| Since its introduction into China,throughout a long history,Buddhism has gradually integrated with the Chinese Taoism,Confucianism,and become an important source of traditional Chinese culture.With cultural exchanges taking place more frequently.With that,Chinese Buddhism has gradually spread around the world.Chan is an outstanding representative of Chinese Buddhist culture.Tanjing,the classical literature of Chan has been translated into English,understood and appreciated by many other cultures of the world.In the context of Chinese culture "going out" strategy,the case study of English translations of Tanjing will bring some lessons for translating Chinese Buddhist scriptures.First,this study uses the literature collection method to review the translation history of Tanjing,and summarize the characteristics of different stages of translation from the language,culture,and social development perspectives.The study shows that many versions of Tanjing precisely reflect the needs of cultural exchanges.Further those versions represent different interpreting positions and patterns and the multi-version of translation of the classics is conducive to the dissemination and exchange of culture.Second,from the perspective of hermeneutics,this study examines the different English versions of Tanjing with respect to terms,sentences and hymns.This lays a foundation for understanding,which is the premise of hermeneutics,and summarizes some translation techniques and principles from language perspective.Based on the analysis of the different translation versions,some strategies and methods are summarized for future Buddhist literature translation.The ultimate purpose of these methods and principles is to transfer the image of Chinese culture and the Chinese Chan so that is more comprehensive among other cultures.Third,through the study of Tanjing’s different translation versions,we find that in addition to the text level factors,the translated text is clearly influenced by the translator’s cultural identity.Therefore,this study selects five translators of Tanjing for investigation of their cultural identities,in an effort to elucidate the subjective factors behind the multi-versions.Each cultural identity of a translator represents one type of interactive cultural construction,which is the focus of this study.On one hand,the translator constructs himself in the process of interpreting the text;on the other hand,each translation is a construction of the culture it represents.This study emphasizes that different translators construct cultural exchanges and interaction,to promote the development of the whole world culture.The purpose of this part is to highlight the role of"human" in the cultural communication activities,which is consistent with the spirit that hermeneutics advocates.In addition to the text and the translator,contextual factor is also an important factor influencing the translation and culture exchanges.As far as Chan classic translation is concerned,we must first take overseas social and cultural development into account.Meanwhile,we should also consider the development of the Chinese Chan culture and the policy of Chinese culture going-out,which also exerts a huge influence on the activity of interpretation.Finally,the study summarizes the aspects we need to pay attention to in the process of spreading Chinese traditional culture,the possible ways of spreading Chinese Buddhist scriptures,the role of translation in spreading traditional culture.Together,these suggestions aim to make the translation better serve the spread of Chinese culture,promote religious and cultural exchanges,enhance mutual understanding and trust between different civilizations,and to strengthen China’s cultural soft power. |
