A Cultural Approach To Tian Yan Lun As A Chinese Version Of Evolution And Ethics

Tian Yan Lun and Yan Fu’s translation thoughts and strategies have long been subjects that many scholars home and abroad have kept discussing for years. And since 1980 s, there has been a cultural turn in translation studies. This thesis starts with a survey of comparing the target text with the source text on the basis of cultural translation. As a translation Tian Yan Lun cannot be counted as a faithful translation because Yan Fu adapted and even rewrote the source text. This adaptation mainly manifests in the following four aspects: cultural reduction, cultural addition, cultural rewriting and Yan Fu’s notes and the cultural factors hidden behind these translation strategies adopted by Yan Fu in the process of translating are also discussed in this paper. Moreover, this thesis also discusses the influences that Tian Yan Lun has exerted upon its contemporary society as well as the modern society. Tian Yan Lun has indeed drive the reformation of society, politics and other aspects in the late time of Qing Dynasty, but the relation between evolution and ethics is not conveyed totally by Yan Fu, which leads to the loss of ethic concern in his translation and has brought negative influences on society, idea and even modern Chinese culture.This paper has six chapters. A brief introduction to the thoughts on evolution in Yan Fu’s Tian Yan Lun compared with Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics is introduced in the first chapter. A literature review as it summarizes the previous researches of Tian Yan Lun is introduced in the second chapter. The third chapter is the theoretical basis as it provides an introduction of cultural translation and the purpose of translation and cultural awareness. The fourth chapter is the discussion of Yan Fu’s translation and his notes by exampling and analyzing the cultural factors behind them. Chapter Five discusses the positive and negative influences of Tian Yan Lun, especially the negative influences resulting from the loss of the ethical concern and radical evolution. The conclusion is summarized in the last chapter.Tian Yan Lun maintains a close relation with the Chinese culture and has become a part of modern Chinese culture. Cultural perspective on Yan Fu’s translation not only provides a new angle to further study on Tian Yan Lun as an unfaithful translation but also a case to better understand Yan Fu and his thoughts.