20230630 final exam 02

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202270081639 李心田 Li Xintian 英语笔译(English translation)

A Review of the English Translation and Transmission of Tao Te Ching

李心田, 202270081639

Abstract

Tao Te Ching, as an important work of Chinese classics, has been translated into various languages and versions and widely studied in the past hundreds of years. Its spread overseas is a classic case of Chinese traditional culture going to the world. Based on the most cited and recent Chinese and English papers, this article makes a holistic and systematic literature review on the English translation and transmission of Tao Te Ching.

Key Words

Tao Te Ching; English translation studies; transmission; literature review

摘要

《道德经》是中国文化典籍中的重要组成部分，外译语种和译本众多，是中华传统文化走向世界传播中的经典案例。本文选取了引用较多及较新的相关中英文献为语料，对《道德经》的英译研究及传播进行了概括性综述。

关键词

《道德经》 英译研究 传播 综述

Introduction

Tao Te Ching, also called Laozi, was written by Laozi (or Li Er) in the Spring and Autumn Period. With only 5000 words, it is the first work with a complete philosophy system in the history of Chinese philosophy and covers an outlook on cosmology, life and Socio-Political Ideology. Its philosophical and aesthetic theories have had a profound impact on traditional Chinese philosophy, aesthetics, science, politics, religion, and so on.

Correction: Tao Te Ching, also called Laozi, was written by Laozi (or Li Er) in the Spring and Autumn Period. With only 5000 words, it is the first work with a complete philosophy system in the history of Chinese philosophy and covers an outlook on cosmology, life and Socio-Political Ideology. Its philosophical and aesthetic theories have had a profound impact on traditional Chinese philosophy, aesthetics, science, politics, religion, and so on.

Moreover, as a Taoist classic, Tao Te Ching has long attracted the attention of Western missionaries and sinologists. Since the 16th century, Tao Te Ching has been translated into various languages. According to Wu Zhiyong and Liu Zixiao (Wu Zhiyong & Liu Zixiao, 2020, 15), up to May 2020, there are 553 English translations, 91 French translations, 69 Russian translations, 298 German translations, and 95 Spanish translations of Tao Te Ching. What’s more, in light of the statistics from UNESCO, Tao Te Ching is the world’s cultural masterpiece that has been translated into the most foreign languages only after the Bible. Tao Te Ching’s influence on the West is mainly achieved through its various translations, which serve as a bridge for communication and understanding between China and the West, spreading China’s splendid culture, and enabling the West to better understand China.

Moreover, as a Taoist classic, Tao Te Ching has long attracted the attention of Western missionaries and sinologists. Since the 16th century, Tao Te Ching has been translated into various languages. According to Wu Zhiyong and Liu Zixiao (Wu Zhiyong & Liu Zixiao, 2020, 15), up to May 2020, there are 553 English translations, 91 French translations, 69 Russian translations, 298 German translations, and 95 Spanish translations of Tao Te Ching. What’s more, in the light of the statistics from UNESCO, Tao Te Ching is a world’s cultural masterpiece that has been translated into the most foreign languages only after the Bible. Tao Te Ching’s influence on the west is mainly achieved through its various translations, which serves as a bridge for communication and understanding between China and the West, spreading China’s splendid culture, and enabling the West to better understand China.

The earliest English translation of Tao Te Ching is John Chalmers’ The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality, of the “Old Philosopher”, Lao-tsze published in 1868. The first Chinese to translate the Tao Te Ching is Hu Zilin, which was published in 1936. Major translators of Tao Te Ching include Paul Carus (1898), Heysinger (1903), Arthur Waley (1934), Chu Dagao (1937), Wu Jingxiong (1939), Lin Yutang (1948), Tai Geer (1960), Xu Yuanchong (2006), etc. As to the academic research on the English translation of Tao Te Ching, the earliest one is On D. C. Lau’s English Translation of Tao Te Ching published in 1988 written by Li Yiyin. Since then, the research on the English translation of Tao Te Ching has gradually developed and there has been a research climax of it in recent years. (Jiao Yan & Liu Wenjuan, 2011, 148)

A Review of the Research on the English Translation and Transmission of Tao Te Ching at Home and Abroad

Research on the English translation and transmission of the Tao Te Ching at home and abroad is many in quantity and diversified in categories. The author groups these studies from four types according to their research perspectives including (1) Analysis and Comparison of Different Translation Versions, (2) Research on the Translation of Core Concepts, (3) Translation Research Based on a Certain Theory or Perspective, (4) The Transmission of the Tao Te Ching in the English Speaking World.

Correction: Research on the English translation and transmission of the Tao Te Ching at home and abroad is many in quantity and diversified in categories. The author groups these studies into four types according to their research perspectives including (1) Analysis and Comparison of Different Translation Versions, (2) Research on the Translation of Core Concepts, (3) Translation Research Based on a Certain Theory or Perspective, (4) The Transmission of the Tao Te Ching in the English-speaking World.

Analysis and Comparison of Different Translation Versions

Comparing and analyzing translated texts is an important method for conducting research on translation theory and practice. Domestics scholars' analysis and comparative research on translated texts mainly include single translation analysis and comparative analysis between two or more translations. Most studies compare the accuracy of translations, focus on analyzing and studying whether the translators can meet the translation requirements of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance, and thus make judgments on the quality of the translations.

Analysis of Single Translations

In the analysis of single translations, researchers usually choose an influential translation of a Western sinologist or a Chinese scholar as their research object. They mainly compare the translation with important chapters and core concepts in the Tao Te Ching and comment on the achievements and losses of the translation.

In 2020, the Journal of Chengdu University published the paper Simplest Tao, Silent Row: An Analysis of John Minford’s English Translation of Tao Te Ching written by Cui Wei (Cui Wei, 2020, 89-95). In the article Cui Wei has made a descriptive analysis of the English translation of the English sinologist John Minford from the perspective of the translator’s study and research experience, the selection of the original text, the arrangement of the translated text, and the comments on the translation. According to Cui Wei, Minford’s translation is neat and exquisite, his words used are easy to understand and clearly expressed the original meaning. Both the rhetoric and phonology of the original text are properly showed in the target text. Even though there are some arguable aspects in the translation, it does not hinder the overall expression effect of the translation.

Analysis of Two or More Translated Versions

The analysis of two or more translations is to compare and evaluate the translations of two or more translators with the original text of Tao Te Ching. For the selection of translators, researchers usually select representative Chinese scholars and Western sinologists. Through comparing the translations of Chinese and Western scholars, the researchers explore the differences in understanding of philosophical concepts contained in Chinese cultural classics and language expression methods between Chinese and foreign translators under the cultural differences between China and the West. Zhang Xuran, etc. have analyzed four translated versions of Tao Te Ching in their paper A Corpus-based Comparative Study on the Translation Styles of Tao Te Ching. (Zhang Xuran, etc., 2022, 33) The study adopts a corpus approach and selects four English translations of the Toa Te Ching (Legge, Waley, Gu Zhengkun, and Xu Yuanchong) as their research objects.

They have found that: (1) From a diachronic perspective, all four translations reflect the characteristics of their own times. In the early versions, vocabulary density is higher, sentence structures are more complex, and sentence lengths are flexible. Translators often use literal translation method. While in the recent versions, the vocabulary density is relatively lower, with more concise wording and sentence structures. The translation methods adopted by the translators are more flexible, retaining more elements of Chinese culture. (2) From the perspective of translator identity, the translations of Western translators reflect missionary needs of the country and society of their own countries, as well as the post-war longing for Eastern culture. However, the translations of Chinese translators are more to spread Chinese culture, which shows the translators’ cultural confidence.

Also, Jifeng CAO selected four versions of translation of the Tao Te Ching translated by Chinese translators Ren Jiyu and Lin yutang and English translators James Legge and Arthur Waley and then a quantitative study was carried out based on comparison and analysis of comparable texts. In the end, the study revealed the differences between Chinese translators and their English counterparts in terms of words and sentence patterns and provided possible reasons of the differences. (Jifeng CAO, 2014, 77-80)

Julian F. Pas also discussed the Tao Te Ching from this perspective in his article Recent Translations of the Tao Te Ching. (Julian F. Pas, 2016, 127-141) The author compared three new translations of the Tao Te Ching and pointed out the positive sides and negative sides of each version and then expressed his hope to see translators work as a team to produce a version that is both academically sound, and elegant in expression in the future.

Research on the Translation of Core Concepts

Some core words and sentences rich in Laozi’s philosophical ideas are the focus of many researchers studying Tao Te Ching, among which are “道”, “自然”, and “德”.

The Core Concept “道”

He Huaqian and Zhou Guijun have made a study on the diachronic evolution and motivation of the English translation of Tao Te Ching based on its core concept “道”. (He Huaqian & Zhou Guijun, 2022, 56) Based on a corpus of 143 English translations of the Tao Te Ching (1868-2020), the authors have studied the translators’ translations and interpretations of Laozi’s thoughts from a diachronic perspective by taking the core concept “道” as an example. They have found that the English translation of “道” has gone through four stages: the creative translation stage where there was no definite translation of “道”; the definite translation stage where “道” was mainly translated into “TAO” and “Way” in other times; the tracing stage where “道” was translated into “DAO”; the diversified stage where various translated versions coexisted.

The Core Concept “自然”

Yang Cuicui and Tang Wei discussed the translation of “自然” in their paper An Analysis of the Cross-cultural Interpretation of Spontaneously-so-ing in Daodejing. (Yang Cuicui & Tang Wei, 2020, 121-128) They put the translation of “自然” within the context of Taoist thought to sort out the original and basic connotations of this term. Then based on the analysis of the existing English translations, and in a cross-cultural context, the authors explored how to maximize the preservation of the unique cultural connotations of “自然” in the target language. They finally provided a possible translation “spontaneously-so-ing” for “自然”.

The Core Concept “德”

Zhang Yuan studied the translation of “德” in her article A Textual Analysis on the Loss and Achievements of English Interpreting of “De” in “Dao De Jing” (Zhang Yuan, 2012, 104). In this article, Zhang Yuan first sorted out the meaning of Laozi’s “德”, and then compared the translations of the key sentences containing “德” by typical translators in the kinds of religion, philosophy, Chinese, and romance, as well as analyzed the psychological process of the translators’ diction to translate “德”. It is concluded that due to cultural background, historical roots, cognitive differences, and other reasons, the translators’ interpretations of “德” each only perceived the actual connotation of “德” from a certain perspective and level and can only touch a certain aspect of Laozi’s ideological connotation. Worse still, there are even many examples of inaccuracy, incompleteness, errors and fallacies.

On the Core Concepts

Shaun C. R. Ramsden in his paper The Dàodéjīng: A 2022 Translation rendered an English translation of the Dao De Ching which is close to the original text. In the meantime, he provided some possible translations to some core concepts in the Tao Te Ching. He defined “道” as “an action or movement within emptiness”, “无为” as “emptiness in action, and “德” as “quiescence”. (Shaun C. R. Ramsden, 2022, 73).

Translation Research Based on a Certain Theory or Perspective

Since the 1980s and 1990s, translation scholars represented by Basnet have no longer limited the focus of translation to the field of linguistics, but have begun to shift translation studies towards a “cultural turn”—focusing on cultural research in the translation process. After that, theoretical resources such as philosophy and hermeneutics were introduced into the field of translation research, and these transformations in the field of translation have provided rich research perspectives for the translation studies of Laozi’s philosophy. Many researchers have explored the English translation of the Tao Te Ching from a multidisciplinary and multi-dimensional perspective and achieved abundant research results based on theories like philosophy, hermeneutics, Eco-Translatology and so on.

Translation Study Based on Philosophical Hermeneutics

From the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics, Shi Xuedong conducted a comparative study on the English versions of the Tao Te Ching. (Shi Xuedong, 2016, 100-103) Hermeneutics, as an important theory, has become a hot spot since it was introduced into Chinese philosophy in the 1980s. From the perspective of philosophical interpretation, translation is essentially a limited act of interpretation. The process of translation is also the fusion of two perspectives, namely the fusion of the source language perspective and the fusion of the translator and target language perspective. Based on the theory of hermeneutics, different translators living in the same era with the same cultural background or the same translator in different eras will provide different translations due to the fusion of different perspectives.

After analyzing the different translations of the Tao Te Ching, Shi Xuedong has found that the translation is first influenced by the translator’s understanding of the source language, and the translator’s perspective is also influenced by the times and society. And then he pointed out that although there is no perfect translation of the Tao Te Ching, there will be relatively perfect translations at specific times. At the same time, although no translation of the Tao Te Ching can satisfy everyone in any era, the Tao Te Ching is like an inexhaustible treasure trove of philosophy. One translation obviously cannot explain its profound meaning. Only by comparing multiple translations can we approach the true meaning of the Tao Te Ching more closely.

Translation Study Based on Eco-Translatology

Eco-Translatology is another research trend following the shift from linguistics to humanities in translation studies. At the beginning of the 21st century, renowned Chinese translator Hu Gengshen proposed a new concept of Eco-Translatology, which explores translation issues from an ecological perspective and explains the essence, process, standards, and methods of translation from the perspectives of “selection” and “adaptation”.

For example, Yin Xi applied Eco-Translatology to analyze and compare the translations of Arthur Waley and Liu Dianjue from three dimensions: language, culture, and communication so as to better understand the two translator’s translation process of the Tao Te Ching in her thesis The Contrastive Study of Different Translations of Tao Te Ching from an Eco-translatology Perspective——Based on Translations of Arthur Waley and D. C. Lau. (Yin Xi, 2018, 26)

The Transmission of the Tao Te Ching in the English-Speaking World

It has been over 150 years since the Tao Te Ching entered the English-speaking world. Over the past century and a half, the English translations of the Tao Te Ching have been diverse and widely spread. As to the transmission of the Tao Te Ching in the English-speaking world, many scholars have conducted a systematic survey and achieved a lot of results from various perspectives.

Review the history of the translation and transmission of Tao Te Ching

The transmission of Laozi’s works and ideas is a classic case of traditional Chinese culture spreading to the world. Wu Zhiyong and Liu Zixiao have reviewed the history of the translation and transmission of Tao Te Ching in the Western world over a period of two hundred years, where they did close research on the history of the English translation and transmission of Tao Te Ching. (Wu Zhiyong & Liu Zixiao, 2020, 15-18) Wu and Liu concluded in their paper three stages for the transmission of Tao Te Ching in the English world.

The first stage is from 1868 to the beginning of the 20th century. Translators in the period are mainly Western missionaries and they often compare the Tao Te Ching with the Bible and interpreted the Tao Te Ching selectively. As a result, all the 14 translated versions have something to do with Christianity directly or indirectly and mostly lacked observation and exploration of the text of the Tao Te Ching and the profound Chinese cultural connotations behind it. The second stage is from 1919 to 1972. At this English translation climax, the Westerners tried to seek the Enlightenment of Laozi’s philosophy on Western modern civilization and paid much attention to the exploration of the original text and meaning of the Tao Te Ching, and strived to convey the ideological core in the text. Another characteristic is that many Chinese translators participated in the work of translating the Tao Te Ching, like Hu Zilin, Chu Dagao, Wu Jingxiong. The total number of English translations of the Tao Te Ching reached 54. With the deepening of cultural exchanges between the East and the West, the second climax appeared since 1973. During this period, scholars applied the research paradigm of Western philosophy to conduct in-depth theoretical exploration of Laozi’s works and thoughts.

Review the Transmission of the Tao Te Ching from the Perspective of Overseas Readers’ Comments

Another perspective to study the transmission of the Tao Te Ching is overseas readers’ comments.

Li Shuying and Wang Hongli did such research in their paper A Study on the Reception of Overseas Readers of Tao Te Ching—Data Analysis with Python. They concluded that although some readers criticized some translators’ aesthetics, page design and packaging, most overseas target readers gave positive emotional evaluation of reading experience, agreed with its ideological connotation, valued its significance of outlook on life, and maintained great enthusiasm towards Chinese culture. (Li Shuying & Wang Hongli, 2020, 6)

The Re-canonization in the Era of Media Convergence

The English translational communication of Tao Te Ching in the era of media convergence is the result of the joint promotion of communicators, translators, and readers from traditional and new media. New media communicators revitalize the traditional translations through re-dissemination, recreation and reinterpretation. New media translators become a new force in the English translational communication of Tao Te Ching through new interpretations, multiple-subject participation, and online publishing. The conflicts and convergence of the traditional and new media bring new challenges to the canonization of Tao Te Ching as translational literature, which not only reconstructs the literary aesthetic value, social value and cultural value of Tao Te Ching but also has a negative influence on the canonization of Tao Te Ching in translational communication. The re-canonization of Tao Te Ching is the representation of literary value in translational communication as a result of the integration of traditional and modern culture as well as the mutual learning of Chinese and Western civilizations.

After introducing the English transmission of the Tao Te Ching by means of traditional media and new media (media based on the internet and digital technology), scholars Yin Feizhou and Wang Jiadi (Yin Feizhou & Wang Jiadi, 2022, 188-195) suggested an innovative path of the English transmission of the Tao Te Ching based on media convergence as well as possible ways and potential challenges in the re-canonization of the Tao Te Ching.

Reflections on the English Translation and Transmission Research of Tao Te Ching

After centuries’ development, the English translation of the Tao Te Ching has gradually matured. With the continuous development of society and rapid advancement of technology, people’s understanding of ancient classics is also constantly improving. Due to the differences in era and cultural background, there are significant differences in ideology at each stage and in the translations of Chinese and foreign translators. Based on the above review and analysis, while affirming the achievements of all the research, we cannot ignore the existing problems and deficiencies in the research of the English translation of the Dao Te Ching, which are mainly manifested in the following aspects.

In Terms of Breadth, the Scope of Research is Overly Concentrated and Narrow

In terms of the selection of key words and chapters in the study of the English translation of the Tao Te Ching, the first chapter is mainly used as the corpus. Especially, words such as “道”, “德”, “无为” which play a crucial role in the entire translation are always the focus in the study of English translation of words. Although research has expanded to other chapters like chapter 8 and 9, the scope of research is still too concentrated and narrow. In the future, we should balance the development and pay attention to the translation research of other texts of the Tao Te Ching.

In terms of translator selection, it is relatively simple. Researchers prefer to choose Western translators for research, and only select very famous translators, such as Arthur Waley, Lin Yutang, and so on. To study famous scholars’ translations from multiple perspectives, while largely affirm their outstanding achievements, it invisibly overlooks the efforts and achievements of other translators. If we take a long-term look, we will see that the English translation of the Tao Te Ching will lack innovation and stagnate, which is not conducive to the development of the English translation of Chinese classics. Therefore, we should compare and analyze multiple translations from multiple perspectives, absorb the strengths of various schools of thought so as to promote further development of the English translation of the Tao Te Ching.

In Terms of Depth, the Research Level is too Limited

Articles on the cultural perspective of the Tao Te Ching have gradually become a hot topic in recent years, but they often focus on ideological and cultural factors. Few scholars have systematically studied the Tao Te Ching from philosophical and political perspectives, and the only research is only a preliminary understanding and exploration of surface issues.

The task of translating the Tao Te Ching into English is quite challenging, as it not only involves the conversion of different languages, but also involves differences in politics, culture, ideology, and other aspects. Therefore, the study of translated texts should not stay at the linguistic level, but delve deeper into the cultural level.

There is also a lack of effective abstraction and induction in the deep exploration of translation strategies and methods. The Western translation theories used to explain translation issues of the Tao Te Ching are still limited. What’s more, a mature translation strategy is not a simple application of translation theory on surface phenomena, but rather a deeper exploration in order to expect more innovative thinking and perspectives. In addition, in the exploration process of some scholars, even though they can point out the shortcomings of the translator’s translation, they only analyze the reasons for the errors at the surface level, without providing improvement methods.

In Terms of Research Data Possession, Related Research is not Comprehensive Enough

On the one hand, researcher’s research on the acceptance level and transmission scope of the Tao Te Ching abroad in too broad and empty; on the other hand, researchers have not been able to comprehensively analyze and understand the research of Western scholars on the Tao Te Ching itself and its English translation, and there is a lack of specialized review articles about Western scholars. Therefore, the researchers did not provide sufficient support in terms of the persuasiveness of the data.

The Tao Te Ching is an epic masterpiece with a rich cultural heritage and ideological connotations. Based on previous research, how to stand at the height of the times in the translation process and present the potential ideological, psychological, and philosophical essence to readers in a simple and understandable translation way will be a breakthrough for future scholars to explore and research.

The Evaluation of the Translation of the Tao Te Ching is too subjective

Researchers often mix their own subjective initiative in the process of exploration and discovery, and due to their lack of understanding, they make excessive assumptions, failing to fully achieve objectivity and fairness throughout the entire process. As a result, the research results always suffer a certain degree of limitations and narrowness. Therefore, researchers should approach the English translation of the Tao Te Ching with a more inclusive and scientific attitude and dialectical thinking. Whether in terms of breadth or depth, it is even more necessary to achieve objectivity and fairness from one aspect to another, from the outside to the inside.

Conclusion

In recent years, research on the English translation of the Tao Te Ching has been increasing, and scholars' research perspectives have become increasingly broad. The diversity of research perspectives has enriched people's understanding of the English translation of Laozi’s philosophy. More and more researchers are using different translation theories or cultural perspectives to conduct diversified research and analysis on the English translation of the Dao Te Ching. By analyzing the shortcomings or highlights of the English translation, readers can more easily understand the content of the Tao Te Ching translation, and it is also beneficial for translators to create more accurate translations.

References

Wu Zhiyong, Liu Zixiao 武志勇, 刘子潇. (2020). 《道德经》在西方世界传播的历史 [The Spread of the Tao Te Ching in the Western World]. 湖南大学学报（社会科学版）, 15-18.

Jiao Yan, Liu Wenjuan 焦艳, 刘文娟. (2011). 《道德经》英译研究综述 [A Review of Studies on the Translations of Tao Te Ching]. 郑州航空工业管理学院学报（社会科学版）, 148.

Cui Wei, 崔巍. (2020). 大道至简，妙不可言——闵福德 《道德经》英译本评析[Simplest Tao, Silent Row: An Analysis of John Minford’s English Translation of Tao Te Ching]. 成都大学学报, 89-95.

Zhang Xuran, Xing Yongle, Zhang Pan & Ge Lingling, 张旭冉,杏永乐,张 盼,戈玲玲. 2022. 《道德经》四个英译本的翻译风格对比研究———基于语料库的统计与分析[A Corpus-based Comparative Study on the Translation Styles of Tao Te Ching].上海翻译, 33.

He Huaqian, Zhou Guijun, 何华倩,周桂君. 2022. 《道德经》英译的历时演变及其动因研究——基于核心概念“道”英译的统计与分析[A Study on the Diachronic Evolution and Motivation of the English Translation of the Tao Te Ching——Statistics and Analysis of the English Translation of the Core Concept “Dao”].语言与翻译, 56.

Yang Cuicui, Tang Wei, 杨翠翠,唐苇. 2020. 《道德经》中“自然”之跨文化英译[An Analysis of the Cross－cultural Interpretation of Spontaneously-so-ing in Daodejing].南京大学学报, 121-128.

Zhang Yuan, 章媛. 2012. 老子之“德”英译得失考[A Textual Analysis on the Loss and Achievements of English Interpreting of “De”in “Dao De Jing”]. 学术界, 104.

Shi Xuedong, 史学冬. 2016. 哲学阐释学视野下的《道德经》英译本比较研究[Comparetive Study on the English Versions of “Tao Te Ching” from the Philosophical Hermeneutics Perspectives]. 中华文化论坛, 100-103.

Yin Xi, 尹茜. 2018. 生态翻译视角下《道德经》不同译本对比研究——以亚瑟.威利和刘殿爵译本为例[The Contrastive Study of Different Translations of Tao Te Ching from an Eco-translatology Perspective——Based on Translations of Arthur Waley and D. C. Lau]. 吉林大学, 26.

Li Shuying, Wang Hongli, 李书影, 王宏俐. 2020. 《道德经》英译本的海外读者接受研究———基于 Python 数据分析技术[A Study on the Reception of Overseas Readers of Tao Te Ching—Data Analysis with Python].外语电化教学,6.

Yin Feizhou & Wang Jiadi, 尹飞舟, 王佳娣. 2022. 媒介融合时代《道德经》英译传播中的经典重构[The Re-canonization of Tao Te Ching in the English Translational Communication in the Era of Media Convergence].中国文化研究, 188-195.

Shaun C. R. Ramsden. (2022). The Dàodéjīng: A 2022 Translation. Asian Culture and History, 73.

Jifeng CAO. (2014). A Quantitative Study on Tao Te Ching Based on a Comparable Corpus. Studies in Sociology of Science, 77-80.

Julian F. Pas. (2016). Recent Translations of the Tao Te Ching. Journal of Chinese Religions, 127-141.

202270081641 廖璐佳 Liao Lujia 英语笔译(English translation)

A Review of the English Translation of the Yijing

Liao Lujia, 202270081641

Abstract

Since the 17th century, there has been a proliferation of versions of the Yijing in various languages and styles. A study of the translation and transmission of it in the English world will help it to be more deeply and widely disseminated in the English-speaking world and throughout the world. At present, the study of the English translation of the Yijing in China is mainly concerned with the problems of few research results, simple research, and incomplete establishment of research teams. To get a comprehensive understanding of the domestic and foreign research on the English translation of the Yijing (mainly domestic research), this paper searches for papers with high citation rates at home and abroad or published in recent times, covering four aspects: translation history and foreign studies, comparative studies of translations, theoretical studies of translations and other literature. However, there is still a need to find improvements and new dissemination paths for the translation of the Yijing in the context of globalization, with a view to providing insights at the level of translation practice for the current national strategy of Chinese culture going global with the help of the cultural perspective of others and promoting the dissemination of Chinese cultural classics overseas.

Since the 17th century, there has been a proliferation of versions of the Yijing in various languages and styles. A study of the translation and transmission of it in the English world will help it to be more deeply and widely disseminated in the English-speaking world and throughout the world. At present, the study of the English translation of the Yijing in China is mainly concerned with the problems of few research results, simple research, and incomplete establishment of research teams. To get a comprehensive understanding of the domestic and foreign research on the English translation of the Yijing (mainly domestic research), this paper searches for papers with high citation rates at home and abroad or published in recent times, covering four aspects: translation history and foreign studies, comparative studies of translations, theoretical studies of translations and other literature. However, there is still a need to find improvements and new dissemination paths for the translation of the Yijing in the context of globalization, from the perspective of providing insights at the level of translation practice for the current national strategy of Chinese culture going global with the help of the cultural perspective of others and promoting the dissemination of Chinese cultural classics overseas.

Key Words

the Yijing; English translation; Historical literature

题目

《易经》英译研究综述

摘要

从17世纪以来，各种语言和风格的《易经》版本层出不穷。《易经》在西方世界的翻译和传播进行研究有利于帮助《易经》在英语世界乃至全世界得到更为深广的传播。目前国内主要关注《易经》的英译研究，存在研究成果少、研究程度浅、研究队伍未完全建立等问题。为全面了解国内《易经》英译研究情况，本文对国内外引用率高或发表时间近的论文进行搜索，涉及翻译史与国外研究、译本比较研究、译文理论研究和其他文献四个方面。但是在全球化语境下仍然需要寻找《易经》翻译的改进和新的传播路径，以期借助他者的文化视角为当下中国文化走出去的国家战略提供翻译实践层面的启示，推动中国文化典籍在海外的传播。

关键词

《易经》；英译；历史文献

Introduction

The Yijing, known as the first of the scriptures, is the source of Chinese civilization, and its contents cover many fields of philosophy, politics, life, literature, art, and science, making it a classic work. Since its transmission during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, thinkers and philosophers of all generations have attached great importance to it, competing to interpret it and explain its reasoning. As a result, there has been a flourishing Yi-ology study system that includes Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and other schools of thought.

From the Song Dynasty, the Yijing spread to Japan and Vietnam, and in the 16th century, Matteo Ricci introduced it to the West. Later, Jean Baptiste Regis translated and published the first complete translation of the Yijing in Latin. Rev. McClatchie's first full translation of it was published in 1876. Numerous translations of it have since appeared in many languages. For example, James Legge's English translation, Richard Wilhelm's German translation, and Cary F. Baynes' English translation of Wilhelm's German translation.

The "Yijing Rush" that began in the 1980s has led to the development of cross-cultural comparisons between China and the West, and the studies of foreign sinologists have entered the Chinese academic landscape. Two influences on the spread of the Yijing in the West were not translators and researchers of the Yijing, but scientists who made outstanding contributions in their respective fields: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Carl Gustav Jung (Li Weirong, 2021: 35). As for the Western translations of the Yijing, the German translation by the German sinologist Richard Wilhelm enjoyed great international influence and even later replaced the English translation of the Yijing by James Legge as the authoritative translation of the Yijing in the English-speaking world. In order to further promote the development of the translation research of the Yijing, this paper searches the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and some English papers related to the translation research of the Yijing in English-speaking countries, classifies and organizes them, and summarizes the research results to provide a reference for the translation and dissemination of the Yijing.

A Review of the English Translation of the Yijing and Its Transmission

In this paper, the author searched the published papers with the keywords of Yijing, translation, translation text, and English translation, and divided them into four major categories, namely, the translation history of the Yijing and foreign studies, comparative studies of translations, theoretical studies of translations, and other literature. Due to the limitation of space, only the representative papers are selected here for introduction.

Translation History and Foreign Studies

Although The Book of Changes in the Western Tradition: A Selective Bibliography written by Hellmut Wilhelm is only a preliminary compilation of the bibliography of the Yi-ology, it shows that Western scholars already have a holistic historical perspective on Western Yi-ology literature (Yang, Hongsheng, 1994).

The I Ching: A Biography written by Richard J. Smith, an American expert on the Yijing, describes the spread of it in East Asia, Europe, and America.

In a paper named The Introduction of the Yijing to the West (Lin Jinshui, 1988), Lin provided a detailed overview of the study, research, and translation of the Yijing by Europeans, and divided the spread of the Yijing in the West into two stages. The first stage was from the end of the 17th century to the 1830s, and the study and dissemination of the Yijing were mainly adapted to the needs of the rites controversy at that time and were mainly introduced for study. The main members include Matteo Ricci, Philippe Couplet, Joachim Bouvet, Jean Baptiste Regis, and other Western missionaries to China. The second stage was from the 1870s to 1949 when the spread of the Yijing in the West was separated from the need for missionary work and was dominated by translation, with the emergence of multilingual translations. The quality of the translations with the help of Chinese scholars has been greatly improved. Authoritative translations have appeared, and some of them have incorporated the findings of contemporary scholars. The translators of the English translation include McClatchie, James Legge, Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes, Arthur Waley, and Shen Zhongtao. Lin Jinshui counted as many as 14 translations of the Yijing in different languages in the West. He believed that various situations of the translations of the Yijing also indicate that the spread of Yi-ology in the West is in "a complex and contradictory movement."

In Three Stages in the English-speaking World's Understanding of the Yijing, Wu Lijing and Han Ziqi argue that the English-speaking world has gone through three main stages of knowledge and understanding of the Yijing (Wu Lijing, Han Ziqi, 2018). The first stage is mainly marked by the translation of the Yijing by McClatchie and James Legge, where missionaries were the main body that translated and disseminated the Yijing, and they regarded it as a pagan/Confucian classic independent of Christian civilization within the perspective of comparative mythology and comparative religion. The second stage is marked by the translation of the Yijing by Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes. Translators transitioned from missionaries to intellectuals such as psychologists, who viewed the Yijing as an Eastern "wisdom" that Western civilization could learn from and utilize in the context of philosophy and psychology. The third stage is represented by the study and translation of the Yijing by Xia Hanyi, Kong Liwei, Gao Xiake, and others. In this period, Chinese scholars were the main translators, who, in the context of historicism, regarded the Yijing as a historical document of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and tried to recover and reconstruct the original meaning of the hexagram statement in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In essence, the English-speaking world's understanding of the Yijing has gone through a process from a "book of religion" to a "book of divination and wisdom" to a "book of history," reflecting the deepening of the English-speaking world's knowledge and understanding of Chinese culture.

In The Yijing in Europe and America, Li Weirong divides the translation and dissemination of the Yijing into five major parts: the Yijing in France, the Yijing in Germany, the Yijing in England, the Yijing in Russia, in other European countries, and the United States (Li Weirong, 2021). Li Weirong believes that the Yijing has a great influence in the Western world, not only on some of the behaviors of Westerners, but also on their literary creations. The author believes that in the near future, it is likely that each language will have its own translation of the Yijing; more and more polished translations of the Yijing will appear in languages that already have them.

Unlike the previous comprehensive descriptions, Wu Jun's article On the English Translation of the Yijing and its World Dissemination (Wu Jun, 2011) provides an ephemeral description of the English translation of it, including the James Regge text, the Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes text, DaLiu's English translation of the Yijing Money Trigrams (hereinafter referred to as the "DaLiu text"), Wang Rongpei's and Ren Xiuhua's English translation of the Yijing (hereinafter referred to as the "Wang text"), and so on. The author discusses the translation of the English translation from five aspects: text comprehension, syntactic expression, folk culture, way of thinking, and aesthetic interest, and proposes that "the translation of the Yijing should not only focus on the translation of the text, but also on the effect of the translated message, emphasizing the readers' feelings towards the translated text" from the perspective of translation communication.

Taking the research paths of Western Yi-ology as an entry point, Zhao Juan uses a sketching technique in her article Questions and Perspectives: Three Research Paths of Western Yi-ology to outline the main features of Western Yi-ology research in three aspects (Zhao Juan, 2011). The religious path takes missionary sinology as its mother, comparing the Yijing with the Bible and finding commonalities between the two. The analytical psychological-comparative cultural path takes Jung as its starting point and uses the Yijing as a cultural resource. It draws on the Yijing for analytical psychological practice and research. The historical-philosophical path is characterized by examination and discernment, viewing the Yijing as a specific text formed in a specific period. Many perspectives are studied in depth, making "the Yijing a means by which Western scholars can engage in Western academic reflection and discussion."

Comparative Studies of Translations

There have been a number of analytical studies of the translations of the Yijing both at home and abroad. For example, Derk Bodde's commentary on Wei Lixian's translation (1950), Nathan Sivin's commentary on John Blofeld's translation (1966), Kidder Smith's commentary on Thomas Cleary's translation (2002), and so on. There are too many such reviews to list here.

There are also related studies by domestic scholars. In Review of the English Translation of Minford's Yijing, Lu Yuqing and Zhang Fenghua argue that when compared with the first stage of the translation of the Yijing by James Legge, the second stage of the Wilhelm-Cary Baynes translation, and other English translations in the third stage, we can see that the Minford translation is more "Chineseized" (Lu, Yuqing, and Zhang, Fenghua, 2017). However, the authors also mention the problems of deviations and mistranslations in Minford's translation: the selection of the overall content of the Yijing, the problem of understanding deviations and mistranslations, and the treatment of initial capitalization.

Unlike the above papers, which all analyze only one translator's translation of the Yijing, some authors compare the differences between different translations from a certain perspective. For example, Wang Yunkun's Translator Centeredness from the Translator's Adaptation Choice—A Comparative Analysis Based on Two English Translations of the Yijing compares the English translations of the Yijing by James Legge and Wang texts, and analyzes the translator's adaptation and choice to the needs, abilities, and translation ecological environment (Wang Yunkun, 2017). The author argues that translators are the center of translation, and the reason why different translators create different translations of the same original text is that translators choose different original texts and translation strategies after adapting to the translation ecological environment.

Teaching the I Ching written by American scholars Geoffrey Redmond and Tze-ki Hon also devotes a chapter to the translation of the Yijing in the West, entitled The Yijing's Journey, which presents translations by missionary translators (Geoffrey Redmond, Tze-ki Hon, 2014).

By comparing the English translations of animals in the five translations of the Yijing by James Legge, Cary Baynes, John Blofeld, Wang Rongpei-Ren Xiuhua, and Li Yan, Zhang Lingyun's The English Translation of Animals—Taking the Five Translations of the Yijing as a Sample classifies them into direct translation, free translation, and loan translation (Zhang Lingyun, 2015). Finally, the author concludes that translating the Yijing should not only consider the cultural differences between China and the West, but also the unique meanings of the words in the context of each hexagram.

In The Translation of culture-loaded Words in the Yijing from the Perspective of Adaptation Theory: Two English Translations by James Legge and Wang-Ren, Shu Zhangyan analyzes the translation of culture-loaded words in these two translations of the Yijing, taking Legge and Wang-Ren as examples. The author divides the culture-loaded words into five major categories: ecological, material, social, religious, and linguistic. The author argues that too faithful a translation is not conducive to the understanding of the original text by the target language readers, and the translator should use various translation methods flexibly based on an accurate understanding of the original text (Shu Zhangyan, 2018).

In The Translation of Culture-loaded Words in the Yijing from the Perspective of Adaptation Theory: Two English Translations by James Legge and Wang-Ren, Shu Zhangyan analyzes the translation of culture-loaded words in these two translations of the Yijing, taking Legge and Wang-Ren as examples. The author divides the culture-loaded words into five major categories: ecological, material, social, religious, and linguistic. The author argues that too faithful a translation is not conducive to the understanding of the original text by the target language readers, and the translator should use various translation methods flexibly based on an accurate understanding of the original text (Shu Zhangyan, 2018).

Kong Xiangyu et al. used Treetagger and other tools to analyze the data processing of a corpus of 18 English translations of the Yijing and conducted a comparative study of translation styles in A corpus-based study on the translation styles of multiple translations of the Yijing (Kong Xiangyu, 2021). They concluded that the translation styles of domestic translators and foreign translators are different. The former translations are more acceptable, with simple and commonly used words and complicated sentences; the latter translations are more relevant, with professional words and simple sentences.

Theoretical Studies of Translations

Such papers mainly use various theories to make a comprehensive analysis of the translation, summarize the characteristics of the translation, and put forward suggestions and principles for translation.

Guan Ensen discusses it from the perspective of the translators themselves. The article The Translation of Chinese Texts in the Missionary Perspective: The Case of the English Translation of the Book of the Yijing by James Regge takes the English translation of the Yijing as an example and explains Regge's "sympathetic understanding" of the Chinese texts in the translation process (Guan Ensen, 2012). It is divided into three levels, namely, equal respect, comparative understanding, and scholarly interpretation. Guan affirms that the translation of the Chinese texts by Legge contributed to fundamental changes in Western sinology, and proposes that the characteristics, contributions, and values of the translation of the Chinese texts of Legge’s translation should also be grasped and evaluated in terms of "sympathetic understanding".

In Fuyong’s article On the English Translation of Culture-loaded Words of the Book of Changes in the Light of Prototype Theory of Translation, Fu Yong takes the prototype theory of translation as the basis and extracts the corpus from four authoritative translations for verification. He divided culture-loaded words into five categories: language, ecology, material, society, and religion. He argued that grasping the ideal prototype of the source language and the ideal prototype of the translation language are the two main lines running through the translation of the culture-loaded words of the Yijing. And it is found that various translation methods are employed to constantly pursue the ideal prototype of the translation language, which is in line with the translation prototype theory (Fu Yong, 2011).

Bai Jiangli's A Study of the English Translation of the Metaphors of the Yijing in the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphors (Bai Jiangli, 2013) selects the translations by James Legge, Richard Wilhelm, Richard John Lynn, and Fu Huisheng to explore the translation of metaphors in the Yijing from a cognitive linguistic perspective.

In Ren Yunzhong’s article Aesthetic Reconstruction in English Translation of the Text of the Yijing, he identifies the absence of aesthetic factors in the Legge and Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes texts from three aspects: form, music, and meaning, and reconstructs the aesthetic value of the text of the Yijing (Ren Yunzhong, 2014). This article reflects the tireless pursuit of Chinese scholars for the perfection of classics translation from the perspective of the aesthetics of the translated text.

In Ren Yunzhong’s article Aesthetic Reconstruction in English Translation of the Text of the Yijing, he identifies the absence of aesthetic factors in the Legge and Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes texts from three aspects: form, music, and meaning, and reconstructs the aesthetic value of the text of the Yijing (Ren Yunzhong, 2014). This article reflects the tireless pursuit of Chinese scholars for the perfection of the Chinese classics translation from the perspective of the aesthetics of the translated text.

In A Critical Commentary on Jame Legge’s Translation of The Book of Changes and His Opinions on Yi-ology, Li Weirong argues for the classical status of Legge's English translation of the Yijing in English-speaking countries from four aspects: the academic preparation of Legge's English translation of the Yijing and his motivation for translation, the identification of the base text of his English translation of the Yijing and its related reference books, the commentary on the English translation of Legge's Yijing, and his ideology of Yi-ology(Li Weirong, 2016).

Wang Xiaonong's A Descriptive Critical Analysis of English Translations of the Yi jing after Legge and Wilhelm: With Special Reference to Blofeld’s English Translation analyzes the English translation of the Yijing by Blofeld in terms of both trigram names and prognostication terms and the text, and concludes that the English translation by Blofeld is innovative in some trigram names, but there are improper changes to the original text, the bad representation of rhythmic features of the original text in the translation, and there are a considerable number of mistranslations in the translation (Wang Xiaonong, 2016).

Other Literature

Other literature includes book reviews, forewords, and afterwords. They provide materials related to the English translation of the Yijing and the study of English translation, analyze the effect of the overseas dissemination of it, and serve as a recommendation for the study of English translation. For example, Li Ding's The Classic of the Yijing and the Way of the Three Talents: A Postscript to the English Translation of the Yijing reviews the postscript to the English translation of the Yijing (Li Ding, 2012). Adler Joseph A. wrote The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Commentary on the Scripture of Change to make comments on the Yijing.

Other literature includes book reviews, forewords, and afterwords. They provide materials related to the English translation of the Yijing and the study of the English translation, analyze the effect of the overseas dissemination of it, and serve as a recommendation for the study of the English translation. For example, Li Ding's The Classic of the Yijing and the Way of the Three Talents: A Postscript to the English Translation of the Yijing reviews the postscript to the English translation of the Yijing (Li Ding, 2012). Adler Joseph A. wrote The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Commentary on the Scripture of Change to make comments on the Yijing.

The Analysis of the English Translation of the Yijing

Table 1 shows that during the 30 years from 1985 to 2014, the total number of journals on the study of the English translation of the Yijing was 9, while in the 8 years from 2015 to 2022, the number of journals reached 106, which is basically the same as the number of papers published in the past 30 years, indicating that the number of journals on the study of the English translation of the Yijing has increased greatly in the short term; the number of dissertations in the last 8 years was 11 and there is a master's thesis on the English translation of the Yijing almost every year. The overall number of thesis on the study of the English translation of the Yijing is very limited, with only 2 in the early period and 3 in the later period; in the 30 years from 1985 to 2014, not a single monograph on the study of the English translation of it has been published in China, while 5 monographs on the study of the English translation of the it have been produced in the last 8 years.

Table 1 shows that during the 30 years from 1985 to 2014, the total number of journals on the study of the English translation of the Yijing was 9, while in the 8 years from 2015 to 2022, the number of journals reached 106, which is basically the same as the number of papers published in the past 30 years, indicating that the number of journals on the study of the English translation of the Yijing has increased greatly in the short term; the number of dissertations in the last 8 years was 11 and there is a master's thesis on the English translation of the Yijing almost every year. The overall number of theses on the study of the English translation of the Yijing is very limited, with only 2 in the early period and 3 in the later period; in the 30 years from 1985 to 2014, not a single monograph on the study of the English translation of it has been published in China, while 5 monographs on the study of the English translation of it have been produced in the last 8 years.

The Conclusion of Achievements

In recent years, the research on English translation of the Yijing in China has made remarkable achievements. There has been a significant increase in the number of subjects studied in the English translation of the Yijing. In the past, it was mainly focused on a few translators such as James Legge and Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes, but later papers analyzing dozens of translators appeared. In addition, there has been a steady increase in the number of papers published in domestic journals. However, a search of the foreign literature shows that the scholars who have studied the English translation of the Yijing are mainly focused on Sinologists and these papers are not relatively new.

In recent years, the research on the English translation of the Yijing in China has made remarkable achievements. There has been a significant increase in the number of subjects studied in the English translation of the Yijing. In the past, it was mainly focused on a few translators such as James Legge and Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes, but later papers analyzing dozens of translators appeared. In addition, there has been a steady increase in the number of papers published in domestic journals. However, a search of the foreign literature shows that the scholars who have studied the English translation of the Yijing are mainly focused on Sinologists and these papers are not relatively new.

The research perspective of the English translation of the Yijing is also no longer limited to a simple introduction to a single translation. In-depth discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of different translations of the Yijing, the translation strategies and motives of different translators, and translation ideas have emerged.

The perspectives of the study of English translation of the Yijing gradually break away from the single perspective of comparative linguistics, absorb new research methods such as corpus and semiotics, and deepen the understanding of the level of English translation of the Yijing.

The perspectives of the study of the English translation of the Yijing gradually break away from the single perspective of comparative linguistics, absorb new research methods such as corpus and semiotics, and deepen the understanding of the level of the English translation of the Yijing.

Problems and Countermeasures

Although the study of the English translation of the Yijing has made certain achievements, it is only relative to the past English translation studies, and there are still some problems and shortcomings in this field. Therefore, only by finding targeted countermeasures to solve these problems can we promote the further development of the study of the English translation of the Yijing in the future.

Research Achievements

Although the Yijing has a long history of English translation and a considerable number of English translations, the scale, and depth of English translation studies of the Yijing are far less than those of other ancient Chinese texts such as the Tao Te Ching and the Analects of Confucius. the Yijing has an important position in the process of cross-cultural communication between China and the West, but the study of it does not match its position, so there is still much room for the development of the study of the English translation of the Yijing.

Degree of Research

Although papers analyzing various translations of the Yijing have appeared, the dominant ones are still the James Legge, Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes, and Wang Rongpei-Ren Xiuhua translations. This can limit the study of English translations of the Yijing to a limited scope. In addition, many studies have overlooked an important issue, namely, the complex process of the formation of the Yijing and its profound meaning, while researchers have not used different Chinese versions for comparison in their discussions, but only based on a particular Chinese version, lacking deeper understanding of the cultural roots, making the studies stay at the level of simple understanding.

Although papers analyzing various translations of the Yijing have appeared, the dominant ones are still the James Legge, Richard Wilhelm-Cary Baynes, and Wang Rongpei-Ren Xiuhua translations. This can limit the study of English translations of the Yijing to a limited scope. In addition, many studies have overlooked an important issue, namely, the complex process of the formation of the Yijing and its profound meaning, while researchers have not used different Chinese versions for comparison in their discussions, but only based on a particular Chinese version, lacking a deeper understanding of the cultural roots, making the studies stay at the level of simple understanding.

Research Teams

the Yijing, as the first of the scriptures, is all-encompassing and covers many fields of knowledge, and its content is so deep and obscure that its readers are usually experts and scholars, while ordinary people will be discouraged. If one wants to do a good study of it in English translation, it is difficult to do so without a solid English-Chinese language background, a complete knowledge of Yi-ology, and a cross-cultural perspective. Therefore, the number of researchers on the Yijing is relatively small, and it is difficult to make a breakthrough in relevant research in the short term.

Based on the above problems, researchers should do the following: first, read the literature and history of the English translation of the Yijing in depth to fill some gaps in the study of its English translation. There are many English translations of the Yijing, which should be comprehensively sorted out, and the history of its transmission should be continued to be organized and studied. Secondly, we should strengthen the cooperation among different specialties in the study of the English translation of the Yijing. The contents of it cover many fields such as philosophy, politics, life, literature, art, and science, so cooperation among multiple professions can help better understand the contents of the text and provide an interdisciplinary perspective for the study of the English translation of the Yijing.

Conclusion

The purpose of the research on the English translation of the Yijing is to improve the level of English translation of Chinese texts and to promote the world dissemination of traditional Chinese culture. Although the research results of the English translation of it are remarkable, there are still many problems, which are not in line with its status in Chinese traditional culture and its history in the world dissemination. Nowadays, in the macro context of Chinese culture "going global", the significance of the English translation of the Yijing is further highlighted, and domestic researchers should pay full attention to promote the world dissemination of the Yijing and the exchange between Chinese traditional culture and other cultures.

The purpose of the research on the English translation of the Yijing is to improve the level of the English translation of Chinese texts and to promote the world dissemination of traditional Chinese culture. Although the research results of the English translation of it are remarkable, there are still many problems, which are not in line with its status in Chinese traditional culture and its history in world dissemination. Nowadays, in the macro context of Chinese culture "going global", the significance of the English translation of the Yijing is further highlighted, and domestic researchers should pay full attention to promoting the world dissemination of the Yijing and the exchange between Chinese traditional culture and other cultures.

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