A Study Of Ku Hungming's Views On Translation

Ku Hungming( 1857-1928) is not only a well-known literary figure in modern China, but a great translator. He became an influential scholar at the turn of the 20^th century because of his works that advocated Confucianism. Ku's translated works, including Lun Yu and Zhong Yong, played a significant role in spreading traditional Chinese culture to the Western world.There were few studies on Ku Hungming as a translator before the 1980s. Since then, more findings have been made on the translator. Most of them are of translation criticism, but there is a lack of in-depth studies on Ku's translation thoughts. Such a study will not only help deepen the studies on the translation practice of the translator, but also deepen the studies on both the Chinese translation history and the Chinese translation theory history.By summing up and analyzing Ku's views on translation, the author attempts to study his translation thoughts in a relatively systematic manner and make clear Ku's role in both the Chinese translation history and the cultural exchange history. With regard to the research methodology, the author adopts the descriptive approach proposed by Gideon Toury. The approach is to expound the translator's translation thoughts through tracing the socio-cultural factors that shape his translation.The thesis addresses Ku's views on translation in terms of five aspects: translation purpose, translation criticism, reader awareness, translation criteria, and language perspective and translation. On such a basis, the author puts Ku's views on translation in the socio-cultural context and employs Even-Zohar's polysystem theory to examine Ku's two important points on translation: translation material selection and translation strategy. According to the polysystem theory, translation material selection and translation strategy are largely influenced by the literary system of the receiving culture. The reason why Ku Hungming translated Confucian classics is to save the whole world as well as China on the basis of his understanding of Confucianism and the world at large. The domestication strategy Ku advocated and adopted is in agreement with the literary norms of the receiving culture, thus his translations achieved a great success. Furthermore, a case study of Ku's Lun Yu is conducted to exemplify how Ku applied his views on translation to his practice to fulfill his translation purposes. Ku Hungming is an important figure of the social and political school of translation in modern China. His translation theory, an indispensable part of traditional Chinese translation theories, can still benefit the undertaking of translating Chinese classics for the outside world.