Chinese Union Bible Translation Principles

The purpose of the study is to ascertain the main principlesand methods of translation in the Chinese Union Version, the most popularBible translation in Chinese for more than 80 years since 1919 when it waspublished. The CUV's translating principle is literally and formallyorientated. The analyses of the verbal consistency, voice consistency, wordclass consistency and sentence length have all established this point. Andfurther proofs come from the solutions to idioms and metaphors. Some of theidioms and metaphors are translated so literally that they really becomereading barriers. Directed by the principle, the translating methods are SLorientated, such as phonetic translation, transplanting and attaching newmeanings to the established Chinese. Resulting from the tendency in theCUV to adhere to literal and formal correspondence translation, the CUV ismade less decodable. The CUV's translators, however, did want thetranslation to be understandable. Actually, the CUV is a result of a Protestantevangelical missionary movement. The CUV shows its efforts to get rid ofthe bonds of the word-for-word translating method and begins to practice asense-for-sense translating method. This can be best illustrated by theconextual consistency in rendering vocabulny And in order tO make itselfaccessible, the CUV uses adaPtation When the words are not of imPoboceas to the basic faith of Cdristianity When there is a clash of meaning andform, the CUV gives the former the priority The solution of the poeny hasmade this clear The CUV is a version in General Mandarin in which boththe localism and litemp language have been avoided. Except for thedifficulties resulting from the litera and fOrmal translation principle, theCUV does not include many linguistic difficulties. The intelligibility dePendsmuch on the content and form of the original. The CUV sacrificed thesmoothness of style for the faithfulness tO the original. But it uses manyfourcharactered Chinese phrases and anuneses, Which really make the CUVaPPreciatCd to its readers.