A Descriptive Study On The English Translation Of Bei-Sentence In Hongloumeng

Prescriptive Translation Studies, hereinafter referred to as PTS, just as the name suggests, mean to study translation from a prescriptive perspective, trying to establish uniform criteria for all the translators to follow in their translation practice. But due to the influence of all kinds of factors, including factors concerning discourse and culture, the so-called uniform translation criteria have seldom or never been established. In contrast, Descriptive Translation Studies, hereinafter referred to as DTS, in the first step, acknowledge the status of all the texts in the appearance of translation, and in the second step, try to explore all the reasons behind the actual translation practice, covering linguistic, cultural and historical ones. In this way, DTS manage to avoid the shackles imposed on the flexible language by the rigid criteria.Lots of work has been conducted on the translation of Bei-sentence. However, on the one hand, most of the studies try to establish uniform criteria for the translation of passive by making a contrast between the Chinese and English passive. In this way, the contextual factors in a specific discourse are always neglected. On the other hand, some scholars have indeed worked on the passive in discourse. But most of them are only exploring the functions of the passive in a discourse, failing to apply the functions to the translation practice. What's more, in Chinese, the passive sentence and Bei-sentence are never the same concept.In this paper, instead of judging which translation is better than another according to some criteria, the author is concentrating on the descriptive translation study of Bei-sentence in Hongloumeng and the exploration of all the features and reasons behind the translation practice. By putting Bei-sentence in a specific context for the translation study, the author could investigate the affecting factors from a much more comprehensive perspective and hopes to provide some reference points for future translation of Bei-sentence.