| This report is based on the translation of the seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of The Fan-qui in China by Charles Toogood Downing who is a member of Royal College of Surgeons. He came to China as a medical officer of the merchant ship in 1836 and stayed in Guangzhou for six months. Under his meticulous observation of Chinese people, the writer portrayed the picture of society, life, trade, customs and other aspects in Guangzhou in the late Qing Dynasty.The author was in charge of the translation task for the chapter seven to chapter nine. The seventh to ninth chapters described what the author saw on the river before he arrived in Canton. In the seventh chapter of the book, the author described the various kinds of ships he saw on the Canton River. The last part of this chapter focused on the Chinese people’s management of Chinese boats, and showed the wisdom of Chinese people. The eighth chapter described the local oppressive tropical climate, outbreaks of cholera and malaria ague. The Ninth chapter represented the Chinese great sail craft and marine technology. This chapter was also involved in the outraged tragedy in Chinese society-infanticide. According to the language features of the text, Skopos Theory was selected as the guiding theory.This report consists of five parts:the first part provides a brief introduction to the whole project; the second one analyzes the stylistic characteristics of the source text; after that, the third part is a short introduction of the Skopos Theory and its application in this project. In the fourth part, the author focuses on the frequently-used translation skills in the project and discusses the examples in detail; the last part makes a conclusion of the experience we achieved in the whole project.Through the translation process of The Fan-qui in China, we could better understand the various aspects of social life in Guangzhou in late Qing dynasty and provide a wealth material of the study of Guangzhou in that historical period. |
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