A Report On The Translation Of Life Among The Chinese And Journeys In North China (Excerpts)

This report is a review on the translation of two parts in two books. The first part is about the translation of some sections of Life among the Chinese, written by Christian missionary and the other part is about the translation of some sections of Journeys in North China, which was published by an English missionary of Roman Catholic. When traveling in China, the missionaries recorded Chinese geography, history and religion at that time and made detailed and meticulous accounts of local traditions and customs out of varied purposes. In recent years, as the introduction and study of Sinology overseas has been paid increasing attention, the translation and arrangement of this kind of transcripts has become an essential job in the field of the translation and arrangement of China Studies abroad. The part that the author translated is the Chapter 1 to 2 of Life among the Chinese and Chapter 8 to 12 of Journeys in North China, mainly including the detailed description of the differences between Chinese and Western religions and cultures, geographical characteristics and reservation of mineral resources of some districts in China. Translation methods of amplification and annotation were adopted to properly supplement to the information, which is conducive to the translation of this type of texts and can help the reader to learn about Chinese local culture from the viewpoint of westerners.In this translation practice, the author, considering the characteristics of the source text, takes Skopos Theory as a guide for the translation. In the process of the translation, the author first bases the translation on the target and chooses symbols suitable for the purpose of the translation; Secondly, and the main strategies and translation skills for the translation are determined by the primary purpose of the translation. So the translation skills used in the translation include the method and procedures of the division in the translation and the method and procedures of the combination in the translation of long sentences so as to make the translation closer to the original. In this translation report, the author firstly relates the preparation of the translation, then makes explanation for the translation methods adopted, demonstrates the guiding function of the translation theory in concrete practice through case analysis and pointes:firstly, when there are a multitude of quotes from western and Chinese classics in the original text, the author tries to keep the original form and use conventional expressions in the target language; secondly, when translating place names in original text, transliteration should not be blindly adopted, and instead, the translation should be based on authentic information of maps and the pinyin of the zip code, in which annotation is generally used; thirdly, when the original language deviates from standards, translator ought to keep the mental process of the original writer and maintain the original characteristics; fourthly, when translating complex sentences, translator should make corresponding adjustment based on their sentence features so as to spread Chinese culture."Translation is a human behavior", and "Any behavior has its own purposes." Also the author hopes that this translation report can provide some academic clues for the development of mining resources and related historical and religious faith research. At the same time, the author also hopes to supply available information for the research of Chinese history and ancient religious faith.