A Descriptive Study Of Translation Of Chinese Classics In China Review

China Review,the first western authentic scholarly journal of sinology in English,was published in Hong Kong in the late Qing Dynasty,which was of high historical value and an important basis for acquainting westerners with China.The journal covers a wide range of English translation of Chinese classics.Therefore,a comparative study conducted on the English translation of Chinese classics in China Review would be comprehensive and representative.Less researches have been done on China Review in academic circles.A part of previous studies focused on certain aspects,such as research on Hakkas,text on laws,Chinese grammar and so on.The studies on English translation of Chinese classics in China Review concentrated mainly on a certain type of Chinese classics,especially on Chinese classical novel.There's another part of researches which listed all Chinese classics in China Review with relatively simple arguments or comments on some aspects.It can be seen that the research on English translation of Chinese classics in China Review still needs further supplementary explorations.This study adopts the perspective of descriptive translation studies and methodologies such as statistics and large data to make a comparative study in order to describe the English translation of Chinese classics and examine the purposes or influence of their translations.Specific steps are taken as follows:(1)Finding all the translations of Chinese classics and relevant information published in China Review.(2)Making statistics on the basis of category of classics,translator,nationality,time span and eras of Chinese classics.(3)Describing and analyzing data from statistics and making description of important originals,well-known translators and classic translations in large numbers.(4)Exploring the translation purposes and constraining factors behind translation selection.Findings in the study are as follows:(1)There are 66 English translations of Chinese classics found in China Review,which are classified into ten types,including poetry,novel,ode,drama,law,geography,philosophy,history,joke and collected stories.Among these ten types of Chinese classics,translations of poetry account for28.8%,followed by history(24.2%),novel(18.2%),philosophy(15.2%),geography(4.5%),law(3.0%),and the rest all account for 1.5%.(2)The translators of these Chinese classics consist of eight primary translators,among whom the publications of Edward Harper Parker account for 19.7%,John Chalmers(10.6%),Edward Charles Macintosh Bowra(7.6%),Frederic Henry Balfour(7.6%),and the Alfred Lister,H.A.Giles,Thos.W.Kingsmill and R.W.Hurst all account for 4.5%.(3)The about thirty years of publication are divided into three periods and their respective ratios of Chinese classic translation are: 1872-1879(54.5%),1880-1889(19.7%)and 1890-1901(25.8%).The proportions take on a V-shape curve,showing that the violent fluctuation range is influenced by the publication time,the historical background and some other irresistible factors.(4)Based on statistics of the nationalities of all translators,they are mainly from five nations in addition to some unknown translators.The British translators account for 78.8%,followed by German(6.1%),Russian(3.0%),Netherlander(1.5%)and American(1.5%).The British translators account the most because the several editors were British and the journal was published in English in the British colony Hong Kong.(5)The eras of Chinese classics translated in China Review consist of nine major dynasties.Classics in the Qing Dynasty account for18.2%,followed by the Ming Dynasty(15.2%),the Tang Dynasty(12.1),the Han Dynasty(10.6%),the Northern Song Dynasty(9.1%),the Zhou Dynasty(9.1%),the Warring States Period(6.1%),the Western Jin Dynasty(3.0%),and the Northern Dynasty(3.0%).It reflects that the translation materials gradually change from the Four Books and Five Classics to the novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,embodying the change of research orientation and focus of foreign sinologists.(6)Through the descriptive study of English translation of representative Chinese classics,it can be found that the translations mostly adopted the strategies of simplification,revision or deletion,which however serve to produce versions faithful to the original texts in general.The purposes or aims of translations are primarily to introduce Chinese culture to the west,to do sinological researches,or to satisfy curiosity and interest,which,to some extent,boosted the development of sinology.