The Research On English Translation Of Criminal Legal Terminology In The Sir George Thomas Staunton’s English Version Of “Ta Tsing Leu Lee”

“Ta Tsing Leu Lee”, the epitome of Chinese law codes, embodies the essential spirit of ancient China. The legal terminology of “Ta Tsing Leu Lee” covers all aspects of traditional laws, which is particularly important to the Chinese legal concept. Sir George Thomas Staunton translated “Ta Tsing Leu Lee” into English and published it in the United Kingdom in 1810. It was the first time that Chinese legal concept enters into the English world, which truly presented the image of Chinese law in the West. After retrieving and reading the relevant literature, the author has not found the research on English translation of Chinese legal terminology from the perspective of criminal law of Sir George Thomas Staunton’s English Version of “Ta Tsing Leu Lee”, so the author decides to take this as a starting point, and analyzes the English translation and the used translation strategies of legal terminology in ancient China.This thesis has four chapters.Chapter One makes a brief introduction of the research background, the research meanings and the research methods, and also reviews researches of Staunton’s English Version of “Ta Tsing Leu Lee” in the West and in China.Chapter Two generally introduces the historical background of Staunton’s translation work, the condition of the Qing Dynasty and the United Kingdom, and the relationship between the two countries in the late 18 th century. Sir George Thomas Staunton, who had participated Macartney Mission, decided to translate “Ta Tsing Leu Lee” into English.Chapter Three discusses the translation strategies Staunton used in the translation process after analyzing the typical examples. This thesis concludes that the foreignization strategy is the main trend in the target text while the others also have applicable value.Chapter Four seeks to explain the translation meanings and effect of Staunton’s English Version of “Ta Tsing Leu Lee”. The purposes are to change and enlarge the European countries’ knowledge of ancient China in the late Qing Dynasty; to fully understand the stable political system corresponding with the Chinese character traits; to encourage the Europeans to learn Chinese whose linguistic and grammar styles are quite different from English and to concisely identify the inner spirit and features of the Chinese legal system. The English Version of “Ta Tsing Leu Lee” facilitated the consequent translated versions in other languages, the development of the Chinese language, the introduction of the Chinese laws to the West and the exchange between China and the United Kingdom.