A Report On Chinese-English Translation Of On Tao(Excerpt) From The Perspective Of Compositional Translatology

With the implementation of the strategy of “Chinese culture going globally”,China is gradually increasing the export of excellent cultural products and expanding the channels of transmission.The translation of Chinese classics into foreign languages has become an important part of the western spreading of Chinese studies.As an important work completed by Mr.Jin Yuelin during the Anti-Japanese War,On Tao belongs to the category of philosophical classics,so its research should also bear the brunt.The author,recommended by her tutor,undertook the task of translating On Tao from Chinese into English,expecting to let more foreign readers understand achievements of Chinese philosophy research through the translation of the book.The first four chapters of the book are selected for the translation task.This part introduces the three basic concepts of “Tao,Form and Energy”,as well as the philosophical terms “the reality of possibility”,“the individuality of reality” and “the relevance of universals”.Although the study of On Tao has been centered on its philosophical thoughts since its publication,few scholars have tried on the translation.Compositional translatology proposed by Professor Pan Wenguo from East Normal University,is the theoretical construction of the English translation of ancient books in China,and the author believes that it has a strong guiding role in the translation of On Tao.Therefore,this report,based on the theory of compositional translatology,explores the Chinese-English translation strategies of On Tao from two dimensions of“integration of Yi(meaning)” and “integration of Ti(style)”,aiming at achieving the integration of its four levels of characters,phrases,sentences and texts.This report first combs the translation process of the book,then introduces compositional translatology,focusing on its guidance role in this translation task through case study,and finally summarizes the gains and shortcomings of this practice,as well as the future improvement measures.Through case study,the author summarizes the translation strategy of combining domestication and foreignization and adopting literal translation as the main method,supplemented by free translation,omission and addition methods.The above efforts aim to make the translation reproduce the logical structure of the original text with clear hierarchy and order so as to help the target language readers better understand the deep meaning of the original text.This translation task can enrich the study of On Tao from the perspective of translation and promote the spread of Chinese philosophy to the outside world,which is of positive significance for the exchange of philosophical ideas between China and the West.At the same time,this report can expand the applying scope of compositional translatology,and the translation strategies and methods summarized in this paper can provide reference for the translation of academic texts.