A Project Report On The E-C Translation Of China,a New History

This is a project report on the translation of American sinologist John King Fairbank’s masterpiece China, a New History. This C-E translation falls in the field of sinology translation featuring the following:a lot of words and phrases about Chinese culture that are directly transliterated from Chinese, and great amount of descriptive phrases that convert unique Chinese conceptions to English. The aforementioned characteristics require the translator’s comprehension Chinese culture in deep to understand those unique Chinese conceptions contained in the source text, and skills to decipher them to a style Chinese readers can easily accept. Before starting the translation project, the translation had read several autobiographies of Chinese historical figures, Chinese atlas and other historical documents to get a full picture of the historical events and cultural conceptions of the work. Under the guide of the translator’s mentor, the translator accomplished the translation project report.In the process of the translation, Chinese-culture-loaded words and a proper style of the translated text are where the translator must pay serious attention. The translator learned theories about back translation that would ensure the translator to convey Fairbank’s description of Chinese culture. To make the translated text in a Chinese-reader-friendly style, the translator used a domesticating method to let the translated text approach to traditional Chinese historical documents. Despite of the translator’s limited skills that leaves the translated text room for improvement, the translator hope the report can provide constructive suggestions and references for domestic translators working on sinology translation.