Translation Norms Governing Paul White’s C-E Translation Of Tending The Roots Of Wisdom

The book Tending the Roots of Wisdom is a book of aphorisms written byHong Yingming in the Ming Dynasty, in which we find insightful thoughts aboutcultivating one’s mind and self-improvement. Well received both at home andabroad, it exerts positive influence on tempering the will and nurturing virtues.Among the various English versions of the book, the one by Paul White ismost popular in the West, and it is also included in the Library of ChineseClassics. Within the framework of Toury’s translation norms studies, this thesispaper analyzes how preliminary norms, initial norms and operational normsgovern the translation activity. Through the analysis of Paul White’s C-Etranslation of Tending the Roots of Wisdom, the research demonstrates that as faras the preliminary norms are concerned, the translator selects the book since itdoesn’t run into conflict with the translation policy of the target language cultureand can also meet the expectation of foreign readers. As far as the initial normsare concerned, the translator mainly follows the norm system of the Chineseculture and pursues adequate translation while also paying attention to theacceptability of the translated text. As far as the operational norms are concerned,the translator chooses various translation strategies while using idiomatic English.