The meaning of 的and之 is the same.的is used more often nowadays than 之 in daily communication.之 is used in Chinese poetry,something poetic,or in ancient times.Sometimes 之 is easily found in textbooks,newspaper,magazines,and so on,but won't be founded in daily conversations.

“的”现代经常用，要在不同的词语和句子里面来理解，“之”古代常用，也是根据不同的语言环境来解释。建议不要钻牛角尖，要先整体，后局部。

1.“之”字是古代流传下来的，所以成语都用“之”，在成语使用它，句子更加简洁。例如：一家之言，一念之差，一面之交。这些都不能用“的”字代替。这些成语都是要硬记的。 2.“之”字带有古代的痕迹，平时说话很少用到。 3.看看以下的句子：“花之语”，意思是花的言语或者是花的话。但不能说“花的语”。“花之吻”可以说成“花的吻”。“之”字可以和古代的词语搭配，但“的”就很少。“花之语”和“花之吻”都带有古典浪漫色彩。 4.之字经常用于影视或文学作品的标题，例如：射雕英雄传之华山论剑。 如果平时说话，很少用到“之”的。除了引用。 仅供参考。

Literally, " 之“ sometimes means " 的”or third person in the ancient Chinese language. In mordern Chinese, " 之”also means "的”, and is mostly used in written Chinese and some fixed common language. e.g. “他是如此之可爱。”---He is so lovely "可怜之人必有可恨之处" --- There must have been something hateful in the person who is so pitiable now. 之前（ ....时间以前）--- before 之后 （....时间以后）---- after 听之任之 ------- let it/him/he/them be

how to translate "之", it is depends on ur sentence, not only this character.