A Comparative Study Of The English Versions Of San Zi Jing From The Perspective Of Coordination Theory

At present, translators and researchers at home and abroad have made great contributions to translating San Zi Jing into English so as to make it better understood and widely accepted all around the world. However, most attention has been paid to a single version or the comparisons of two versions. In addition, the perspectives of studying the English versions are relatively limited.In view of this, this thesis applies three distinctive and influential English versions of San Zi Jing, one of which was finished by Herbert Allan Giles, a British sinologist in the Qing Dynasty; the other two were finished by two modern Chinese translators, Wang Baotong and Zhao Yanchun respectively. The thesis adopts comparative study and textual analysis with the three English versions of San Zi Jing. Gao Jian’s Coordination Theory is applied as the theoretical framework to investigate, in their translation processes, how the three translators coordinate the following four pairs of relations:(1) hypotaxis and parataxis, (2) foreignization and domestication, (3) the translator’s subjectivity and objectivity, (4) the form and the content of the target text so as to make their versions closer to the translation standard of Coordination Theory, which is advocated as a harmonious unity of "Truth, Goodness and Beauty." The structure of the study is as the following. Firstly, a brief introduction is given to San Zi Jing, including its author, contents, translators and English versions. Secondly, the thesis makes an overview of the study on the translation of San Zi Jing and the study on Coordination Theory. Thirdly, the thesis illustrates Coordination Theory in detail, which includes its emergence, connotations and implementation, thus laying a foundation for the following textual analysis. Fourthly, a comparative study of the three English versions of San Zi Jing is conducted in the perspective of Coordination Theory. The typical examples and textual analyses are demonstrated to explore how the three translators coordinated the four pairs of relations mentioned above in their translating processes. Finally, by demonstrating the main features of the three versions and concluding the whole thesis, the study reaches the conclusion that among the three versions selected, Giles’s version and Wang Baotong’s version are prominent in the standard of Coordination Theory at the level of "Truth" and "Beauty" respectively. What conforms to the standard of a harmonious unity of "Truth, Goodness and Beauty" to a large extent goes to Zhao Yanchun’s version. In addition, this study also finds that the three translators’ motivations of translating San Zi Jing are the main factors influencing their ways of coordinating the four pairs of relations mentioned above. Out of importing Chinese culture and seeking the common ground of the two cultures to preach more effectively, Giles conducts a large scale of coordination in terms of hypotaxis, domestication and the contents of the target text so as to make his version more comprehensible for western readers while domestic translators, bearing in mind their responsibility of exporting Chinese culture to reconstruct the Chinese discourse system, Wang Baotong and Zhao Yanchun implement a large scale of coordination in terms of parataxis, foreignization, the translator’s subjectivity and the form of the target text so as to brand distinctive Chinese imprints in their English versions.Last but not least, the application of Coordination Theory in the English versions of San Zi Jing not only broadens our horizon, but also enriches and expands our interpretation and understanding of San Zi Jing. All of this will benefit the translation of Chinese classics and contribute to promoting and spreading the Chinese culture.