Study on the Translation of the Key Terms of Chinese Culture in Insights into Chinese Culture

Abstract

Insights into Chinese Culture, a book which systematically and comprehensively introduces the Chinese culture from four aspects, that is, wisdom and beliefs, creativity and exchange, art and aesthetics and folk customs, has played a pivotal role in spreading the brilliant Chinese culture to Western countries since its publication in 2008. The 21st century has witnessed the “going global” of the Chinese culture gradually developing into a national strategy. Under this overall background, this book has been studied from various perspectives such as Western rhetoric theory, audience awareness, the image of China it presents, the strategy of translating culture-loaded words involved and the complex philosophical thoughts explained within and so on, among which, however, a systematic study on the translation of its key terms of Chinese culture is in dire need currently in translation community since it is a book that aims to deliver the great and profound Chinese culture to Western readers. Therefore, following Susan Bassnett’s Cultural Translation Theory, from the perspective of cultural fidelity and the acceptability of English readers, this thesis discusses and analyzes the translations of the representative terms of Chinese culture, such as “仁(ren)”, “礼(li)”, “自然(zi-ran)”, “无为(wu-wei)”, “天(tian)” and “龙(long)”, to examine whether they accurately convey the cultural connotations or to some extent may lead to cultural misunderstandings. This study suggests that the accurate translation of key terms of Chinese culture, which is of great significance in promoting Chinese culture to go global, requires translators’ full and deep grasp of their philosophical connotations and cultural backgrounds instead of the superficial interpretation of their literal meanings.