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The Study On English Version Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Terms In Hongloumeng

Posted on:2016-09-27Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:X R JiangFull Text:PDF
GTID:2335330503954689Subject:Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
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Through millenniums of theoretical research and clinical practice,the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology has gradually developed and turned into a Social and Natural Sciences which includes the peculiar theory system,the rich experiences of diagnosis and treatments and the clinical practice.It is one of the most important parts of Chinese traditional culture with philosophical thoughts and cultural concepts from countless ancient Chinese sages.Nowadays the Traditional Chinese Medicine has drawn more and more attention from the medical profession all over the world,for it is not only the crystallization of Chinese civilization and wisdom,but also one of the most important parts of global medicine and pharmacology.However,the language and culture barriers have brought many difficulties to the international communication and application of Traditional Chinese Medicine. As we all know,the Traditional Chinese Medicine theories mostly derive from the Chinese traditional philosophy,fusing the culture of Daoism,Buddhism and Confucianism.While the Western medicine theories mostly origin from the natural sciences such as Modern Physics.Therefore, these distinct differences about their definitions and cultural backgrounds have increased the difficulties for western readers to understand the Traditional Chinese Medicine language.In modern times,the word “TCM English” was first proposed by Ge Chuangui in 1980.With the increase of TCM translation demand,the study on English version of TCM has been further developed.As one of the four great Chinese masterpieces, Hongloumeng,with its rich cultural connotation and important cultural value,has been considered as a cultural encyclopaedia with Chinese Characteristics in the world.In the global cultural history,it is one of the few masterpieces which can represent a national culture,a miracle in the Chinese literature and art field and the treasure in the world literature.The TCM language alone has already achieved great artistic success,containing rich social information and cultural content.Therefore, it is the most advanced representative to study the English version of TCM terms in Hongloumeng.It will provide research material on the specifications and standardization of TCM translation.It will also create breakthroughs in translation strategies for TCM terms.By far,lots of scholars have made some quite valuable researches on Hongloumeng translation.Among all the English versions of Hongloumeng,there are two most recognized ones:“The Story of the Stone” by David Hawkes and John Minford and“A Dream of Red Mansions”by Yangs'.Both of them enjoy the high praise in the translation field.These two versions with great value of language communication are now the most precise and complete. The two Translators with different socio-cultural background are famous both in China and Western Countries for their translations.Therefore,the comparative study on these two English versions can achieve some practical value on linguistics and translatology as their translating styles are a better representative.Based on the previous research findings,this article primarily tries to compare and analyze the TCM terms in the two versions.The reasons that i choose this subject are as follows. Firstly, the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology plays a significant role in Chinese Traditional culture.In some academic field,it can present the whole picture of our traditional culture.The yin-yang and Five-element Theory as a representative of Chinese philosophical thoughts have already had important international impacts.The traditional academic background and theory foundation of the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology have already become one part of our national soft power.So the translation for TCM language is an important step to spread our Chinese traditional culture and to enhance our national soft power.Secondly,the language arts in Hongloumeng have reached the peak of perfection.The TCM language in these two English versions is a definite phenomenon of the collision and mingle between Chinese and Western culture.Being faithful in meaning and vivid in description when translating can better communicate our strong cultural characteristics.Yang Xianyi who has Chinese cultural background applies the closest target language to convey the original version of Hongloumeng to foreign readers by adopting the three-character translation principles “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”.His version of TCM terms is almost the finest ever translated.The translation tactics and language construction are to the maximum extent faithful to the original.Because the version keeps the original connotation precisely and vividly.It successfully transfers the original work to foreign readers.David Hawkes whose native language is the target language not only faithfully understands the language information in original version,but also comprehends the cultural connotation between the lines,though he is from a totally different cultural background.When reading his version in detail,you will easily find that Hawkes has the most profound understanding about traditional Chinese medicine culture.This research mainly summarizes the TCM terms of the former eighty chapters in Hongloumeng,aiming to discuss their reappearances and differences in the two English versions of David Hawkes and Yang Xianyi's.By comparing their translation tactics,this paper attempts to find out how the translators make good use of the flexibility,originality and creativity when translating.As a whole,the TCM terms in this dissertation are generally divided into four aspects:the Traditional Chinese medicine name,pathological conditions,traditional Chinese diagnosis methods and other terms of TCM.This paper is mainly formed by three parts.The first part introduces the study on English translation of Hongloumeng by domestic and overseas scholars.The second part summarizes the TCM terms from four aspects and analyzes the translation strategies of the two versions.From these two perspectives,cognitive linguistics and cultural background,the last part mainly discusses the reasons that Yang Xianyi and Hawkes choose different tactics when translating. On this basis,the author attempts to put forward some opinions.
Keywords/Search Tags:Hongloumeng, Terms of Chinese Traditional Medicine, English Translation, Comparative Study
PDF Full Text Request
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