A Three-Dimensional Interpretation On Arthur Waley’s Translation Of Tao Te Ching From An Eco-translatological Perspective

Lao Tzu, honored as the first Chinese philosopher, was well-known for his work Tao TeChing. As the first complete philosophical classic in Chinese history, with only five thousandswords, Tao Te Ching was rich of literariness, ideas and philosophy, hence achieved asignificant position among countless Chinese classics. Its transmission has led to profoundinfluence on the thought and mentality of the whole Chinese nation and even the wholeworld.Since the first English version of Tao Te Ching appeared in1868, there are over onehundred English versions at home and abroad, and the number is still increasing every year.Among scores of different versions, some are well received, such as the translation fromBritish sinologist Arthur Waley, which has been ranked one of the most influential versions.Arthur Waley’s The Way and its Power: a Study of the Tao Te Ching and its Place in ChineseThought, since its first publication in1934, has been reprinted nearly every five year, havingat least14printings. Its unfailing popularity and respect in the English world aroused deepinterest of the author and hence produced this research.A great many of scholars have carried studies on Arthur Waley’s version of Tao Te Chingfrom different perspectives such as linguistics and cultural studies. But the evaluation of thetranslation quality can not fully explain its unfailing popularity. To this point, the “naturalselection” and “survival of the fittest” in Eco-translotology can be applied. This thesis intendsto investigate the reason why Arthur Waley’s version stands out among numerous English versions all this time from an eco-translatological perspective, discussing the linguistic,cultural and communicative adaption and selection that Arthur Waley made to adapt thetranslational eco-environment.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first introductory chapter generalizes theresearch background, purpose and the significance as well as the layout of the thesis. Thencomes the literature review, briefly introduces the great philosopher, Lao Tzu, and hismasterpiece, Tao Te Ching. Also, a review of the historical development of its Englishtranslations and a summarization of previous and present studies at home and abroad arefollowed. In Chapter three, the ecological translation approach—Eco-translatology ispresented, including its background, development, basic viewpoints and related appliedstudies. Especially the process of translator’s adaption, selection and multi-dimensionaltransformation serves as the theoretical basis of the thesis. As to the analysis part, after somebrief background information about Arthur Waley and his English translation of Tao Te Ching,a detailed analysis from three different dimensions: linguistic, cultural and communicative isfollowed. From this, the author hopes to provide a new point of view for the Englishtranslation of Tao Te Ching and even Chinese classics. At the same time, this thesis can beused as a case study to test the explanatory power and feasibility of the Eco-translatology.Still, there are some limitations of the present research and needs further studies. Somesuggestions are listed in the end.