A Report On The Translation Of A Brief History Of Astronomy In China From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Great importance is attached to astronomical science and technology in ancient China,and it is among the few best developed in the world.Nowadays,developing a world class technological power has become China's core goal of in the aspects of science and technology,especially in relation to astronomical science and technology.Based on the Skopos Theory as the guidance,the report aims to study the Chinese-English translation of Feng Shi's A Brief History of Astronomy in China.Two chapters are selected for translation,as they demonstrate a brief history of ancients' observations in astronomy and provide a key to the understanding of the traditional Chinese culture,which has a positive effect on the spread of ancient Chinese astronomical science and technology achievements.This report is divided into five chapters: Chapter one gives an introduction of the background,purpose,significance of this translation task as well as the overall outline of the report.Chapter two describes the translation practice in detail,including an analysis of the source text,an introduction of the author,the process,schedule of the translation task,some difficulties met during the translation and solutions.Chapter three introduces the development of Chinese astronomical science and technology classics as well as the process of English translation.It also provides an theory and explains the definition,origin,development and the three rules of the Skopos Theory.Chapter four,acted as the main part of the report,utilizes the Skopos Theory as theoretical guidance and focuses on the skopos rule,coherence rule and fidelity rule to analyze the translation from three levels: lexical,syntax and textual level.The last chapter makes a conclusion of the report.There are many proper nouns,terminologies,culture-loaded words in the source text that need to be carefully studied in order to determine their English version.In the syntax and textual level,translator has to read plenty of classics,compare the source text with it,and analyze the relation and difference among them,thus a correct explanation of the source text can be achieved.The translator also need use a suitable structure of the sentence and a proper organization of the text during translation,which can adapt itself to reading habits of the target readers and eliminate obstacles to their understanding.What's more,it can better promote the spread of ancient astronomical science and technology achievements to the world.