoffmann's unique Romantic diction and style in the Chinese language. By juxtaposing this with the technical terminology of music analysis, we see how Hoffmann conveyed in words the unsayable transcendental experience brought about by the instrumental music.