A Study Of The English Translation Of Chinese Calligraphic Technique Terms From Aesthetic Perspective

With the ever-increasing important position China holds in the world stage,a growing number of foreigners show a great deal interest in Chinese culture represented by Chinese calligraphy.As a result of this phenomenon,more and more calligraphy texts are translated into a variety of foreign languages,with English language coming the first.Currently,many scholars from home and abroad begin to get engaged in the study of the translation of Chinese calligraphy texts.Hence,how to introduce Chinese calligraphy to foreigners becomes an urgent duty for contemporary Chinese translators and scholars of translation studies.Chinese calligraphy is composed of many elements,for instance,the choosing of ink and inkstone,the holding of brush,the choosing of paper,the calligrapher's style,brushwork,structure,composition,etc.This thesis will mainly center on the translation of Chinese calligraphic technique terms from aesthetic perspective,and the to-be mentioned calligraphic techniques include brushwork,structure,composition.Brushwork refers to how a calligrapher handles a brush and how the lines of the character are formed.Structure refers to how the lines are arranged together to form a complete character.Composition refers to how each character can be arranged together in a balanced way to form a piece of calligraphy work.In order that readers can have a clear understanding of Chinese calligraphy,many concepts or definitions about Chinese calligraphy will be introduced.As is known to us all,a calligrapher has to bear in mind all those Chinese calligraphic techniques and put them into practice in order to finish a piece of distinguished calligraphy work,thus the translation of Chinese calligraphic technique terms plays a vital role in helping foreigners to understand and appreciate Chinese calligraphy.The theory of aesthetics will be applied in this thesis.In the process of writing the thesis,the writer will refer to some books about Chinese aesthetics and western aesthetics,such as,The History of Chinese Aesthetic by Zhang Fa,The History of Western Aesthetics by Zhu Guangqian,etc.Questions such as,how aesthetics can be applied into the translation of Chinese calligraphic technique terms and in what degree it should be applied will be discussed in the thesis.Besides,the thesis will also focus on the origin of aesthetics and its development in recent years.Some figures of speech that have been applied in aesthetics will be discussed in the thesis,such as metaphor,simile or analogy,parallelism,etc.Last but not the least,the translation of Chinese calligraphic technique terms will be talked about in terms of four different aspects,namely,one-character terms,two-character terms,three-character terms and four-character terms from aesthetic perspective.As a case study based on the book The Culture and Civilization of China(The English version of Zhongguo Shufa Yishu by Ouyang Zhongshi)by Wang Youfen,it has been found that the theory of aesthetic can be effectively used to analyze the translation of Chinese calligraphic technique terms,and therefore,the aesthetic theory will play an essential role in the nearer future when scholars set foot in the translation of Chinese calligraphic texts.Besides,the following thesis will prove that under the guidance of aesthetic theory,Chinese calligraphic technique terms,to some extent,can be equally translated into English terms with the original beauty of Chinese terms retained,thus displaying the beauty of Chinese calligraphy around the world.From the perspective of aesthetics,the translation methods of Chinese calligraphic technique terms can be divided into four kinds.First,when there are equivalent expressions in English language and the beauty of form and content can be preserved,the literal translation can be used,for example,fei bi(??)can be translated into "plump stroke".Second,when the form can not be preserved in the target language,the liberal translation has to be used for the purpose of aesthetic beauty and meaning of Chinese calligraphy,for example,zhangxu zhishi(????)Third,for some one-character terms,due to their rich cultural connotation,If there are no equivalent expressions in target language,“transliteration + explanation" can be used,for example,zhuo(?)and zhe(?),etc.Fourth,if the translated expressions are not adequate,amplification should be used,for example,dangou(?? and shuanggou(??)etc.