A Study Of Mongolian Secret History Written By

This paper firstly compares the transcription version of The Secret History of the Mongols produced by Altan-ochir and other transliteration versions with Chinese characters so as to examine the transcription methods applied by Altan-ochir. Then, it offers comparison between this version and other translation versions finished by translators of the same time so as to examine the inner connection between these versions.This paper consists of six parts:introduction part, four chapters and conclusion part.In the introduction part, the research background, research significance, research overview, research methods and sources of historical data are listed.In the first chapter, historical methods are applied to track down the life story of Altan-ochir as well as the time, place and publisher of the book’s publishment. Then, the historic background of the book The Secret History of the Mongols and the aim of Altan-ochir in transliterating and publishing the book are concluded.In the second chapter, the literature method is applied to examine the methods applied by Altan-ochir in the transcription of The Secret History of the Mongols. Examples are given to prove that three methods:to transliterate literally in accordance with Chinese pronunciations, to transliterate in accordance with marginal annotations and overall idea, and to transliterate liberally with the addition and deletion of content are applied.In the third chapter, the characteristics of the transcription version produced by Altan-ochir are concluded from the perspective of words and sentences, punctuations, titles of different volumes, peroration and reiteration as well as omission of the content, after which the historical values and status of this transcription version are evaluated.In the fourth chapter, the comparison between this version and other translation versions finished by six translators in the first half of the 20th century is made to analyze the individual methods used by these six translators in the translation of The Secret History of the Mongols and explore the possible inner connections.In the conclusion part, the summary of the paper is offered and research result presented.