Natural Translating, Translating Nature

Ecological culture in Daode jing is mainly embodied by its rich natural ecological consciousness. In the context of global environmental crises, its plentiful store of ecological wisdom is of extraordinary value to the sustainable development of humankind. For Laozi, Dao, unseen and unspeakable, is the total sum of laws and regulations in the universe. All natural principles and phenomena proceed from the Dao. Ecologically, the movement of Dao is the exact abstraction of the reproducing process of all living creatures. How can translators render such an unfathomable ecological thought for the western readers of exactly distinct ecological values? With a great curiosity, the author of this thesis has taken a huge interest in probing English translations of Daode jing from an eco-translatological perspective.Based on the theoretical framework of Eco-translatology, this thesis attempts to investigate the process of translating Daode jing through the translators'cyclical alternations of natural adaptation and natural selec-tion in the translational eco-environment. Inspired by Laozi's ecological thought and the eco-translatological theory, for the first time, the author tries to describe and explain the concept of "natural translating" as the inner spirit of the whole thesis. Due to the different ecological values in the West and in China, the thesis gives high prominence to the translation and transmission of the ecological culture in Daode jing. And that is why Daode jing is the right text for an eco-translatological study.Chinese classics are the central and overall reflection of traditional Chinese culture. However, the translation and interpretation of these classics always come across obstructions due to the great spatial and temporal distance from the linguistic and cultural dimensions. Hence, the translation of classics should seriously consider both language and culture in the translational eco-environment. Setting English translations of Dao-de jing as the research object, this thesis makes detailed descriptions of the translators' different ways of dealing with the linguistic as well as the cultural elements in the six selected versions. The case study from the eco-translatological perspective not only tackles a new field in the studies and translations of Daode jing, but also contributes to the translation and dissemination of Chinese classics.The thesis consists of five parts:The introductory part generalizes the research background, and the research purpose as well as the significance of the thesis.Chapter One introduces Laozi and his work Daode jing, reviews the historical development of its English translations, and summarizes previ-ous studies at home and abroad on English translations of this classic.Chapter Two briefs the origin and development of the ecological approach to translation studies. Initially, it gives an introduction to five essential concepts of ecology to signify the mutual relations between ecology and translation. Then it expounds the theoretical explanations from two leading figures of translation studies from an ecological pers-pective. Finally, it elaborates three core concepts of Eco-translatology, i.e., translational eco-environment, adaptation and selection, and natural translating.Chapter Three is the major part of the thesis. It closely analyzes the ecological culture in Daode jing, and then compares different ecological values in the West and in China to justify the significance of the transmi-ssion of Laozi's ecological wisdom. Next, it offers a detailed compara-tive analysis of the six versions from two different dimensions:language and culture. The linguistic dimension is further divided into three levels: the lexical, the syntactic, and the stylistic. For the cultural dimension, the translations of four concepts and three images are explored with abundant examples.In the end, the Conclusion summarizes what has been discussed, points out limitations of the present research and proposes some suggestions for further researches.