On Translation Of "Li"(?) In The Analects Of Confucius-From The Perspective Of Hermeneutics

The Analects is one of the important books of Confucianism,which contains the essence of the Confucian thought.Confucius,"Ren","Li" and other classic ideas have spread within centuries."Li" is the core concept of Confucian philosophy.Confucius thought that "Li" is the basis of ruling a country and "Ren" is the spiritual content of"Li".He also thought that people should combine these two concepts by introducing"Ren" to "Li" and filling "Li" with "Ren".Morals and ethics are indispensable in building a harmonious society in Confucius,thoughts.From the perspective of Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics theory,the thesis will probe into the differences in translating the concept of "Li" in The Analects.Gadamer thought that translating is a process of understanding and interpreting.In the process of explanation,the translator can have his or her understanding of the text.He also thought that translation is a universal,historical and creative process.Nobody can get rid of his or her life experience and intellectual while translating,which might cause different "prejudices" and "horizons".Among numerous translation versions of The Analects,the thesis chose early missionary James Legge's version and late Qing Dynasty scholar Gu Hongming's versions.Legge was the first foreign scholar to study and translate ancient Chinese classics systematically.Gu Hongming was a Chinese pioneer in translating The Analects.Based on the character "Li",the thesis will analyze their different translations,especially different interpretations for "Li".In addition,the thesis will analyze the possible influence of translators' different experiences in translation.On the basis of that,this paper will explore strategies to adopt when translating Chinese classics.By comparison,the thesis found that James Legge and Gu Hongming had different purposes in translating The Analects Their different living and learning experiences also led to the different translations of "Li".In the translating process,both of them respected the original text and chose suitable translation strategies for themselves.Their different horizons of "Li" showed their different experiences and religious believes.