A Comparative Study Of The Two Versions Of Zhong Yong From The Perspective Of Cultural Filter

Zhong Yong is said to be written by Zisi(BC483—BC402), the grandson ofConfucius, and then was modified by an Confucian scholar in Qin dynasty. In SouthernSong Dynasty, Zhu Xi merged Da Xue, Zhong Yong, Lun Yu, and Meng Zi to form FourBooks and made annotations for them. As a representative of Chinese traditional culturalclassics, Zhong Yong is mainly about ancient educational theories and had a greatinfluence on ancient education. By studying two English versions of Zhong Yongtranslated by Gu Hongming and James Legge from the perspective of cultural filter, thisthesis compares different levels of cultural filtering in the two translators’ translationprocess. By doing so, the author expects to deepen the study of the translation ofChinese ancient classics and Chinese ancient culture.As one of the Chinese Confucian classics, Zhong Yong abounds with Chinesetraditional cultural elements. Similar to the translation of Chinese poetries and sons, it isimportant to reproduce these cultural aspects during translation. Owing to thediscrepancies between two different languages, cultural background and culturaltradition, not all of the content in original work especially cultural content can be fullyreproduced in translated versions. When original work is translated into anotherlanguage, the content will inevitably be chosen, reformed, transplanted, added, etc, bytranslators in the process of translation, which is a kind of filtration of the original workon cultural aspects. Cultural translation is carried out by translators who delete, add,paraphrase and even transform the original work to make it fit for the target language. Itactually reflects the translators’ self understanding and recreation of the original work;meanwhile, it is an important reflection of the recipients’ subjectivity, selectivity andcreativity. Understanding and utilizing cultural filtering mechanism correctly inliterature translation and paying attention to the balance between the two, we willcontribute a lot to cultural communication and diffusion. By studying Gu Hongming’sversion of The Universal Order, or Conduct of Life and Legge’s version of The Doctrineof the Mean, we can see that both Gu Hongming and James Legge carried out differentdegrees of changes to the original Chinese classic, especially to the classical Chineseculture and Confucian culture. The reasons lie in that there are great differencesbetween Chinese culture and English culture, and also in the way of thinking andexpressing opinions. By filtering those contents according to their own understanding and consideration, it is better for target readers to understand the original work.However, because of the totally different application of cultural filtering mechanism bythe two translators from different countries, the two versions are of great differences.Consequently, this thesis employs cultural filtering mechanism to study the effects bringabout to two different versions of translation, the author expects to broaden the study ofChinese traditional classics.According to this study, we found out that Gu Hongming, the famous translator inlate Qing Dynasty, proposed in1906the English version of The Universal Order, orConduct of Life. In this book, Gu stresses the moral demands of Chinese Confucianism.He tends to use more liberal translation and likes to quote the famous scholar Emerson’sworks and well-known words to clarify the truthfulness of Chinese Confucianism’sideologies so that they can be accepted by western readers. Besides, Gu Hongming alsoapplies interpretation plus English translation to avoid the “filtering” or omitting ofclassic Confucian expressions. James Legge(1815—1897) is a great British sinologist in19thcentury. His translation of The Doctrine of the Mean is one of the most classical oneamong many foreign translations. In Legge’s translation, we can find more literaltranslation and more sameness in thinking patterns and syntactic structures. His wordingis very simplified and concise, but his translation is logical and rigorous. However,James Legge filters more Chinese ancient cultural words than Gu Hongming, especiallythe words and sentences that tell Chinese Confucian ideology.