Patrons and professionals in the new age of Chinese-English translation

This chapter discusses the issues related to patrons and professionals in the new age of Chinese-English translation. Patronage, which has long been an important social and literary phenomenon widely discussed in various fields of humanities and social sciences, may refer to the action of persons or organizations that offer financial support or use their influence to advance a translation activity. Taking into consideration the aspects of economy and expertise, we may define a professional as someone who lives from certain special knowledge he/she has acquired; in a ‘literary translation system,’ a professional can be a university teacher, an editor, a critic, a reviewer, etc., who has acquired special knowledge of translation. In the new age, with China playing a more important role in the international arena, there is a tendency that more Chinese works will be translated into foreign languages, as evidenced by several big translation projects patronized by governmental organizations. Professionals will play a significant role not only in influencing the fame of translations/translators, but also the decisions made or to be made by the patrons. It is also expected that the cooperation between Chinese and foreign patrons, professionals and translators will become more common and more ‘productive’ than ever before.