On The Similarities Of The Chinese And Western Translation Method In Religious Text Translation

Translation is a kind of language activities that re-express the meaning of another language accurately and completely. Translation is also the necessary medium of cultural exchange for people of all nationalities around the world. It is an extremely ancient activity in both the West and China. There are many versions and studies in religious text translation; this paper tries to find the similarities on the translation methods of China and the west in the religious text. The author finds that Chinese translation of Buddhist Sutras and the Western Bible translation have gone through a similar process. That is the literal translation in the early time, the free translation in the second period and the combination of the two methods at last period. Although the translation methods of the two areas still have many similarities, different cultures and the development process involving in the two translation traditions. This paper also discussed some relevant factors that affect China’s Buddhist Sutra translation and the Bible translation in the West, indicating that any large-scale translation activities must be subject to the purpose of the main culture, cultural background and language environment; there is no obvious difference in the translation traditions in the two areas. The translation should be accord with the language and cultural contexts and reflect the purpose and significance of source language faithfully, so as to achieve the purpose of cultural communication and promotion of exchanges among different countries.