A Report On The Chinese Translation Of Elements Of International Law(Excerpts)

The report is finished based on the translation of 10809-word excerpts（Chapter III,Part Four）of Elements of International Law(8^th edition)written by Henry Wheaton who was a famous jurist,lawyer and diplomat of the United States.The contents include the political facts of the United States since the passage of neutrality acts and the history of English foreign enlistment acts.First published in 1936,the book has long been influential.In the Qing Dynasty,William Alexander Parsons Martin,an American missionary to China,first translated the book into Chinese with the name of Wanguogongfa（《万国公法》）.In 1864,the book was published.Up to now,Wanguogongfa is still the only Chinese translation.However,the fact that it was written in classical Chinese and excessive omission was found makes it hard to meet today‘s reading needs.Therefore,a publishing house has entrusted the MTI students from Guangxi Normal University to translate Elements of International Law into modern Chinese.The academic legal book is not only characterized by the legal terms and non-English words,complex nominal phrases and long sentences,but also by the subjective judgments and opinions of the author.Such features have caused more trouble on the translation.Moreover,the translator has found out that the translation difficulties are mainly from the three stages of comprehension,expression and adaptation.Therefore,Li Changshuan‘s―Comprehension,Expression and Adaptation‖framework has been chosen to report the project.To solve the problem,some translation methods have been provided,including verifying the accurate meaning of common words,adding ordinal numbers,changing subjects and supplementing background information,etc.Through the translation practice,the translator has broadened her knowledge of international law,developed the ability of translation and proofreading,and improved her search skills.Meanwhile,the translator hopes that the report can provide reference to future practice and research of the translation of international law.