中国翻译史[1]

中国翻译史的第一部译作 中国翻译史是中国文化交流发展的重要组成部分，翻译作为人类相互理解沟通的桥梁，在推动文化交流、文明互鉴以及促进各国友好合作方面起着重要作用。

在中国翻译史上，第一部译作具有特殊的意义，不仅仅标志着中国翻译史的起源，更为后来的翻译活动奠定了基础。

本文将详细探讨中国翻译史的第一部译作，包括其背景、内容和影响。

中国翻译史的第一部译作可以追溯到公元前2世纪的西汉时期。

当时，中国秦朝的灭亡导致中央政权的分裂，各地区开始形成世居文化交流联系，西汉王朝在此背景下进行了广泛的文化融合和翻译活动。

二、第一部译作的内容和来源： 中国翻译史的第一部译作是佛经翻译。

据史书记载，中国汉代时期，佛教自印度传入中国，最早由印度僧人支谶和那跋达摩二人传扬。

支谶翻译的《阿含经》被认为是中国翻译史上第一部翻译的佛经，奠定了佛教在中国的基础。

支谶的翻译工作引入了印度梵文和中文的相互转化，涉及到文字、语言、宗教、文化等多个领域。

他在翻译过程中遇到了许多困难，如语言障碍、文化差异等，但他用辛勤的努力克服了这些困难，将佛教教义传播到中国。

三、第一部译作的影响： 中国翻译史的第一部译作对中国文化交流和翻译活动的发展产生了深远的影响。

1. 文化融合：第一部译作的翻译活动使中国的思想与印度佛教的文化相结合，促进了中印两国文化的融合与交流。

2. 文献传承：佛经翻译活动开创了中国汉代文化的新阶段，为后来的文献传承和学术研究奠定了基础。

这些译作成为中国古代文化的重要组成部分，被用作后来学者的研究、借鉴和传承。

3. 语言发展：第一部译作中，支谶将梵文翻译成中文，推动了中文的发展和规范，丰富了中文词汇和语法结构，提升了中文表达能力。

中国翻译史的第一部译作是佛经翻译，极大地推动了中国文化的发展和翻译活动的兴盛。

该译作不仅标志着中国翻译史的开端，也为后来的翻译活动奠定了基础。

第一部译作的内容和影响包括文化融合、文献传承和语言发展。

Brief Introduction of the Chinese Translation HistoryChinese translation theory was born out of contact with vassal states during the Zhou Dynasty. It developed through translations of Buddhist scripture into Chinese. It is a response to the universals of the experience of translation and to the specifics of the experience of translating from specific source languages into Chinese. It also developed in the context of Chinese literary and intellectual tradition.The modern Standard Mandarin word fanyi翻譯"translate; translation" compounds fan "turn over; cross over; translate" and yi "translate; interpret". Some related synonyms are tongyi通譯"interpret; translate", chuanyi傳譯"interpret; translate", and zhuanyi轉譯"translate; retranslate".The Chinese classics contain various words meaning "interpreter; translator", for instance, sheren舌人(lit. "tongue person") and fanshe反舌(lit. "return tongue"). The Classic of Rites records four regional words: ji寄"send; entrust; rely on" for Dongyi東夷"Eastern Yi-barbarians", xiang象"be like; resemble; image" for Nanman南蠻"Southern Man-barbarians", didi狄鞮"Di-barbarian boots" for Xirong西戎"Western Rong-barbarians", and yi譯"translate; interpret" for Beidi北狄"Northern Di-barbarians".In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers), — in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, Tî-tîs; and in the north, interpreters. (王制"The Royal Regulations", tr. James Legge 1885 vol. 27, pp. 229-230)A Western Han work attributes a dialogue about translation to Confucius. Confucius advises a ruler who wishes to learn foreign languages not to bother. Confucius tells the ruler to focus on governance and let the translators handle translation.The earliest bit of translation theory may be the phrase "names should follow their bearers, while things should follow China." In other words, names should be transliterated, while things should be translated by meaning.In the late Qing Dynasty and the Republican Period, reformers such as Liang Qichao, Hu Shi and Zhou Zuoren began looking at translation practice and theory of the great translators in Chinese history.Zhi Qian (3rd c. AD)Zhi Qian (支謙)'s preface (序) is the first work whose purpose is to express an opinion about translation practice. The preface was included in a work of the Liang Dynasty. It recounts an historical anecdote of 224AD, at the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period. A party of Buddhist monks came to Wuchang. One of them, Zhu Jiangyan by name, was asked to translate some passage from scripture. He did so, in rough Chinese. When Zhi Qian questioned the lack of elegance, another monk, named Wei Qi (維衹), responded that the meaning of the Buddha should be translated simply, without loss, in aneasy-to-understand manner: literary adornment is unnecessary. All present concurred and quoted two traditional maxims: Laozi's "beautiful words are untrue, true words are not beautiful" and Confucius's "speech cannot be fully recorded by writing, and speech cannot fully capture meaning".Zhi Qian's own translations of Buddhist texts are elegant and literary, so the "direct translation" advocated in the anecdote is likely Wei Qi's position, not Zhi Qian's.Dao An (314-385AD)Dao An focused on loss in translation. His theory is the Five Forms of Loss (五失本):1.Changing the word order. Sanskrit word order is free with a tendency to SOV. Chinese is SVO.2.Adding literary embellishment where the original is in plain style.3.Eliminating repetitiveness in argumentation and panegyric (頌文).4.Cutting the concluding summary section (義說).5.Cutting the recapitulative material in introductory section.Dao An criticized other translators for loss in translation, asking: how they would feel if a translator cut the boring bits out of classics like the Shi Jing or the Classic of History?He also expanded upon the difficulty of translation, with his theory of the Three Difficulties (三不易):municating the Dharma to a different audience from the one the Buddha addressed.2.Translating the words of a saint.3.Translating texts which have been painstakingly composed by generations of disciples.Kumarajiva (344-413AD)Kumarajiva’s translation practice was to translate for meaning. The story goes that one day Kumarajiva criticized his disciple Sengrui for translating “heaven sees man, and man sees heaven” (天見人,人見天). Kumarajiva felt that “man and heaven connect, the two able to see each other” (人天交接,兩得相見) would be more idiomatic, though heaven sees man, man sees heaven is perfectly idiomatic.In another tale, Kumarajiva discusses the problem of translating incantations at the end of sutras. In the original there is attention to aesthetics, but the sense of beauty and the literary form (dependent on the particularities of Sanskrit) are lost in translation. It is like chewing up rice and feeding it to people (嚼飯與人).Huiyuan (334-416AD)Huiyuan's theory of translation is middling, in a positive sense. It is a synthesis that avoids extremes of elegant (文雅) and plain (質樸). With elegant translation, "the language goes beyond the meaning" (文過其意) of the original. With plain translation, "the thought surpasses the wording" (理勝其辭). For Huiyuan, "the words should not harm the meaning" (文不害意). A good translator should “strive to preserve the original” (務存其本).Sengrui (371-438AD)Sengrui investigated problems in translating the names of things. This is of course an important traditional concern whose locus classicus is the Confucian exhortation to “rectify names” (正名). This is not merely of academic concern to Sengrui, for poor translation imperils Buddhism. Sengrui was critical of his teacher Kumarajiva's casual approach to translating names, attributing it to Kumarajiva's lack of familiarity with the Chinese tradition of linking names to essences (名實).Sengyou (445-518AD)Much of the early material of earlier translators was gathered by Sengyou and would have been lost but for him. Sengyou’s approach to translation resembles Huiyuan's, in that both saw good translation as the middle way between elegance and plainness. However, unlike Huiyuan Sengyou expressed admiration for Kumarajiva’s elegant translations.Xuanzang (600-664AD)Xuanzang’s theory is the Five Untranslatables (五種不翻), or five instances where one should transliterate:1.Secrets: Dharani 陀羅尼, Sanskrit ritual speech or incantations, which includes mantras.2.Polysemy: bhaga (as in the Bhagavad Gita) 薄伽, which means comfortable, flourishing, dignity, name, lucky,esteemed.3.None in China: jambu tree 閻浮樹, which does not grow in China.4.Deference to the past: the translation for anuttara-samyak-sambodhi is already established as Anouputi 阿耨菩提.5.To inspire respect and righteousness: Prajna 般若instead of “wisdom” (智慧).Daoxuan (596-667AD)Yan Fu (1898)Yan Fu is famous for his theory of fidelity, clarity and elegance (信達雅), which some believe originated with Tytler. Yan Fu wrote that fidelity is difficult to begin with. Only once the translator has achieved fidelity and clarity should he attend to elegance. The obvious criticism of this theory is that it implies that inelegant originals should be translated elegantly. Clearly, if the style of the original is not elegant or refined, the style of the translation should not be elegant either.Liang Qichao (1920)Liang Qichao put these three qualities of a translation in the same order, fidelity first, then clarity, and only then elegance.Lin Yutang (1933)Lin Yutang stressed the responsibility of the translator to the original, to the reader, and to art. To fulfill this responsibility, the translator needs to meet standards of fidelity (忠實), smoothness (通順) and beauty.Lu Xun (1935)Lu Xun's most famous dictim relating to translation is "I'd rather be faithful than smooth" (寧信而不順).Ai Siqi (1937)Ai Siqi described the relationships between fidelity, clarity and elegance in terms of Western ontology, where clarity and elegance are to fidelity as qualities are to being.Zhou Zuoren (1944)Zhou Zuoren assigned weightings, 50% of translation is fidelity, 30% is clarity, and 20% elegance.Zhu Guangqian (1944)Zhu Guangqian wrote that fidelity in translation is the root which you can strive to approach but never reach. This formulation perhaps invokes the traditional idea of returning to the root in Daoist philosophy.Fu Lei (1951)Fu Lei held that translation is like painting: what is essential is not formal resemblance but rather spiritual resemblance (神似).Qian Zhongshu (1964)Qian Zhongshu wrote that the highest standard of translation is transformation (化, the power of transformation in nature): bodies are sloughed off, but the spirit (精神), appearance and manner (姿致) are the same as before (故我, the old me or the ol。

History of TranslationTeaching PlanTeaching Contents:1. An introduction to Chinese translation theory and history2. An introduction to western countries translation theory and history中国翻译史的大致分期1.由汉代到唐宋的上千年的佛经翻译【支谦、道安、鸠摩罗什、昙无谶、法显、谢灵运、真谛、彦琮、慧远、玄奘、不空】2.明清交替之际的科技翻译【徐光启、利玛窦、汤若望、南怀仁、熊三拔、李之藻等】3.清末民初的文学和科技翻译【李善兰、华蘅芳、傅兰雅、林纾、严复、梁启超等】4. 民国时期的翻译【赵元任、朱生豪、林语堂】5. 新中国成立后的翻译，尤其是改革开放以来的翻译【傅雷、钱钟书、杨绛】Lecture 1 佛经翻译I.关于翻译的早期记载《册府元龟·外臣部·鞮（di）译》记载，周时有越裳国“以三相胥重译而献白雉，曰：‘道路悠远，山川阻深，音使不通，故重译而朝’”。

“五方之民，言语不通，嗜欲不同。

达其志，通其欲，东方曰寄，南方曰象，西方曰狄鞮，北方曰译。

”《礼记·王制》翻译的不同称呼:“象寄”、“象胥”、“鞮译”“舌人”寄send; entrust; rely on象be like; resemble; image译translate; interpret越人歌今夕何夕兮？搴舟中流。

今日何日兮？得与王子同舟。

蒙羞被好兮，不訾诟耻。

心几烦而不绝兮，知得王子。

山有木兮木有枝，心悦君兮君不知。

《越人歌》是我国历史上现存的第一首译诗。

秦汉时期对“翻译官”的种种称谓：“行人”、“典客”、“大行令”、“大鸿胪”、“典乐”、“译官令”、“译官丞”等。

到汉朝，我国主要的外事活动是对北方的匈奴用兵，故翻译活动逐渐用“译”来统称了。