On Translation Of Foreign Works During The Late Qing Dynasty And The Early Republic Of China In The Light Of Skopos Theory

Current domestic research on translation history shows that, Chinese scholars havelooked into the various phases of translation phenomenon in the late Qing Dynasty and earlyRepublic of China. Yet most of them focus dominantly on the study of literature translation,under the guidance of the traditional translation theories, the translation of other subjects is notgiven adequate attention.The present study tries to make an exploration into translation history, using skopostheory as its theoretical framework; it discusses the relationship between translation purposesand translation activities in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China throughdocumentary description and data analysis.The research is approached by studies of translation activities from3aspects: naturalscience, social science and literature, focusing on influences of translation purposes ontranslation activities, including the choice of source texts and translation methods.Vermeer holds that all human actions are determined by purpose, including translationaction.A translation action is determined by its purpose. The translation purpose serves as areference for the choice of translation strategies, translation methods and the original form orcontent. The skopos theory explains the “unfaithfulness” of translations at this period, theevaluation of a translation depends on whether the target text fulfills translator’s intendedtranslation purpose, rather than “faithfulness” as the sole criterion.Through the study of translation activities during this period, it can be found thattranslator’s action was influenced by specific purposes, such as the purposes of broadeningminds of the public, scientific enrichment of the country; salvation of the nation, politicalreform; enlightenment and introducing western ideology into China. These purposes exertedgreat impact on translation activities in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, notonly on the translator’s choice of source texts with the passage of the times, but also ontranslation methods adopted by translator for the achievement of intended purposes.