On The Subjectivity Of Translator In Yellow Emperor’s Canon Of Medicine Translated By Li Zhaoguo

Huang Di Nei Jing,as one of the greatest and most valuable traditional Chinese medicine classics,is translated into English by scholars both at home and abroad.Among these three full English versions of this classic,Li Zhaoguo is the only native Chinese translator.His version received good reviews,and studies on the subjectivity of him based on hermeneutics and intertextuality were made at home.However,few studies on the subjectivity of him based on his versions of color terms were mentioned,which leaves potential for this thesis to explore.Through intensive reading of Li’s translations of 703 color terms in Huang Di Nei Jing,this thesis finds Li added abundant annotations for these terms,and several imperfect translations can also be found.All these translations manifest the subjectivity of Li.To conduct an in-depth analysis,this thesis,by implying the theory of the subjectivity of translator,intends to discuss how the subjectivity of Li Zhaoguo influences his choices in the process of translation.The first chapter overviews the origin of the subjectivity of translator and discussions on this theory.Based on Li’s versions of color terms in Huang Di Nei Jing,it defines the framework of the theory from three aspects: 1)Who is the subject of translation? 2)What is subjective dynamics? 3)What is passivity?The second chapter,by implying the subjective dynamics of the subjectivity of translator,finds that Li Zhaoguo mainly transliterated some color terms and added annotations for them to achieve his translation purposes when facing limiting factors,which manifest the subjective dynamics of Li.To be specific,these annotations were mainly added for three purposes: 1)to disseminate cultural information;2)to design better layouts;3)to explain disputes about the meanings of color terms.The last chapter,by implying the passivity of the subjectivity of translator,finds several imperfect translations of color terms in his version,which manifest the passivity of Li.These translations were affected by both external and internal reasons.The external reason can be summarized as the cultural difference between Chinese and English,and the two internal reasons are different encyclopedic knowledge and carelessness.At the end of this thesis are conclusions.On the one hand,Li Zhaoguo,by using the translation technique of transliteration plus annotation,almost achieved his translation purpose of disseminating the traditional Chinese medicine science to the world,which manifested his solid translation competence.On the other hand,by analyzing some imperfect translations of Li,the thesis writer thinks both external and internal factors can influence the quality of one’s version.Therefore,studies on related topics can pay more attention to these factors.This thesis has both academic and practical significance and can provide suggestions for related studies.