A New Inquiry Into The Notion Of "Huajing"

As one of the most important parts of traditional Chinese translation thoughts,"Huajing"(usually translated into"Sublimation") advocated by Qian Zhongshu, has long been a hot topic for scholastic pursuit ever since its birth. Up till now, there have appeared many articles from different aspects to study Qian's translation thoughts. As for the interpretation of the notion of"Huajing", studies have been made from various aspects, such as rhetoric, semiotics, pragmatics, linguistics, etc. But rarely have any studies stretched themselves to the paradox between the definition of"Huajing"given by Qian Zhongshu and his criticism on Lin Shu's translations, and few studies have been made from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics.Therefore, the application of the theory of philosophical hermeneutics could be a new attempt for the interpretation of"Huajing". This attempt could discover the rich connotations of the"Huajing"and better our understanding of it. In addition, a close look at the"Huajing"at theoretical level can also be used to guide translators for their translation practice, because, as we all know, translation theory and practice are an integrated unity.Prefacing with a general introduction of Qian and his translation thoughts, this thesis, reviews the previous studies on Mr. Qian's translation thoughts, and then probes into the historical background and theoretical foundation of"Huajing", which can better our understanding of"Huajing". Chapter Four is the main body of the thesis; on the basis of Qian's elucidation of"Huajing"and his criticism on Lin's translation, it finds out that the definition of"Huajing"given by Qian Zhongshu obviously runs counter to his criticism on Lin Shu's translations and that the"Huajing"advocated by Qian is target language-oriented domestication(guihua) rather than faithfulness. In order to make the conclusion more convincing, this article, on one hand, quotes some of Qian's examples of translation from his splendid work Guan Zhui Bian(《管锥编》) and on the other hand attempts to explain, from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics, the reason why both Qian and Lin advocate target language-oriented domestication in translating. Furthermore, this thesis attempts to make a general evaluation on Qian's"Huajing"from the following three aspects: innovation of"Huajing", imperfection of"Huajing"and implication of"Huajing"to translation studies in China.Finally, this thesis concludes that Qian's writings on translation, no fewer than those of his contemporaries, has almost touched upon every aspect of translation; that on the basis of absorption of the translation thoughts of both traditional Chinese translation thoughts and those of Western ones,"Huajing"is the outcome of the trend of the times and Qian's former translating activities; that the essence of"Huajing"is target language-oriented domestication rather than faithfulness; that the innovation of"Huajing"lies in many aspects, notwithstanding the unavoidable defects of its qualities; and that its merits and demerits give profound implication to the translation studies in China.