| With the rapid industrialization, the relationship between human beings and naturebecome strained. At the same time, people’s cry for returning to “ecologically civilizedsociety” goes up again and again. The five-thousand-word Tao Te Ching, a Chineseclassical book about Taoism, not only contains maxims of statecraft and self-cultivation,but delineates an extraordinary picture in which the relations of “heaven—earth—human”are harmonious. The ecological ethics of Tao Te Ching is conducive to ease the tensionbetween human beings and nature.The thesis intends to make a comparative and analytical study on English translationsof Tao Te Ching translated by James Legge, Arthur Waley and D.C.Lau under the guidanceof Eco-Translatology. The procedures of the research can be concluded as follows: Firstly,the thesis will discuss from the perspective of translators’ internal and external adaptations,namely from translators’ adaptations to their internal needs and to their ability so as toanalyze the translators’ adaptations to translational eco-environment. Secondly, linguistic,cultural and communicative dimensions will be applied as research directions to explaintranslators’ adaptive selections made in translating Tao Te Ching. Finally, the thesis willevaluate whether three translations have multi-dimensionally adapted to certaintranslational eco-environment and successfully conveyed the philosophical and culturalessence of the source text from the perspective of degree of multi-dimensionaltransformations, reader’s feedback and translator’s quality.The conclusions are drawn that translational eco-environment, translators’ self-factorsand application of different translation strategies will not only lead to the diversity ofEnglish translations of Tao Te Ching, but determine their vitality in the future. In addition,some suggestions will be put forward on how to disseminate Chinese classics and make itan important link in China’s soft power construction. |
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