A Translation Report Of Comparative Study On The Cultures Between The Shang And Zhou Dynasties (the First Chapter)

With the globalization across the world and the further of China’s reform and opening up to the outside, her economic and cultural exchanges with the rest of the world become more frequent. As a part of Chinese Academic Translation Project supported by National Social Science Foundation of2013, the source text is the first chapter of Comparative Study on the Cultures between the Shang and Zhou Dynasties which is the work of Prof. Wang Hui at School of History and Culture, Shaanxi Normal University. The diversity of culture is particularly important and precious in today’s globalization. So in order to make more people understand Chinese culture, to make the world have a better understanding of China, the translation of this book has special academic and cultural significance.This report is composed of four chapters:the first chapter gives an overall introduction to the task background, the characteristics of the source text and the requirements of the entrusting party. The second chapter is the translation process description which is formed by the preparation before the translation (including the theory learning and the reading of the source book and references), the real translating practice and the matters dealt with after the translation. Chapter three is the focus of the report which first analyzes the difficulties of the source text, such as the translation of the titles, the culture-loaded words and the classic quotations, and then makes a theory analysis of literal translation and liberal translation and other translation strategies in light of Skopostheorie, and lastly generalizes the strategies to the same translation problems. Chapter four draws a conclusion to the gains, lessons the translator learned from this practice and the problems that need to be solved."Let China reach out to the world and let the world know China better". The translator hopes the English version of this book can provide some help to the foreign friends interested in Chinese culture and can contribute one’s own effort to the reach out of Chinese culture. And at the same time, the problems and strategies summarized by me during this translation practice can offer some tips and references to the friends who love translation heartily.