A Report On The English-to-Chinese Translation Of:Peking And Pekingese During The First Year Of The British Embassy At Peking (Excerpt)

The late 19 century witnessed China’s being compelled to open to the powers of the day.Since China was forced to cede territory and open "treaty ports",foreigners swarmed into China.In 1860,the dissatisfied Powers waged war against China again.Anglo-French force marched into Peking and burnt the imperial palace,demanding for more rights.One of their requirements was to set up embassy in Peking.The author of Peking and the Pekingese during the First Year of the British Embassy at Peking,D.F.Rennie is the medical officer at that time.In 1860,he came to Peking along with the British army.Since then,his recording work was initiated.The contents of his daily journals are the events he personally witnessed.Being a reproduction of an important historical work,the book provides insights into Chinese society from a westerner’s perspective,depicting a fresh history of the last Imperial China.This translation report is based on the author’s translation practice of the seventh and part of eighth chapter of Peking and Pekingese.Amid translation,skopos rule is cited as a way to produce clear translation.Authentic Chinese expressions are adopted to wipe away the gloom of language barriers.Priority is given to target language and readers.Accuracy and readability are ensured in equal measure.In the report,the translation of expressions written in Wade system,culture-loaded expressions,attributive clauses,sentences of passive voice will be discussed as examples to demonstrate the application of the theory in translation practice and illustrate how to make the target texts functional as it is expected to be.The report totally consists of five parts.The first part gives a brief introduction to the background information and significance of this translation project.The second part describes preparatory works during the translation process.The third part introduces German functionalist translation theory,especially Vermeer’s skopos rule.The fourth part is case studies.Connected with specific examples,the author clarifies her process of applying different translation strategies to realize skopos rule in translation practice,especially in tackling problems like the translation of transliterated words,culture-loaded expressions and complicated sentences.The last part summarizes the experiences and lessons the author has learned during this translation practice and states issues which still remain to be addressed.