| Translation is a bidirectional process of understanding and representation, so whatever kindof translation all relate to understanding and interpretation towards the source text. During thisprocess, understanding is reception of the source text, while interpretation is explanation of thesource text. This offers a theoretical and logical opportunity for Hermeneutics to apply totranslation studies. The reason for introducing hermeneutics into translation studies is, thatChina's traditional translation studies and western structuralism always focus on a comparisonbetween the original and translated texts in terms of the standard for evaluation of translatedworks and put interpretation into a "vacuum" to examine, paying little attention to reasons ofdifferent interpretations and its rationality.Hermeneutic translation theories originate from modern Hermeneutics which sprung up inthe 1960s in western countries. Heidegger, the representative of modern hermeneutics, introduces"temporality" and "historicity" into the study of hermeneutics. His student, Gadamer, further putsup concepts such as "prejudice" and "horizon", claiming that no interpretation can escape fromsubjective prejudice and for an interpreter, it is impossible to produce an absolutely objectiveinterpretation. The hermeneutic horizon is historical and open to evolution with the change ofprejudice. Interpretation is not a one-time behavior of the subject but a perpetual process, whichbecomes an endless "hermeneutic circle" and "historical understanding". The hermeneutictheorist, George Steiner's discussion about "hermeneutic motion", namely "initiative trust","aggression", "incorporation" and "compensation", pays more attention to the subjectivity of theinterpreter during the whole interpreting process, opening another brand-new field for translationstudies. Hermeneutic translation studies have not made great progress since George Steiner'sAfter Babel, but in terms of the translation of Chinese Confucian classics, hermeneutics is verypractical. Many problems in the translation of Confucian classics can be solved by analyzingunder the framework of hermeneutics.Through the description of the Chinese outstanding classic Lun Yu's history of translation,especially its history of English translation, and the detailed comparative study of its threeEnglish versions, this thesis concludes that "hermeneutic multiplicity" does exist in Lun Yu'sinterpretation and translation. Many reasons result in such multiple interpretations. Firstly, theinterpreters are subjective and totally different, so all kinds of subjective and objective factors,such as interpreters' different historical and cultural backgrounds, their diverse translatingpurposes, their knowledge and learning, their experiences and their native culture's influenceswill leave impact on translator's interpretation of the source work. Secondly, Lun Yu, due to itsrecondite language, profound thoughts and concise sentence structures, leaves a great number of"textual blanks" for interpreting. Finally, when the distinct interpreters come across the textualblanks, they definitely will interpret differently, thus producing quite different translations. It isthis hermeneutic multiplicity causes the fact that the present English versions of Lun Yu areamounted to be more than 26.From the perspective of "meaning of the text", Lun Yu is a relatively open literary system,opening to various historical ages. Just this openness enables interpreters of different generationsto decode and interpret it effectively. This meaning of the text, however, could not be realizedcompletely at one time. With time changes, interpreters' understandings towards Lun Yu keepchanging, the interpreting methods keep enriching and readers' acceptance also make a lot ofchanges. It is just based on the new understanding and interpretation that new translations emerge.In this sense, the retranslation of Lun Yu is not only very necessary but crucial as well, expandingits spreading space and extending its spreading time.
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