The Target Language Of The Ancient Chinese Music

In recent years the contacts of music culture of all nations are getting more and more frequent. China is a country with a long history and great civilization, whose music culture attracts a lot of scholars in musical field all over the world. Translating the materials of Chinese ancient music is a superb way to convey Chinese music culture. A great variety of translated music materials are available in China. Yet, very few Chinese music materials have been translated into other languages. Foreign language targeted translation turns out to be a big challenge for translators in China.A qualified translator specialized in music area is bound to have the knowledge in both music and languages. However, such talents can be hardly found nowadays. This paper tries to illustrate some problems about Chinese-English translation of music through the process of translating an article The Sonorous Stones and Ceremonial Music of Qianlong Period, Qing Dynasty. It mainly focuses on the problems of the attitudes toward translation, target-language-orientedness and source-language-orientedness, and the syntax differences between English and Chinese. The paper also displays a unique strategy in translating peculiar ancient Chinese instruments and temperaments.