A Study Of The English Translation Of The Zhongyong By Roger T. Ames & David L. Hall And Its Influences

The Doctrine of the Mean(Zhongyong)was originally a chapter of Li Chi.Later it was selected by Zhu Xi as one of the Four Books with another three named the Great Learning,the Analects and the Books of Mencius respectively.They were the essential textbooks for enlisting talents in imperial examinations from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Although the content in the Zhongyong isn’t very much,the connotations of which are abundant with many key concepts,such as“equilibrium”(“中”),“harmony”(“�'�”),“to be watchful over oneself when one is alone”(“慎独”),“humanity”(“仁”),“appropriateness”(“义”),“consciousness”(“忠”),“altruism”(“恕”),“sincerity”(“诚”),etc.The connotation of“the unity of heaven and man”(“天人合一”)runs through the text by“sincerity”as the core conception in the whole text.The English translations of the Zhongyong play an important role in disseminating Confucianism or even Chinese ancient philosophical thoughts as a whole.The thesis selects the translation of Ames and Hall as the object of study. By means of DTS, the author first focuses on the description of the translations of key concepts of the Zhongyong, and then analyzes the features of the translation. The translators think that the language of process and change is more suitable to manifest the Chinese world view which is primarily characterized by continuity, process and becoming. Therefore, they adopt the language of focus and field in the translation by drawing an analogy between the translation of the Zhongyong and the Western philosophy, especially Whitehead’s process philosophy. Finally, the causes of the features are analyzed. The translators suggest that cross-cultural understanding must proceed analogically. Although Analogy contains both association and contrast, theybelieve much can be learned from both. However, they think if the analogy is poorly chosen, what comes along will be the cultural misinterpretation. According to Ames and Hall, the reason why the previous interpretations of Chinese philosophy misled readers is that they distorted the traditions both of the source and of the target languages. So they emphasize that both of them should be taken into consideration. On the one hand, they feel it is appropriate to understand Chinese philosophical texts by placing them under their own intellectual context. In this way, they expect to make prominent the differences between Chinese and Western philosophies. On the other hand, they advocate the interpretation of the Chinese philosophy by employing their own philosophy. That is, to draw an analogy between Chinese and Western philosophies.The dissemination of the thoughts of the Zhongyong depends firstly on the translation and then the relative studies. The quality of the translation of the Zhongyong can have influences on the understanding of its connotations by western readers on different levels. As an important group of western readers, western scholars not only accept the meaning of the Zhongyong through the translation but also make further studies based on it and disseminate their research results to their colleagues and audiences. Selecting some academic articles, the author finds that the translation of the Zhongyong by Roger Ames and David Hall has indeed caused discussions among western academic circles to some degree. The translation and thoughts of the Zhongyong can be further explored through academic discussions, which concentrate mainly on two aspects : the specific translation problems and the theme of the Zhongyong. The translation of the thoughts of the Zhongyong will be further explored through discussions. When the research results are converted into a part of native ideological systems, they can enter into the educational field and influence larger groups of readers.