On Zhang Zhenyu’s Thoughts Of Translation

Moment in Peking is one of most famous books composed by Dr. Lin Yutang and it has four Chinese versions. Zhang Zhenyu’s version became the rage in1980s, and it has been of the greatest vitality among all the translators.Mr. Zhang Zhenyu has been a teacher in Foreign Languages Department of Taiwan University for years. Apart from teaching, he also translated many works, especially the English writings of Lin Yutang. After years of industrious effort, he offered many outstanding translated works for Chinese readers. He was adept in language skills of English and Chinese and familiar with Chinese culture, which accounts for the popularity of his translated works among Chinese readers. Today, he is considered as the expert of Lin Yutang’s works.Furthermore, in translation theory, he also made great contributions. His masterpiece is Principle of Translation, in which many examples are listed to illustrate ways of translation along with translation theories and he presented unbiased comments on those examples. He also published many articles on translation in magazines and periodicals, most of which are included in Random Talks on Translation, and you can find many penetrating views on translation.Zhang Zhenyu deems that stylistic equivalence is very important for translation, and he holds that when content-oriented text is to be translated, faithfulness should be the primary principle, and when aesthetics-oriented text is to be translated, elegance should be preferred as the first principle. Concerning literary translation, he advocates domestication strategy. The reason why Zhang Zhenyu upholds target language-oriented translation is that aesthetic compensation can be achieved in this way, for the beauty of source language is lost during translation and the beauty of target language should be fully employed and the translated text can possess independent artistic value.This thesis composes six chapters. Chapter one begins with the research background, research methodology and the structure of the thesis. Chapter two introduces Zhang Zhenyu as a translator and previous studies on his translation of Moment in Peking and The Gay Genius from a historical view. Chapter three focuses on Zhang Zhenyu’s understanding of stylistic equivalence. Chapter four explores literary translation. Chapter five depicts Zhang Zhenyu’s other thoughts related to translation. Three main aspects are included, namely the selection of the original, translation-assessment criteria and translator’s qualities. The last chapter presents the conclusion of this paper.