Chinese Translation activities from Zhou Dynasty to Eastern Han Dynasty

FengDan

Abstract： From Zhou Dynasty to Eastern Han Dynasty，there are more and more cultural and economic exchanges taken place between different nations.Translators arise to meet the needs of the translation.In this article，the author will expound some translation activities during this time.

Key words： Translation activities；Zhou Dynasty；Eastern Han Dynasty

There are over five thousand-year history of human civilization and a three thousand-year history of translation in China.Language is produced with the development of human society.A communication media is formed in order to communicate conveniently---that is translation.Studying translation history can help translators grasp the content of Chinese history and improve the translation skill and level effectively.

The earliest exchange activities between Chinese and foreigners appear in Xia Dynasty，which is speculated by the record of ancient books and the studies of researchers.We can speculate reasonably that the contacts between different national minorities with different language can only be made by translation although there arent any recorded translation activities existing in the historical data in Xia Dynasty and Shang Dynasty and there arent any words related with translation on the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty.When it comes to Zhou Dynasty，the historical facts of contacts between Chinese nations and extraterritorial nations increase.The earliest interpretation historical facts are recorded definitely in Zhou Li and Rites.The technical term “Xiangxu” who engages in translation activities also appears. In the 11th century BC，there are historical facts which are communicated by multiple translation.According to this，Chinese translation history has already been 3000 years.

The earliest translation activities in China date back to the Zhou dynasty（1100.BC）.Documents of the time indicated that translation was carried out by government clerks，who were concerned primarily with the transmission of ideologies.In a written document from late Zhou dynasty，Jia Gongyan，an imperial scholar，defined translation as： "translation is to replace one written language with another without changing the meaning for mutual understanding." This definition of translation，although primitive，proves the existence of translation theory in the ancient China.People tended to sum up the principles identified following his translation practice.

It was during the Han dynasty（206 BC - 220 BC） that translation became a medium for the dissemination of foreign learning.Buddhism，which originated in India and was unknown outside that country for a very long time began to penetrate China toward the middle of the first century.Therefore，the Buddhist scriptures which were written in Sanskrit needed to be translated into Chinese to meet the need of Chinese Buddhists.

An Shigao，a Persian，translated some Sutras（Buddhist Precepts in Sanskrit） into Chinese，and at the same time introduced Indian astronomy to China.Another translator of the same period was Zhi Qian，who translated about thirty volumes of Buddhist scriptures in a literal manner.His translation was hard to understand because of the extremely literal translation.And it might be in this period of time that there was discussion on literal translation vs free translation—"a core issue of translation theory."

During Eastern Han Dynasty，Chinese has economic and cultural exchanges with West Asia，East Asia and South Asia by land and by sea.Zhang Qian was sent by the government twice（in 138 BC and 119 BC） to Xi Yu（Western Regions），now Xinjiang（China） and parts of Central Asia，beginning the economic and cultural exchanges between Han Dynasty and the Western Regions.Ban Chao（32---102） in Eastern Han Dynasty，by going along the new road on the northern slope of Tianshan Sea，thus promoting the communication between Han Dynasty and the countries of these areas.

Oral translation of Buddhist text in China began with Yi Cun（doing the interpretation work around 2 BC） and written translation of it with AnShiGao（in Eastern Han Dynasty，his translation work lasting from 148 to 172）.

Chinese 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 Chinese word fanyi "translate；translation" compounds fan "turn over；cross over；translate" and yi "translate；interpret".Some related synonyms are tongyi "interpret；translate"，chuanyi "interpret；translate"，and zhuanyi "translate；retranslate".

The Chinese classics contain various words meaning "interpreter；translator"，for instance，sheren（lit."tongue person"） and fanshe （lit."return tongue"）.The Classic of Rites records four regional words： ji "send；entrust；rely on" for Dongyi "Eastern Yi-barbarians"，xiang "be like；resemble；image" for Nanman "Southern Man-barbarians"，didi "Di-barbarian boots" for Xirong "Western Rong-barbarians"，and yi "translate；interpret" for Beidi "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，T?-t?s；and in the north，interpreters.

There are all kinds of exploration toward translation at the different stages in Chinese history.Some ideas have formed because of the exploration.There are unavoidable mistakes because of the limitation of knowledge level，but we should recognize the developments in translation history and translation has made great contributions to the cultural exchanges，economic exchanges of different times in China.

References：

[1]马祖毅著《中国翻译史》（上卷），武汉：湖北出版社，1999

[2]陈福康著《中国译学理论史稿》（修订版），上海：外语教育出版社，2000

[3]Newmark，Peter.A Textbook of Translation[M].Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2001

[4]Jeremy Munday，Introducing Translation Studies： Theries and Application.M].Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2010

作者简介：冯丹（1971---），女，青岛港湾职业技校学院副教授，主要研究方向为高职英语教学改革。