| Shan Hai Jing is considered an important classics in China,as well as a literary masterpiece with extraordinary values in the study of every aspect of Chinese culture.There is no evidence of who the author was or when the book was finished.Shan Hai Jing consists of two parts,"Shan Jing" and "Hai Jing",with a total of eighteen volumes and over thirty thousand words.Given that its origin has lost in the mists of time and numerous revised versions are available,this report selects "Hai Jing" as the source text on the basis of the annotations supplied by Yuan Ke,so as to ensure the validity,integrity and uniformity of the translated text.This report conducts a study of the translation of proper names with distinctly Chinese features during translating the sixth to eighteenth volumes of Shan Hai Jing for young English-speaking readers.Research shows that due to the peculiarity and complexity of the source text itself,there have been many studies related at home and abroad,while only a few complete or abridged English versions available at present,none of which takes child readers as the target readership.In the meanwhile,as for now,there has been only a dozen papers and dissertations on the translation of the proper names in Shan Hai Jing.Besides,no attention has been paid to the translation of proper names from the perspective of the acceptance of young readers.Based on this research and the ideas and opinions of scholars,the translator summarizes the general features of children’s books,and chooses three general elements,interestingness,vividness and plainness,as the guiding principles of this translation project.Through the researches above,it can be concluded that the proper names in Shan Hai Jing can be translated for children by following three strategies which aim to heighten the attractiveness of those names in the eyes of child readers.Firstly,enhancing interestingness by manifesting personality when translating personal names.Secondly,enhancing vividness by stimulating imagination when translating the names of countries,places,animals and plants.Lastly,enhancing plainness by omission or demonstrating the literal meaning when translating surnames and other names that have no specific meanings.It is hoped that this translation report may provide other scholars and translators with useful experience in the study of and translations in this field,and contribute to introducing Chinese culture abroad. |
