Report On The Chinese-English Translation Of Mysterious Western Xia(Chapter Three And Four)

The source text of this Chinese-English translation practice is excerpted from Mysterious Western Xia,written by Tang Rongyao,published by the Time Literature &Art Publishing House.The book mainly tells the historical story of the rise,prosperity,and demise of the Western Xia Dynasty established by Tangut people.Western Xia Empire has a pivotal position in the history of China and the world;thus,the reproduction of this period of history to English readers is significant.This translation project aims to represent the true cultural history of Western Xia region to the world,and at the same time to provide a new perspective for historical studies of Western Xia to the target readers.Mysterious Western Xia is a historical text with a large number of culture-loaded words,classical Chinese words,names of places,book titles,official names,etc.The language style about the book of the author is plain and concise.Guided by Skopos Theory,the translator mainly uses such techniques as division,combination,addition,and omission to translate long and difficult sentences,parallel sentences and non-subject sentences in the text,so as to conform to the reading habits and aesthetic taste of the target readers.At the lexical level,the translator also adopts the strategies of Aixelá’s culture-specific items to translate the terminology and book titles in the source text,which realizes the facsimile of culture for English readers.In the process of translating historical texts,the translator consults a large number of professional documents about Western Xia regional culture and historical events and studies relevant parallel texts,which is vital to convey information of historical texts accurately.The translator hopes that this translation practice can provide a reference for the translation of the same type of text in the future.