A Study Of Chinese Translation Of Important Western Social Science Works In The Late Qing Period (1840—1912)

After the cultural modernization, the politics and economy of capitalism in major western countries have been developed and perfected. In the next half of the 19^th century, major western countries have completed the industrial revolution and entered the imperialism stage. During this period the classic western social science works have played a role as thought emancipation and laid a solid theoretical foundation for the establishment of political and economic order.In the same period, China was still ruled by feudalism. The political system suffered from corruption, the industry and commerce were retrained and little emphasis was put on science and technology. After the failure of Opium War in 1840, the whole Chinese society became semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. Facing the inner and outside crisis, many Chinese began to explore the way to save and strengthen the country and they gradually cast their eyes on western social science works. Therefore the translation of western social science works prompted the social development in the period.This essay intends to compare the Chinese society with the western society and analyzes the gap between the two societies in the fields of politics, economy and society. It also illustrates the necessity and influences of the Chinese translation of social science works when China was facing the crisis. This essay shall also analyze the translation skills from both the macro and micro point of views. In addition, in the course of translation practice the translation theories were developed. The analysis is based on the cultural view in translation and functionalism.Through the analysis, it intends to unveil the deeper relationship between culture and translation.