Influence Of Translation In Missionary Journals On Chinese Language And Culture(1815-1907)

As the earliest Chinese journal published in the19th century by missionaries in Malacca in1815, Chinese monthly magazine was aiming for the propagation of Christian doctrines. However, some secular journals were published in China soon, such as Eastern Western Monthly Magazine edited by Karl Gutzlaff in Guangzhou in1833, then Chinese serial and Peking magazine published respectively in Hongkong, Beijing for transmitting Western knowledge. And some other Chinese newspapers and magazines, Shanghae Serial, Chinese Scientific Magazine, Child Monthly, Global Times, published in China by missionaries afterwards played much more important social role and exerted great influence. In comparison with missionaries’Chinese language learning and research, Chinese translation of western knowledge and its publishing activities, their nearly one-hundred-year publication of newspapers and magazines in China produced more extensive influence. Although the subjective purpose of publishing Chinese journals was to persuade the Chinese people to accept the gospel of Christ, it has produced unexpected results in the Sino-Western cultural exchange, especially for Chinese language pregnant with changes in vocabulary, language style and literary style, which pioneered Chinese language reform in the late Qing Dynasty.In the academic field, with a large number of missionaries’Chinese journals being excavated, sorted out and published, scholars home and aboard in religion, culture, language and literature have studied their significant social impacts in the history. But the research in translation studies, linguistics and literature is relatively inadequate. Researchers are inclined to apply the method of case study and sometimes hardly to make an objective evaluation on missionaries’contribution to language in their Chinese journals. In addition, the study and analysis from the perspective of language and literature is focusing on missionaries’Chinese learning, creation of new words, translation history and Christian literature. In terms of language research, missionaries’Chinese newspapers and magazines as the most important carrier of their Chinese language practice have not aroused the sufficient attention of researchers in linguistics and translation studies.In our research, Chinese language application and changes caused by translation and writing in such eight Chinese journals published in nineteenth Century by missionaries as Eastern Western Monthly Magazine, Peking magazine, Chinese serial, Shanghae Serial, Chinese Scientific Magazine, Child Monthly, Chinese and Western Church News, Global Times, have been studied and standpoints on Chinese and translation in other three English periodicals, Chinese Repository, China Review and The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal,published by missionaries in China during the same period as the Chinese Journals are adopted to support our opinions. On the analysis of development of Chinese newspapers and magazines in this research, we consider all missionaries’Chinese journals as a relatively independent translation field. And we adopt British linguist Fairclough’s Discourse Analysis as our theory framework to conduct a comprehensive and systematic research on Chinese language used in missionaries’journals from their texts, discourse practice and social practice. The research objective is aiming to explore the historical facts of Chinese language used in translated texts in missionaries’journals and reveal its role in promoting Chinese language evolution.Besides Introduction and Conclusion, this dissertation is divided into six chapters focusing on text features, translation practice and influence of translation in missionaries’Chinese journals. First of all, a detailed analysis on translated text in the above mentioned journals has been carried out from aspects of new words, the mixed language style and the diversification of literary style. We are aiming to depict the discourse characteristics of Missionary Chinese and its social influence on consistency between Chinese speaking and writing, and popularization of Chinese language. Secondly, through analyzing effects and restrictions of translation cooperation between missionaries and Chinese scholars, the translation strategy of domestication and their utilitarian views on translation, we discuss missionaries’ translating practice and its realization of different texts in Chinese journals. Thirdly, we expound and prove that missionaries’translation and writing in journals correlate to their views on Chinese language, interaction between language and literature in journals and responses from Chinese scholars, which lay foundation on Chinese language change in the late Qing Dynasty.In the part of INTRODUCTION, we state the value of research and research plan. Following an overview of the current research status quo, we emphasize the impact and role of missionaries’ language practice in journals on Chinese language evolution, and its significance to enrich the research field of translation studies in the late Qing Dynasty. Theories in sociology, translation studies and stylistics have been adopted as theory guidance, combined with the research methods of historical research, theoretical interpretation, and case study. And the theoretical framework of the dissertation is on the basis of Norman Fairclough’s discourse analysis in order to give a detailed analysis of Missionary Chinese concerning the language symbols, the formation process and its influence on Chinese evolution, which provides a new path to reveal the development of Modern Chinese.Chapter One mainly discusses the rationality and reality of Chinese language used by missionaries in journals and missionaries’views on preach through writing in the late Qing Dynasty. First of all, the positive role of Chinese journals, translation and publication of western knowledge in China as well as their Chinese learning and research encouraged missionaries to use Chinese as an effective preach method. Secondly, missionaries’language competence acquired in Chinese learning and research constrains their Chinese writing and translation, which affect the language features in their translation practice. Finally, on analyzing missionaries’cultural identity, we hold the opinion that Chinese writing and translation conducted by missionaries in journals are correlated which formed its language features and deficiencies.Chapter Two, Three and Four discuss linguistic features and their formation in Chinese journals from aspects of vocabulary, language style and literary style respectively. Chapter Two firstly analyzes the specific language form, translating principles and strategies of new words in the process of translating western knowledge. And then the case study has been applied to depict the cognition and acceptance of new words in China in order to expound their influence on Chinese language and culture system. In the first section, we analyze such translating strategies as meaning analogy (or Geyi), transliteration, free translation and resurrection of an old word to express the concrete new meaning in the publication of Chinese journals. And section two starts with the analysis of restrictions of Chinese language and social mechanism on translating new words. It has been noted transliteration, free translation, semantic transformation and words coinage are substantive methods for new words creation, but the meaning analogical to Chinese words inherent meaning and lexical features determines the acceptance and spread of the word in Chinese. Also the case study of translating Congress into "guohui,yiyuan" shows cultural and psychological factors are the social mechanism which restrict the creation of new terms. In the last section, we analyze the unification of new words conducted by missionaries or missionary groups, and conclude semantic acculturation, lexicalization and grammaticalization are three major methods for realizing the acceptance and transmission of a new word in Chinese vocabulary bank, which exert great influence on Chinese disyllabic and polysyllabic evolution.Chapter Three focuses on missionaries’choice between classical Chinese and vernacular (Mandarin) in translation, and tries to sort out reasons to explore the important influence of language style in journals on Chinese evolution. The first section analyzes the absorption and transformation of the ancient vernacular, easy classical Chinese and Mandarin in missionary journals which are characterized as mixed language style and Europeanization in language structure. Then the following section discusses the reasons for such a linguistic style from the text property, the subjectivity of the translator, translation norms and purposes. The third section focuses on analyzing the specific influence of colloquial style and Europeanized structure on the Chinese development in three aspects, i.e., the promotion of Mandarin, the affixes in forming a new word and the expansion of syntactic structure, enrichment of grammatical devices in Chinese caused by translation.Chapter four mainly analyzes the paths, causes and effects of diversified literary styles caused by translation in Chinese journals. Specifically, in the first section we illustrate various literary forms present in the first missionary Chinese newspaper Eastern Western Monthly Magazine, and analyze the development of news writing, translated literature and argumentation in later Chinese newspapers. Then the causes of the diversified literary style have been discussed in section two from the perspective of Chinese traditional literary style and the translator’s Subjectivity. The third section states the influence of news, novels, fables and poems translating on changing Chinese language and literature concepts.Chapter Five is the analysis of translation process, aiming to explore the interaction of Chinese society in the late Qing Dynasty with missionaries’translation practice. The first section gives an analysis of characteristics and effects of the cooperative translation mode between missionaries and Chinese scholars. Section two discusses the relationship between missionaries’choice of translating materials and social thoughts on putting what is learned into practice in China, which partly prove the necessity of the mixed style in journals. The last section discusses the accessibility and influence of missionaries’translation on Chinese evolution from the process of production, dissemination and consumption.Chapter six expounds the influence of translation in journals on promoting the transformation of Chinese through the language change in literature. Section one analyzes the role and significance of newspapers and magazines as the new medium on transmitting modern thoughts, language and literature. The second section discusses the collision and interaction of literature concepts in translating Education in Japan between Chinese scholars and missionaries. It is also of importance to notice the profound influence of western knowledge on Chinese literary works and the promotion of novels social role in China stimulated by missionaries. The final section of this chapter discusses the great influence of translated texts on the formation of a new reading group, new writers and transformation of traditional ideas among Chinese scholars. It is emphasized Chinese language used in translation by missionaries as a thinking tool enlightens the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty.As discussed above, we conclude that:(1) The Chinese language used in missionaries’journals is "the third code" between classical Chinese and vernacular, which is composed of the important part of written Chinese change in19th century. It is noticed the simplification, or even Europeanization of classical Chinese, as well as Europeanization of vernacular Chinese develop in different forms in different stages.(2) The driving force to Chinese change in missionaries’writing and translation is mainly deriving from the interaction between culture, literature and political activities, which unfolded in vocabulary, language style and literary style of the texts in Chinese journals.(3) The creation of new words, the popularization of Mandarin Chinese and establishment of editorial newspaper style strengthen the language power of Chinese evolution. First of all, creation and dissemination of new terms make the expression of the Chinese language clearer, accurate and logic, which lay the foundation for the transformation of the ancient vernacular to modern vernacular in the thinking level. Secondly, the production, dissemination and consumption of literary works, translation and literary criticism of western literature in journals promote the modernization of literary language and style, and then initiate the interaction between literature and language change in the late Qing Dynasty.(4) The comparative study of Chinese and a western language, especially the study of Chinese grammar, provides missionaries with language norms in their translation and writing, and which becomes one of the theoretical sources of Chinese evolution.Research limitation and deficiency in research contents and methods have been mentioned and some proposals for future direction in the research are put forward in the concluding part.