A Study On The Translation Of Color Terms In Hong Lou Meng

Hong Lou Meng (here after referred to as HLM), one of the most influential novels in classic Chinese literature written by Cao Xueqin in the Mid-eighteenth century, is viewed as "the encyclopedia of Chinese culture in ancient China". This novel is favorably received throughout the world, occupying a very important position in the Chinese and the world literature. And it is abundant in aesthetic value and rich in cultural connotation.The reason why HLM enjoys such high popularity is that it has its unique features. One of them is the great use of color terms in describing appearance of characters, arrangement of furniture and equipments in the residence, scenery of seasons, display of social activities and celebrations and in idioms and antithetical couplets. And the other is that of color terms in describing psychological activities of characters. Such an artistic and skillful use of color terms not only expose the social and cultural features of those days, but also reveal the author Cao Xueqin’s superb skills in maneuvering language. Therefore, whether these color terms are well translated into English or not is a key factor to evaluating the success of its English version. As color terms are varied in usage in different cultures due to diverse geographical environment, customs, religious beliefs and historical development, their translation from one language into another is not so easy, for these differences are reflected in color cognition as well as in visual and psychological response to color terms. It is a great challenge for translators to translate color terms properly because of the complicated information encoded in them. Meanwhile, it is reasonable for translators to take different translation strategies due to their diverse cultural backgrounds and different purposes.This thesis attempts to make a comparative study of the two English versions of HLM: one is A Dream of Red Mansions translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, and the other is The Story of the Stone rendered by David Hawkes. In it, there are three main issues that are addressed. Firstly, the role of color terms in literature is explored; secondly, the features of color terms are discussed and the different translation purposes of the translators together with their translation principles and strategies are dealt with; and finally, the influence of cultures and translator’s style on the translation strategies are analyzed.