A Comparative Study Of The Translation Of The Tao Te Ching

The title of my dissertation is Comparaison de trois Traductions francaises du Tao Te King. I have chosen three French versions of the Tao Te King and have compared them regarding their translation of key words and expressions and their translation of rhetoric in order to assess their translation differences and their translation rationales. The target is to get a better way to translate Chinese classic books into foreign language and to let the world know Chinese culture better. The main methods I used in my essay:comparison, case analysis, reasoning and data extraction.First of all, I give a brief introduction about the Tao Te King: its value for China and the whole world, its study situation in the world and its translation history in different countries.Then, on the base of the introduction, I present the three French versions I chose since they are the most popular and the most authentic in France. They were translated by Stanislas Julien, Liou Kia-hway, Francois Houang and Pierre Leyris. I compare them for the following aspects: the background of the different translators, especially their academic background; the different situations underlying the publication; the translation of spiritual and cultural keys words, like ?,?,??,??,???,??:the different ways of translating metaphorsThen, after establishing the differences between the three versions, I search for the main reasons that may have caused these differences: the differences between the Chinese and the French languages; various senses for the same word; the change of language over time and so on.Finally, from these differences and their reasons, I bring some insights to better translate Chinese classic books.My achievements:1. The differences among French versions: differences in translation of key words for example :“?”“?”“??”“??“??”“???”“??”,and translation of rhetoric; 2. The reasons of these differences: various senses for a word in Chinese classic books, change of language over time; 3.Better way to translate Chinese classic books : to translate by combining the methods of free translation and literate translation on base of good comprehension of the original text.