Translation of Tai Ji Chuan's Terms in Cross-cultural Communication

Abstract: With the acceleration of globalization, more and more foreigners want to know about the traditional culture of China. Taking the translation of Tai Ji Chuan's terms as an example, this paper discusses how to better introduce China culture to people of different cultures in cross-cultural communication, and at the same time be better recognized and accepted.

Keywords: Tai Ji Chuan translation cross-cultural communication

1. It is necessary to study the translation of Taiji terms.

The world is getting smaller and smaller, and the exchanges between China and other countries are becoming more and more frequent. However, there are few books in the market that introduce China Wushu to foreigners. The translation of Wushu terms involves two or more cultures, so we must have some knowledge of cross-cultural communication to guide our translation. With the increasingly close cross-cultural communication, Wushu terminology must have a unified standard. Through the research on the translation of Tai Chi terms, the author finds that the following problems must be paid attention to:

1. 1 lack of technical terms

Due to the lack of culture, it is difficult to find words that can fully express the meaning of Chinese vocabulary in English. There are few books on this subject, and no good English versions can be found in the existing books.

1.2 Disputes between different versions

We can find different versions of the same martial arts term in a book. Take the word "martial arts" as an example. Some people translate it into martial arts, while others translate it into traditional fighting art in China or traditional sports in China. What's more, in some existing publications or networks, some translations are completely wrong. For example, on page 196 of a book called English-Chinese Common Chinese-English Wushu Vocabulary, Hong Quan was translated into Chi Quan. On page 202 of the same book, it was translated into Hongquan.

2. Difficulties in the translation of Tai Ji Chuan's terms.

Translation is a means to exchange information between people with different cultural backgrounds and languages. In this respect, translation is actually a kind of dialogue, but it is not just a form of dialogue. This is a dialogue between different customs, beliefs and social values, so it is inevitable to talk about how to treat cultural factors in translation. There are several main difficulties in translation.

2. 1 cultural vacancy

Cultural vacancy refers to a word or thing in Chinese that does not exist in English. The development of language is closely related to the development of society and culture on which it depends. Therefore, many Chinese words have no equivalents in English. The word Taiji itself has no equivalent in English, because it is a concept in China's traditional Taoist thought. Other words with China characteristics, such as Yin, Yang and Five Elements. , has been introduced into English by foreigners and has been recognized as a new word with the development of time. However, it is still difficult for foreigners who are unfamiliar with these words or know little about China culture to understand these English translations.

2.2 Cultural conflicts

Cultural conflict refers to the situation that some words have the same meaning in Chinese and English, but their derived meanings are completely different. As far as Tai Ji Chuan terminology is concerned, many words have related cultural connotations, and the culture that we can accept may not be acceptable to foreigners. The most famous example is the word dragon, which is the object of our worship and a noble symbol among dragons, but in the west, dragons are evil animals.

3. Terminology translation strategies of Taiji Chuan.

3. 1 Words with cultural connotations

Words with cultural connotations are words with cultural characteristics, especially for specific social and cultural groups. So there is no equivalent in other languages. In cross-cultural communication, such words are called culturally unique words or words with cultural connotations.

Can culture be translated? Is it necessary to translate culture? We all know that translation is a language change, not a culture change. Culture cannot be changed. For example, A Dream of Red Mansions has been translated into many languages, but it is still a book of China, because the China culture in the book has not changed. It will not become an English story or a German story just because it becomes an English story or a German story.

We can draw the following conclusion: culture cannot be translated, but we can find some ways to let foreigners understand our China culture while accepting it.

3.2 Cultural blank words

Some Tai Chi terms mentioned above contain a lot of cultural information. Like playing the pipa. Some people translate it as "playing the pipa by hand". For China people, this is understandable. But in English-speaking countries, there is no pipa, so foreigners can't understand it, and they can't understand what a pipa looks like. Some people translate it as "playing guitar by hand" or "playing pipa by hand". This is not appropriate either. In this way, foreigners can understand it, but the cultural elements in China are lost.

3.3 Vocabulary and Cultural Conflicts

In Tai Ji Chuan's terminology, many words and their corresponding words have different extended meanings. For example, in the book Common Words in Chinese and English Martial Arts, the golden rooster is independently translated as "a golden rooster standing on one leg". The translator fails to notice the different extended meanings of the word "rooster" in Chinese and English language environments. The word "cock" in English has a different meaning from that in Chinese, and it should be translated as "a golden rooster standing on one leg". Among the left-handed finches, finches refer to peacocks, which are the favorite animals of China people. In China, the peacock is a symbol of good luck, and people in China think it is auspicious to be proud as a peacock. However, in the west, peacock is the representative of vanity, because it always plays with its beautiful tail. In English, there is also a proverb "Proud as a peacock".

In some cases, we can't find the corresponding words in English, and direct translation will easily lead to cultural conflicts, while indirect translation lacks China cultural elements. Comparing the two, we can introduce the cultural connotation of China through the direct translation of some explanations.

4. Conclusion

From the above explanation, we can sum up several translation methods of Tai Ji Chuan's terms:

1. Borrow

Some words with cultural connotations cannot be found in the target language. Such words can be borrowed from the pronunciation of the mother tongue. This method has been widely accepted, such as martial arts, yin and yang, and so on. With the close contact between China and other countries, more and more foreign words will be accepted.

replace

Replacement means that we replace words in our mother tongue with words that are familiar and acceptable in the target language. Especially in cross-cultural communication, you can even replace words with completely different meanings but the same cultural connotation.

3. Interpretation and definition

For some words with cultural connotations, their cultural connotations are unique and difficult for foreigners to understand. This can be translated like this. We can translate the written meaning first, and then explain its cultural connotation in China.

References:

[1] Li Chengyin, China martial arts consulting encyclopedia (m), Shandong Education Press, 1993.

[2] Liu, Contemporary Translation Theory (M), China Foreign Translation Publishing Company, 1999.

[3] Xie Shoude, English-Chinese Wushu Vocabulary (M), People's Sports Publishing House, 1989.

[4], Guan, Culture and Language (M), Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1994.

About the author: Huang Bing (1983.6-), male, lecturer of Suizhou Vocational and Technical College, majoring in English teaching and translation.