Abstract
严复在《天演论·译例言》里提出的"译事三难信达雅",堪称二十世纪中国翻译理论之萌蘖。严氏没有解释三难的含义,只甄录了三句儒家经典的引文("三曰")作论据。然而,笔者发现严复引"三曰"多少或断章取义。笔者从文字训诂的角度,参摭经史诸子,并勼集多种其他材料如严复之书信等,指出"三曰"与三难实则不太对应。
The three challenges of translation put forward by Yan Fu - Faithfulness (xin), Delivery (da), and Canonicity (ya)—in his Note on Translation Strategy (Yi Liyan) in Tianyan Lun arguably marked the beginning of modern Chinese translation theories. He did not o er any definition of the trio; he only provided three Confucian quotations (“san yue”) in justification of his argument. It has been found, nevertheless, that he in fact quoted somewhat out of context. With the aid of classical texts and a wide range of other writings such as letters by Yan Fu, it will be pointed out from a Chinese exegetical approach that the logical link between the three challenges of translation and the three quotations seems to be rather weak.
The three challenges of translation put forward by Yan Fu - Faithfulness (xin), Delivery (da), and Canonicity (ya)—in his Note on Translation Strategy (Yi Liyan) in Tianyan Lun arguably marked the beginning of modern Chinese translation theories. He did not o er any definition of the trio; he only provided three Confucian quotations (“san yue”) in justification of his argument. It has been found, nevertheless, that he in fact quoted somewhat out of context. With the aid of classical texts and a wide range of other writings such as letters by Yan Fu, it will be pointed out from a Chinese exegetical approach that the logical link between the three challenges of translation and the three quotations seems to be rather weak.
| Translated title of the contribution | On the Relationship between the Three Translation Challenges and the Three Confucian Quotations |
|---|---|
| Original language | Chinese (Simplified) |
| Pages (from-to) | 50-65 |
| Journal | 亚太跨学科翻译研究 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2016 |
| Event | First International Conference on Linguistics and Language Studies - Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Duration: 1 Apr 2015 → 1 Apr 2015 |