A Study Of The English Translation Of Traditional Chinese Material Culture-specific Items In Tian Gong Kai Wu

The present study,taking some of the most representative traditional Chinese handicraft material culture-specific items(CSIs)in Tian Gong Kai Wu as the data for case study,intends to analyze the translation methods of these CISs by E-tu Zen,Li Ch’iao-ping and Wang Yijing et al,based on Peter Newmark’s theory of semantic translation and communicative translation.Research findings indicate that these traditional Chinese handicraft material CSIs can be put into three categories,namely professional CSIs,semi-professional CSIs and handicraft material CSIs in ordinary expressions.These traditional Chinese handicraft material CSIs are characterized by being either highly professional or very rich in cultural connotations.The highly professional handicraft material CSIs are generally translated into the target language with the methods of literal translation and literal translation plus transliteration.Those rather-hard-to-understand material CSIs with rich cultural connotations are translated with such translation methods as transliteration plus literal translation,descriptive equivalent,cultural equivalent,literal translation,transliteration plus in-text annotation and so on,in order to enable the translation more adequate and acceptable.It is hoped that the present study can shed light on the translation research and practice of traditional Chinese material culture-specific items and traditional Chinese sci-tech classics.