China's Translation History

Translation has a history of thousands of years in China. Turning to this translation history, we can see that translation climaxes are repeated, translators are hard to count, and translation theories are profound. Understanding this history will not only help us to inherit the excellent cultural heritage of our ancestors, but also help us to understand and develop our translation career more deeply today. In short, China's translation history can be roughly divided into the following stages: First, the Han Dynasty-Fu Qin period; Second, the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties; Third, Ming and Qing dynasties; Fourth, during the May 4th Movement; V. Since the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC). 1. China's translation activities can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, there was translation in the interaction between vassal States. For example, when the king of Chu went to see Yue, he asked for an interpreter. Of course, this kind of translation is not interlingual translation. China's real interlingual translation activity should be said to be the translation of Buddhist scriptures that began in the mourning period of the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, a man named Yicun came to China to preach some simple Buddhist scriptures. In the second year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 184), the translation of Buddhist scriptures officially began. An Shigao is a Persian who lives in peace. He translated more than 30 Buddhist scriptures, such as An Shouping Yijing. Later, Lou Jiagu (also called Lou Jiagu), a man who holds the wisdom of the moon, came to China and translated more than ten Buddhist scriptures. Zhi Lou Jia's translation is rather blunt, basically word-for-word, sentence-for-sentence, which is difficult for China readers to understand. The current dispute between literal translation and free translation in China's translation circle probably started at this time. There is a student named Zhiliang in Zhilou Jiagao, and Zhiliang has an apprentice named Zhiqian. The three of them were called "Three Branches" and were very famous translators of Buddhist scriptures at that time. Zhu Fahu is also engaged in the translation of Buddhist scriptures with the "Three Branches". He was also Yue, a famous Buddhist translator at that time. He translated 175 Buddhist scriptures, which made great contributions to the spread of Buddhist scriptures in China. Zhu Fahu and the "Three Branches" are called the Moon School. However, the translation of Buddhist scriptures in this period was only a private enterprise. In my father's time, Buddhist scripture translation activities were carried out in an orderly way. The main organizer at that time was Shi. Under his auspices, a translation workshop was set up and a large-scale translation of Buddhist scriptures began. Because Shi himself doesn't know Sanskrit, he advocates strict literal translation word for word to avoid distortion. At that time, the Buddhist scripture Kambusha was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in this way. In order to grasp the quality of translation, Shi invited a famous translator in Tianzhu (that is, an Indian). Mr. Jiu made textual research on the previous Buddhist scriptures translation, criticized the translation style and reviewed the translation methods. He advocated free translation, corrected the weakness of transliteration in the past, and advocated the translator's signature as a sign of responsibility. He has translated more than 300 volumes of Buddhist scriptures, such as the Diamond Sutra, the Beijing Sutra, the Twelve Sutras, the Zhongguan Sutra and the Vimalakīrti Sutra. Its translation is full of expressiveness and interest, which is regarded as an excellent translation at that time and is still regarded as the cornerstone of China's literary translation. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liang Wudi invited Indian Buddhist scholar Paramasa (499-569) to China to translate Buddhist scriptures. During his stay in China, Zhen Zhen translated 49 classics, among which the translation of Take Mahayana is very famous in China, which has a great influence on China's Buddhist thought. Secondly, during the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, from the Sui Dynasty (AD 590) to the Tang Dynasty, China's translation was highly developed. The history of Sui Dynasty was short, and there were few translators and translated works. The famous translator is Shi Yancong (common name Li, Zhao Junbai). He is the first monk in the translation history of China. He translated more than 100 volumes of 23 Buddhist scriptures in his life. Yan Yan summed up her translation experience with dialectics and put forward eight conditions for a good translation of Buddhist scriptures: 1) Sincerely believing in Buddhism, volunteering to benefit others, and not being afraid for a long time (truly loving Buddhism, determined to help others, not afraid for a long time); 2) Unity of knowing and doing, first stand firm and not be insulted (be honest and trustworthy, and not make others laugh); 3) When you know Sanzang, you will have a thorough understanding of righteousness, and you will not have the pain of stagnation. There are no obscure problems); 4) I dabble in the history of graves, but I am clumsy (dabbling in the history of China, being good at literature, don't be too clumsy); 5) Embrace and forgive. Persistence is not easy (measuring tolerance, seeking profit with an open mind, not being arbitrary and stubborn); 6) Indulging in Taoism, indifferent to fame and fortune, not wanting to show off (loving Taoism, indifferent to fame and fortune, not wanting to show off); 7) Knowing Sanskrit words, it is idle to translate them correctly, and don't fall behind others (mastering Sanskrit, being familiar with the correct translation methods, without losing the meaning contained in Sanskrit); 8) Read elegant and elegant, and be familiar with the official seal. Don't be ignorant of this article (and study China's exegetics to avoid inaccurate translation). Yan Cong also said, "Only when eight people are ready can we recruit people." These eight articles are about the translator's quality, and they still have reference value. After Yan Cong, Xuanzang (commonly known as Master Sanzang), a superstar in China's ancient translation field, appeared. Together with Kumarajiva and Zhen Zhi mentioned above, he is also known as the three great translators in China. Xuanzang set out from Chang 'an to India to learn Buddhist scriptures in the second year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (AD 628) and returned to China seventeen years later. He brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures, presided over the largest and most tightly organized translation field in the ancient history of China, and translated 75 Buddhist scriptures in 19 years, 1335 volumes. Xuanzang not only translated Sanskrit into Chinese, but also translated some works of Laozi into Sanskrit. He was the first person from China to introduce China's works to foreigners. The translation field hosted by Xuanzang is more perfect in organization. According to the Biography of Song Monks, there were as many as 1 1 translators in the Tang Dynasty, who were the brains of the audience, proficient in Sanskrit and profound in Buddhism. In case of difficulties, can judge and solve; 2) As the translator's assistant, Yi Li will discuss with the translator the difference between the translated meaning and Sanskrit; 3) When reciting Sanskrit, the translator should pay attention to whether there are any mistakes in the original text; 4) Degree language, which is changed into Chinese characters according to Sanskrit pronunciation, also known as calligraphy; 5) Writing: translating the recorded Sanskrit pronunciation into Chinese; 6) affix the words and arrange the translations to make them conform to Chinese habits; 7) Participate in translation, not only to check whether the original text is wrong, but also to prove whether there are differences between the original text and the translation; 8) As for publishing, due to the different styles between China and foreign countries, every line and section should be copied; 9) polish the text and polish the translation from rhetoric; 10) Sanskrit, after translation, read and sing in Sanskrit to see if the tone is harmonious, which is convenient for monks to read; 1 1) guardian, instructing the minister to supervise the reading and translation of classics. Xuanzang made his own contribution to translation theory. According to his own understanding and translation practice, he put forward the translation standard of "paying equal attention to truth and metaphor", which means "faithfulness" and "expressiveness" and still has guiding significance today. He also creatively used a variety of translation techniques in translation practice. According to the research results of Indian scholar and China scholar Zhang, Xuanzang adopted the following translation techniques: 1) supplementary method (which is what we often say now); 2) ellipsis (that is, subtraction we often say now); 3) Displacement method (that is, adjust the sentence order or word order as needed); 4) the division method (roughly the same as the division method); 5) Translation under the guise of a name (that is, using another translated name to change commonly used technical terms); 6) pronoun reduction method (that is, translating the original pronoun into the noun replaced by the pronoun). These skills are still of great guiding significance to today's translation practice. At the same time as Xuanzang, there were other translators, such as Yijing, Yijing, Yijing and Bukong, who also translated many Buddhist scriptures. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, no one went to India to learn Buddhist scriptures, and the translation of Buddhist scriptures gradually declined. In the Song Dynasty, the translation of Buddhist scriptures was far less than that in the heyday of the early Tang Dynasty. During the period of Kande Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Taizu sent people to the West to learn from the scriptures, and India also sent famous monks from the East to China to preach. Song Taizu also established a translation institute in Taiping xingguo temple, specializing in the translation of Buddhist scriptures. Although the organization of the translation field is extremely complete, the number of translated classics is almost close to that of the Tang Dynasty, but the quality is not as good as that of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the famous monk translators mainly included Tian, Fahu and others. Zanning (Gao, now a native of Deqing, Zhejiang) has made great contributions to translation theory. He once summed up all kinds of situations of translating classics in the past and put forward six methods to solve all kinds of contradictions in the translation process. This is the continuation and development of China's translation theory in the Tang Dynasty, and it is a precious treasure in China's translation theory. In the Southern Song Dynasty, due to social unrest and other reasons, Buddhist scriptures were rarely translated, and there was no translation in historical records. In the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers translated the Buddhist scriptures of Zhao Ba, Enba and Guan Zhuba, but there were only a dozen, not to mention the discussion of translation theory. Translation is basically at a standstill. Third, in the 200-year history of Ming and Qing Dynasties, the translation of Buddhist scriptures showed a declining trend. There are only one or two people who translate Buddhist scriptures, such as Guang Zhi, who has translated several Buddhist scriptures. However, from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty to the "New Learning" period of the Qing Dynasty, Xu Guangqi, Lin Shu (Qinnan), Yan Fu (Youling) and other translators appeared in China to translate and introduce science, literature and philosophy from western European countries. In the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi cooperated with Matteo Ricci, an Italian, and translated Euclid's Principles of Geometry and the Meaning of Measurement. In Qing Dynasty, Lin Shu (1852.1.8-1924.10.9) and his collaborators orally translated 184 kinds of western literary works, reaching/kloc-0. The most famous novels translated are La Traviata, Uncle Tom's Cabin, david copperfield and Revenge of the Prince. Lin Shu himself doesn't know foreign languages, so there are many omissions, omissions and additions in his translation. However, Lin Shu's translation has played a great role in China readers' understanding of western literary works. Yan Fu (1954.1.18-1921.10.27) was an enlightenment thinker of the emerging bourgeoisie in the late Qing Dynasty. During the thirty years from the 24th year of Guangxu to the 3rd year of Xuantong (A.D.1898-191), he translated many western political and economic theories, such as Huxley's "Evolution and Ethics" and other papers, and Adam Smith (A. Montesquieu's "France and Italy" (L'esprit des Lois) and Spencer's "On Freedom" and Jencks's "Political History" and so on. Every book translated by Yan Fu has a certain purpose and significance. He often borrows the works of famous western bourgeois thinkers to express his thoughts. He often adds many comments to his translations to give play to his own views. Yan Fu's "The Method of Translating Classics in Han, Jin and Six Dynasties" (Lu Xun's Two Hearts Collection). On the basis of consulting the translation experience of ancient Buddhist scriptures and combining his own translation practice, he put forward the famous translation standard of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" in the translation example of the first volume of Evolution (published in 1898). He said: "there are three difficulties in translating things: faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance." It is difficult to win his trust! " If you care about that letter, you can't reach it. It can't be achieved without translation. Therefore, some people think that Yan Fu emphasized "Da" and put "Xin" and "Da" in opposition. In fact, Yan Fu once explained immediately: "When the original word has profound meaning and is difficult to be compared with * * *, then use the current word to show its meaning. All these undertakings are for achievement, for achievement and for faith. " This shows that Yan Fu did not separate "faithfulness" from "expressiveness". He argues that "faithfulness" means "meaning is different from (reciting) the text", and "expressiveness" is not limited to the original form, and the translation language should make the original intention as obvious as possible, and the two are unified. However, Yan Fu's explanation of "elegance" seems inadequate today. His "elegance" refers to the quaint pursuit of the translation itself without the original text. He believes that only the translation itself adopts "pre-Han syntax"-in fact, the so-called excellent classical Chinese can be regarded as elegant. Yan Fu himself follows the principle of "distortion without elegance" in translation practice, so the translation is not only difficult to understand, but also disloyal to the original, similar to adaptation. Some people say that Yan Fu disdains "faithfulness" and "expressiveness" by using the word "elegance". This criticism is not groundless. However, on the positive side, Yan Fu's attention to the translation polishing deserves our attention. Although Yan Fu's interpretation of the translation criteria of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" has some limitations due to the limitations of the times, it has not been abandoned by the translation circles in China for many years, because: the formulation of these three words is concise and to the point, and the hierarchy is prominent; Of the three, loyalty is the most important. Therefore, some translators still take "Sanyan" as the translation standard, but the old bottle and the new bottle are given new contents and requirements. For example, they think that "elegance" no longer refers to Yan Fu's "erya" and "syntax with pre-Han characters", but refers to "retaining the style of the original". In addition, it is worth mentioning that a few years before Yan Fu published the theory of evolution, Ma Jianzhong, the author of Ma Shi Wen Tong, had given full play to what he thought was a "good translation" in his proposal of establishing a translation school in 1894. Ma Jianzhong's criterion of "good translation" includes three requirements: first, the translator must be proficient in two languages and be familiar with their similarities and differences; Second, clarify the meaning, spirit and tone of the original text and convey it; Third, there is no difference between the translation and the original, "the translation is as it is". These requirements are very high, and they all have certain reasons. However, because he specializes in grammar and has no translation work, his view of "easy translation" has been ignored by later generations. Fourthly, the May 4th Movement was a watershed in the history of modern translation in China. Before the May 4th Movement, the most remarkable performance was the translation of a series of western bourgeois academic masterpieces and literary works represented by Yan Fu and Lin Shu. After the May 4th Movement, China's translation career began a new historical period, with the introduction of Marxist-Leninist classics and proletarian literary works. The translation of the Manifesto of the Producers' Party was published during the May 4th Movement. Great changes have taken place in the content and form of translation during this period. The vernacular has replaced the classical Chinese. Excellent literary works from eastern and western countries, especially from Russia and the Soviet Union, began to be introduced by China's outstanding pioneers in modern translation history, such as Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai. Lu Xun is a typical example of the combination of translation theory and practice. His correspondence with Qu Qiubai on translation provides us with some basic translation principles that should be followed. He translated many excellent Russian and Soviet literary works, such as Destruction and Dead Soul. He and Qu Qiubai summed up many valuable experiences in translation practice. Lu Xun's main viewpoint on translation standards is: "All translation must take into account two aspects, one is easy to understand, and the other is to maintain the style of the original text." Lu Xun strongly opposed the vulgar translations of "bull's head is not right for horse's mouth" and "gouge out nose" at that time, and put forward the principle of "believe but not believe" in view of what some people called "obedience". Of course, Lu Xun's principle means "overcorrection must be overcorrected", but it has nothing in common with using "hard translation" and "dead translation" as a shield. Lu Xun advocated literal translation in order to take care of introducing new expressions and maintain the original style, which has nothing in common with "dead translation" with literal translation as a shield. Both of them are very serious about translation, and they are still examples for us to learn. V. 1949 Since the founding of New China, with the founding of New China, translation has also been liberated. Since then, under the leadership of the Party, translation has become an important part of the new socialist culture. It has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results, and its translation theory has been enriched and improved day by day. The translation work in this period has the following characteristics: under the leadership of the Party, translators worked in an organized, planned and systematic way, gradually replacing the phenomenon of rushing to translate, confusing translation and repeating waste; (2) The quality of translated works has been greatly improved, and the careless and irresponsible atmosphere has been gradually overcome; (3) In order to better serve the socialist construction, translators have carried out criticism and self-criticism, gradually eliminating all kinds of bad phenomena and the situation of no one asking questions; (4) Translators not only shoulder the task of translating Chinese into foreign languages; (5) The increasingly unified understanding of translation standards has effectively promoted translation work in China. Especially in the past two decades, the vast number of translators in China have also actively responded to the party's call, introduced and exchanged advanced scientific and technological knowledge, excellent literary and artistic works and national culture through serious and arduous translation work, and made new contributions to China's four modernizations and world peace.