A Thick Translation Study Of John Minford's English Version Of I Ching

I Ching,or The Zhou Book of Change,is the source of Chinese culture,called the �Leader of Chinese Classics�.There have being generated many different versions of I Ching as for its ancient languages and forms,elusive and rich symbolic significance.John Minford,as a famous Britain sinologist,whose English version of I Ching accomplished in 2014 is enjoyed great popularity in the English world.Up to now,there exits only four articles introducing John Minford's English version of I Ching at home and abroad,including two books reviews,without article focusing on his version from the perspective of Thick Translation,this thesis will make an attempt to analyze John Minford's English version of I Ching according to Thick Translation.Thick Translation was put forward by the American translator,Kwame Anthony Appiah in 1993.It refers to locate the text in a rich cultural and linguistic context by annotations and accompanying glosses,namely,focuses on the contextualization,the concrete implement methods should be created by translator.John Minford's English version of I Ching obviously manifests the features of Thick Translation.This version is just for the lay readers so far as possible to keeps away from any preconceived western notions,instead,the re-interpretations of I Ching are based on the interpretations of Chinese scholars in order to make these re-interpretations be close to the Text itself.Therefore,the translator uses the translation thoughts of being �faithful to the originals,closing to his readers� and the translation methods of �literality and interpretation�.This thesis mainly uses text analysis method,theoretical research method,qualitative research method and text comparative method,proposes three research questions: 1)Which Thick Translation Methods are used mainly in John Minford's English version of I Ching? 2)Why does Minford use the Thick Translation Methods in his English version of I Ching? 3)What are the significance and implications of Thick Translation in translating Chinese Classics? According to Li Yan's classifications of Thick Translation Methods,the author divides the version into two parts on the basis of positioning of thick translation: the �Realia Methods in Thick Translation of Internal Text� and �Peritext Methods in Thick Translation of External Text�.Then the author analyzes the reasons for applying Thick Translation in John Minford's version from text type,readership,translator's ideology and the linguistic difference between English and Chinese.At last,the author discusses the significance and implications of thick translation in translating Chinese Classics.In Conclusion,the author briefs the major findings and limitations of the study and the suggestions for further study,expects the Thick Translation to provide the later scholars with some meaningful references of translating Chinese Classics.