A Study Of The Chinese-English Translation Of The Analects Of Confucius:the Chinese Exegetic Perspective

According to the policy of “Overseas Promotion of Chinese Literature”,it is necessary and urgent to spread Chinese culture in the world.Chinese classic work is one of the main carriers for Chinese culture,and the translating of Chinese classic works obviously is an effective way to spread splendid Chinese culture in the world.The Analects of Confucius,also known as The Analects,is one of the greatest and the most significant Confucian classics.The great work has embodied the great Chinese thinker and educator—Confucius’ views of politics,ethics,and education.Due to The Analects of Confucius’ significance and impact,the Chinese classic has been translated into different languages and even different versions of a same language in the world.There are more than sixty English versions of The Analects of Confucius.Although the number of studies is huge,most of the scholars have discussed their topics based on western translation theories.Although analyzing text by western translation theories is a good way to enrich academic perspectives,there are still some limits in applying western translation theories to analyze a Chinese classic like The Analects of Confucius,because Chinese classics were born in the environment which is full of Chinese culture and Chinese academic context and is totally different from western world.Based on that,the author intends to combine the methods of the Chinese exegetics with English translation study.The Chinese exegetics is an ancient Chinese discipline and it is a branch of Chinese traditional philology which is used to study on the meaning of lexicon and sentences,the previous commentaries,the regulations and culture.First of all,combining the Chinese exegetics with translation study is helpful for improving translation works’ quality;Secondly,it is valuable for enriching academic perspectives for the English translation of Chinese classics.Thirdly,it is beneficial to enhance Chinese academic self-confidence.From the point of view of the policy of “Overseas Promotion of Chinese Literature”,the thesis has adopted The Analects of Confucius as the study case,and has chosen English versions of it translated by Gu Hongming,Arthur Waley and D.C.Lau.By combining the Chinese exegetics with English translation study of Chinese classics,the thesis is aimed at providing solutions for comprehensive problem in English translation of Chinese classics,a new academic perspective for Chinese classics translation study,and a more reliable theory evidence for translation criticism.In the thesis,first of all,the author has divided the ways of combining the methods of the Chinese exegetics with translation study into two categories: the Chinese exegetics and translation;the Chinese exegetics and translation criticism.Besides,the author has summarized several Chinese exegetic methods which can be applied in translation study.It is expected that the study could provide some help for further study.