A Translation Project Report On Life In China(Chapter Four Of Part Two)

The source text of this translation project report is Chapter Four of Part Two of Life in China written by William Charles Milne,a British missionary and later a diplomat,who came to China in the mid 19 th century.This book recorded his life,work and thoughts in Ningbo of the late Qing Dynasty,reflecting the western knowledge of China and revealing the historical process of westerners’ construction and reconstruction of China.In Chapter Four,Milne,according to his observation and experiences,introduced traditional marriage,women’s status in marriage life,religious belief and social problems in China.From the author’s evaluation and comparison,the cultural differences can be told between China and the West.The text was written with the form of diary in lively language with detailed description,and the feeling Milne wrote was realistic.The source text is a typical informative text,and there are many cultural terms given after Morrison’s system of orthography,typical sentences,long and complex sentences.In order to achieve the aim of transferring the original text correctly,the translator,under the guidance of Nida’s functional equivalence,analyzes the text,consults relevant materials and combines the method of conversion,amplification and inversion.As the first-hand historical material with high academic citation frequency,this book is of great value for the research on modern history of Sino-Western cultural exchanges and the modern history of China.The aim of this translation is to provide assistance for those scholars and history enthusiasts who read English with difficulties.The translator hopes that the translation and the report are helpful for the future study on translation of missionary books and the Sino-Wetern cultural exchanges.