A Comparative Study On The Translation Of Philosophical Terms In Inner Chapters Of Zhuangzi

As a magnificent piece of Chinese philosophical classics,Zhuangzi contains many philosophical terms,but the current translation research on it is only limited to the translation of some representative terms.This thesis intends to treat the philosophical terms in the inner chapters as a whole,and probes into how translators Burton Watson and Augus Charles Graham deal with these words and the reasons behind on the basis of core concepts like “prejudice” and “fusion of horizons” proposed in Hermeneutics.Based on the Chinese Philosophy Dictionary(《哲学大辞典》)edited by Zhang Dainian(张岱年),this thesis divides all philosophical terms in the inner chapters of Zhuangzi into Taoist ones,Confucian ones,and Sophist ones.The study has found that the two translators tend to deal with philosophical terms with various methods,among which the most frequently used one is literal translation(including that with notes)that can help translators to convey the original information to the greatest extent.The difference in translation methods they’ve chosen and reasons behind the choice,however,is much more noteworthy.Because of the difference in religious belief,Watson is more likely to adopt the method of domestication to“Christianize”the philosophical terms in the source text,transplanting them with some terms frequently seen in the Bible;whereas Graham tends to translate word by word.In addition,given the varied target readers,Watson prefers to apply the method of calque,imitating the forms of original terms,and capitalizing the initial letter,which enables general readers to observe the cultural terms even not bothering to know the exact meaning while Graham applies the method of explicitation to help professionals quickly master the cultural concept beneath the terms.As for the annotation,Watson mainly treats Chuang Tzu pu-cheng(《庄子补正》)of Liu Wen-tien(刘文典)as preference.Besides other Chinese annotations,Graham omits some content,including philosophical terms,in accordance with his own understanding of Zhuangzi philosophy.Generally speaking,in terms of translated names of philosophical terms,Watson chooses the same translated names in nearly all cases,while Graham emphasizes the lexical diversity.Along with the development of terminology,it is of no necessity nor of feasibility to abide by the principle of univocity.But in terms of the translation of classics,it is useful and applausive to stick to term standardization in a reasonable range,which means choosing translated names in accordance with its possible definitions.