Analysis Of The Analects Of Confucius Translated By Ku Hung-ming From The Viewpoint Of Functional Equivalence

As the famous linguist, translation theorist in the United States, Eugene A· Nida putforward the Functional Equivalence based on the readers’ response (it was named as FormalEquivalence at first) which opens a new viewpoint of translation. Different from thetraditional translation theories with the focus on language equivalence, it believes that theappropriate adjustments of the original expression shall be made in order to make the readersof the target language with the similar feelings with those of the source language, that is, thetranslation readers will respond in a same way with that of the original readers. Therefore, theoriginal “Formal Equivalence” had evolved into “Functional Equivalence” which has exertedgreat influence on the translation research at home and abroad.Ku Hong-Ming is the first great master who gets professional knowledge in terms ofscience, foreign languages and Chinese culture in the late Qing dynasty. He was devoted todelivering the essence of Chinese culture and spirits to the west. As he was angry with themisunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Chinese classic books he translated the threeclassic books in the Four Books---The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of The Mean andThe Doctrine of The Great Learning, among which The Analects of Confucius is the firstbook translated by Chinese people. Thanks to his deep cultural background and excellentlanguage proficiency, the English version not only remains the essence of the original book,but also is featured with the characteristics of the western language. Therefore, it gains greatpopularity in the west and enables more western people to have a clear idea aboutConfucianism in China.This thesis focuses on the research of the English version from the viewpoints of styleand culture. It aims to figure out whether the original style from the rhetorical devices can beaccepted and understood by target readers from idioms and culture-loaded word. In theanalysis of style and culture, example illustration will also be used to figure out whether themeaning, cultural information of the original passage is delivered well or not. According tothe research, the thesis aims to get the conclusion that the English version of The Analects of Confucius translated by Ku Hung-Ming has reached the functional equivalence and enablesthe target readers with the similar feelings with the original readers.