A Comparative Research of English Translation about Chinese Historical Relics

刘晓萌

【Abstract】Nowadays， China， with a long history and great culture， appeal to more and more foreign travelers come for a visit. In tourism， English is the most essential language in tourism. Tourist materials play important roles for travelers to understand and enjoy Chinese historical sites， but now many mistakes and problems appear in the tourist materials and many introductions of historical sites are not translated appropriately. The present paper presents the current condition and problems in tourism translation. Some tourist materials and translations are adopted to analyze the main differences in Chinese and western culture. This thesis put forward some translation techniques for those who face the translation of tourism materials.

【Key words】tourism English； tourist materials； tourist translations； strategy

Ⅰ. Brief Introduction

In recent years， English is becoming more indispensable for cultural communication in China for more and more foreigners come to China for a visit. In all the tour sites and services， we can see English slogans， English materials， and so on. As a result， tourism English should be readily to understand by different travelers.

One of distinctive features of tourist materials is that they contain a large quantity of cultural backgrounds. Tourism English translation in China always lays particular emphasis on the traditional Chinese culture， and it is full of local characteristics. Chinese readers have no troubles in understanding them. For those foreign travelers， whose linguistic and cultural knowledge are totally different from those of Chinese readers， those Chinese characteristics are barriers in their comprehending. So translators should consider their acceptance and help them comprehend the translations in the first place.

Ⅱ. Differences in Chinese Culture and Western Culture Translation

Culture means civilization to educate people. Language is the carrier of culture. For China and other countries， the main differences in their culture maybe in the philosophy. Chinese people lived in a natural surrounding without too much fear in ancient times. The relative stability of agricultural society made Chinese people live in harmony with nature. On the one hand， Chinese people were very clear that everything came from nature， which was so mysterious to them that they were satisfied with what they had got and did not want to probe into too many things. This kind of view resulted in the fact that Chinese people paid much attention to secular values. Meanwhile， Chinese people treasured highly the blood ties. The significance of philosophical ideas was for the stability of society and happiness of people. In a word， the “heaven-man oneness” or “nature-man oneness” was the most elemental factor in Chinese thought patterns.

In contrast， English is aimed in the truth， and they always describe the scenery with less decoration. The Chinese version emphasis feelings and repeats the meaning several times. But in Englishs direct words are used to describe the scenery. Chinese translators always like to translate materials by using metaphor to decorate the scenery of the sites and aim to make the site more beautiful through the materials.

From ancient time till now， there are many differences in society and history， so some words appear in tourist materials with Chinese characteristics. Many foreigners cant understand them and fail to find the right word in English. For example， in ancient China， the time， weights and measures are different. Foreigners cant understand what these are， such as Tang， Song， Ming， and so on. So in tourist materials， we must translate them in a right way to make the tourists understand what these are. China has its own measurement， but foreigners cant understand it， so they put it into other term that tourists can know it.

Sample： 故宫坐落于北京的中心位置，占地72公顷。

The Palace Museum is located in the center of Beijing， covering an area of 72 hectares （720，000 square meters）. （Zhang 34）

The above example shows us that， in translation， translator must notice the culture of the tourists， and supply the information in a convenient way.

Ⅲ. Differences in Translation by Chinese and foreigners

The translated introductions of Chinese historical sites are specially aimed at foreign tourists. The large cultural gap between China and the western countries makes the translation of the introductions of Chinese historical site difficult， which contains a lot of Chinese cultural elements that require many efforts.

In China， there are many famous spots， Chinese people and westerns are all interested in them， so we can see different types of introduction about these spots. Through the materials， we can find many differences in different culture. In this chapter we will analyze some existing problems through some examples.

Sample：在天安门前的金水河上有七条白玉桥。

Translation I： In front of Tian anmen， seven beautiful white marble bridges span the Golden Water River. They are called Outer Golden Water.

Translation II： Seven stone bridges across the Jing Shui

（Gold Water）River.

These two samples are about the Golden Water. Sample 1 is from Beijing Major Scenic Introduction， sample 2 is from The Guide to China. We can see a difference. The first sample is called “Outer Golden Water Bridge”， which is suit for Chinese custom. In Chinese， we call it “外金水桥”； but in second sample， it is called “Jing Shui River”. It adds an explanation “Gold Water” for foreign tourists. They can know its Chinese name， and also know why Chinese people call it “Jing Shui River”. So the second sample is more successful in translation.

In this chapter， I state some examples by different translators from different culture， and explain the difference between them. Since problems have been raised， solutions must be found to solve these problems. In the next chapter， this thesis will offer some suggestions in translating materials of Chinese historical sites.

Ⅳ. Strategies in English Translation about Chinese Historical Relics

In China， the most influential translation principle is Yan Fus “信，达，雅” （ faithfulness， expressiveness and elegance）. In western countries， the most useful translation principle is “A translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work”.

Because of the background， some knowledge is difficult for foreign tourists to understand， so the tourism material should add some explanations and supply some human history， customs and so on. For example， in material which introduces the custom in Guilin， “三月三节”is translated into San Yue San Festival. That is difficult for foreigners to understand. It should be translated into： The festival usually takes place on the third day of the lunar third month， when minority people， especially the young get together for folk song contests to make friends with each other. Without explanation， foreigners will be very confused that why 3th March is so important， they will imagine whether there is a day of someone or other imagines. All imagines will lead the foreigners into a wrong way. Another part， foreigners are not interested in some names， but they want to know their origin. By adding some explanations， we can arouse their interests.

By restructuring， we refer to make some adjustments while translating， perhaps rearranging sequence of the source text or restating some traditional information such as ancient names of places and years into contemporary terms for the purpose of smoothing target readers understanding. The essence of this translation is a form of rewriting in literature or even in content， sometimes called creative translation.

Sample：

刘备章武三年病死于白帝城永安宫，五月运回成都，八月葬于惠陵。

Liu Bei died of illness in 223 at present day Fengjie county， Sichuan Province， and was buried here in the same year.

This sentence includes ancient years and several names of places which are quite different from nowadays. A literal translation of it plus Pinyin would surely confuse the English readers. Therefore， we have to make some adjustments and change 章武三年 into modern year of 223 and ancient city name 白帝城 into current name – Fengjie county.

Up to now， we have shared some general techniques employed in Chinese to English tourism translation， including adding， omitting and so on. It should be stressed that these techniques are not exclusive to each other. There can be a combination of them. Thus， based on the functionalist translation theory， the translator is expected to use these techniques flexibly to make the target texts serve a better appealing and vocative function.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

Because of the development of Chinese tourism， Chinese tourism translation is advanced more and more. Nowadays， more and more researchers and scholars are specially studying the tourism translation. The study of English translation of Chinese historical sites introduction is extremely necessary. During the tour， foreign tourists will benefit more from the tourism translation.

This thesis studies Chinese –English tourism texts translation within the theory and examples. Because of the special nature of the translation of Chinese historical site， the translation between source and target language shouldnt be the static， word-to-word manner. In the translation of the tourist materials， we should pay much attention to the function or the purpose of the tourist translation. In the process of translation， the translator should choose the items he or she considers useful or adequate to the desired purpose. In the process of dealing with cultural information in tourist materials， we should keep the implication of our culture to the maximum extent under the condition that our translation should cater for tourists acceptance.

In a word， tourism English translation is rather dynamic than still， rather practical than theoretical. Translators should find the best way to keep the balance between the need of foreign tourists and Chinese culture in tourism English translation.

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