A Study Of John Francis Davis’ English Translation Of Chinese Classic Fiction

Sir John Francis Davis was the second Governor of Hong Kong who started to learn Chinese at an early age and ardently loved Chinese culture. He later became an expert in China studies. He has authored abundant books on Chinese literature, including English translations of several Chinese literary classics, such as Hao Qiu Zhuan, Twelve Towers and Han Gong Qiu. Despite his great achievements in the study of Chinese literature, Davis has not won due attention from scholars of sinology, which partly can be attributed to his bad reputation as a heavy-tax imposer in HK.As a matter of fact, the contribution made by Davis to the British sinology is not only great but also unprecedented, considering it was half a century earlier than that of Herbert Allen Giles(1845-1935). Although a diplomat during the time when colonist Great Britain launched series of attacks on China, Davis sticked to his sinological studies and kept introducing Chinese literature and culture to the western world. The remarkable attainment of his studies is a worthy topic to discuss.Hao Qiu Zhuan has played an important role in the history of Chinese culture’s communication to the west. Lu Xun praised its excellent wording and the particularity of its characters’ personalities and mentioned that its reputation abroad outweighs its name back at home. The book has many versions of English translation, among which those of Thomas Percy and John Francis are the most widely spread. However, Davis’ work did not receive enough attention.Twelve Towers, the only collection of short stories by Li Yu, consists twelve tales which are titled after the names of twelve buildings. The book boasts delicacy in structure and curiosity in plots. Davis was the first one to translate this work into English. He selected three stories from the collection: San Yu Lou, He Ying Lou and Duo Jin Lou. His translation had a wide influence in England and even in Europe, later translations in German and French were re-translated from his English version. However, since Li Yu’s fiction intrigues little attention in China, the research on Twelve Towers’English translation concentrates mainly on its history of spreading to the west and there are few studies on the text itself. This thesis aims to focus on the actual texts of the two novels’English translations made by Davis and make analysis on his translation approaches and his contribution to19th century English sinology.