Application Of Nida's Equivalent Translation Theory In The Translation Practice Of "Zen Eight Chapters"

This article is a report about translation experience.When I was in school,?translated chapter ?,? and ? of "Zen eight chapters",written by famous Japanese Buddhist philosopher Mr.Suzuki."Zen eight chapters" is a literary book about Zen and Buddhology.Within the translation process of "Zen eight chapters",I encountered some problems of translation.To solve these problems,I carefully reviewed many theories of translation,and get to know Nida's Equivalence Theory,created by famous American translation theorist Eugene.The translation process of Buddhist books is very similar to Nida's three translation process,analysis,transfer and reorganization.Meanwhile,the application of Nida's dynamic equivalence and equivalent form is very popular.Therefore,I believe Nida's equivalence theory can help solve some of the problems that I encountered through the translation.With the guidance of the equivalence theory and the translation practice of Chapter IV<Buddhism and ethics>of "Zen eight chapters",I analyze the reasons of translation mistakes.I use the three stages of Nida's equivalence theory,liberal translation and literal translation to solve specific examples.Through the analysis of the translation instance,we can further clarify Nida's equivalence theory in the application of "Zen eight chapters" translation.This paper consists of three parts.The first chapter introduces Nida's equivalence theory,and describes the relevance between equivalence theory and "Zen eight chapters".With the illustration of the first chapter,it is obvious that Nida's liberal translation,literal translation and translation processes are suitable for the translation of "Zen eight chapters".The second chapter mainly analyzes the reason why liberal translation and literal translation are not equivalent.By the analysis of real examples,we can well explain literal inequivalent in two aspects.Firstly,translator only understands the surface.Secondly,the understanding and analysis of the original are not sufficient.Besides,the reason why liberal translation is not equivalent is that though translator adjusts the order of words and grammar rules,he does not grasp the core elements of the original.Therefore,I rediscover the importance of guidance of Nida's equivalence theory in the translation of "Zen eight chapters".The third chapter is an analytical conclusion of the problems that happened during the process of translation basing on Nida's equivalence theory and the reasons of inequivalent translation illustrated in the above chapter.This chapter has three parts.The first part points out that for translation practice,we must use the three translation process flexibly,analysis,transfer and reorganization.Then,the second and third parts respectively use organic paraphrase(dynamic equivalence)and literal(equivalent form)translation methods to solve specific problems arising in the process.In translation practice,on the one hand,we should try to exclude confounding factors,repeat reading and understand the true meaning of the original.We must know what ideas that author wants to convey.On the other hand,we should use flexible translation methods and skills,and strive to guarantee the accuracy of the translation.