The Usefulness Of Eco-translatology For Translating Chinese Classics

Cultural soft power is an indispensable part of a country’s overall strength. The Chinese local and national government has made various attempts to enhance the soft power of Chinese culture and achieved remarkable results. However, the international influence of Chinese culture is still limited. The main channels for most foreigners to know China are largely restricted to news media, magazines and other pop cultures. Therefore, their understanding about China is merely superficial and prejudiced.To relish the essence of Chinese culture, reading Chinese classics is an unavoidable choice. One of the Chinese Classics Daodejing is a book that has been translated into the largest number of foreign languages. It has played an important role in making China known to the world. This essay will focus on one of the most popular versions of the English translation of Daodejing-Arthur Waley’s translation. By researching into and analyzing how Arthur Waley’s translation is accepted among English readers, this essay will discuss the usefulness of eco-translatology for improving the quality of the translation of Chinese classics in order to promote Chinese culture to the world.This essay analyzed the researching results of English readers’acceptance of some texts selected from Waley’s translation and reached these conclusions:Arthur Waley’s version conforms to the harmonious eco-environment for translation, and that the translator-center principle of eco-translatology complies with the adaptation and selection as the eco-translation standard and reflects the eco-translation law that only the most adaptive will be selected. The writer attempts to provide a new point of view for Daodejing English translation research and for the translating of other Chinese classics.