On The Transmission Of Recluse Culture In Oss Roberts’ Translation Of Sanguo Yanyi

China is blessed with many recluses from ancient times. As a unique element of Chinese traditional culture, recluses play an important role in China’s history with their remarkable achievements in many aspects of Chinese society, such as politics, literature and art. Although recluse culture has been intensively and deeply studied at home, up till now, little research regarding the transmission of it in translation has been done. Sanguo Yanyi, a literary work of grandeur, makes vivid description of ancient Chinese recluses, whose lives alternate between reclusion and bureaucracy, personal integrity and commitment to society. This thesis, guided by skopos theory, attempts to look into the transmission of recluse culture in Moss Roberts’ translation of Sanguo Yanyi by analyzing the connotations of Chinese and western recluse culture. With his purpose of making the novel known to English readers and transmitting Chinese culture, Roberts should thoroughly understand the content and culture of the source text to seek a faithful translation, as any translation process is determined by its purpose. When it comes to the transmission of recluse culture, the translator is expected to establish the cultural image of Chinese recluse in translation and faithfully represent its connotation through various translation methods; meanwhile, the translator should take into account the receiver’s background knowledge and make his rendering meaningful in its communication situation with emphasis on the connotation of Chinese recluse culture so as to achieve his purpose of cultural transmission.The main body of the thesis is divided into four parts. Part One briefly introduces the theoretical basis of the thesis, skopos theory and some of its basic aspects:skopos rule, coherence rule, fidelity rule and translation brief. Part two, through a study of the cultural connotations of Chinese and western recluse culture, reveals that western recluses are a religious concept and derived from the ascetics of Christianity while Chinese recluses are closely associated with politics and deeply affected by Confucianism and Taoism. This serves as a basis for judging the gains and losses of Roberts’ version. Part Three discusses the representation of recluse culture in Sanguo Yanyi from the perspective of Confucianism and Taoism, and sheds light on Roberts’translation brief, including the intended function, the addressee and the translator’s identity. Part Four makes a detailed analysis of the transmission of recluse culture in Roberts’translation of Sanguo Yanyi, with the view that, despite some inadequacy, Roberts’version has built the cultural image of Chinese recluse and basically conveyed its cultural connotation.The thesis holds that Roberts’translation of Sanguo Yanyi has obtained its purpose of transmitting Chinese culture, points out there is still need for improvement in terms of intelligibility and fidelity to the original, and proposes some suggestions. Meanwhile, it hopes that attention will be drawn concerning the transmission of recluse culture in translation.