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Chronology Entry

Year

1932

Text

Qu, Qiubai. Again on translation : a reply to Lu Xun [ID D38989].
Dear Comrade
Translation is still an extremely important issue in China. Since the May Fourth Movement, time and again the issue of translation has been raised, and time and again translation has been the subject of controversy. Yet the problem has not been resolved as far as basic principles are concerned… I have put forward the principle that 'in translating, one should absolutely adopt vernacular Chinese as the standard and achieve accuracy'… To say, as you did, 'accuracy even at the expense of fluency' or 'at present we could tolerate some degree of non-fluency' is to fail to pay heed to the principle that vernacular Chinese should absolutely be adopted as the standard…
In translating as well as in writing works of our own, we should of course be bold enough to use new means of expression, new words and new sentence structures… We should not allow ourselves the easy way out and accept everything that is 'not fluent'…
We must not only adopt strange-looking sentence structures, but also consider how these structures can 'become our own'. If in translating we just concentrate on 'bringing in strange-looking sentence structures' and fail to consider if these structures can be read aloud by living people… We should adopt a new guiding principle : we must make sure that new words and new sentence structures become alive and that these new means of expression can be assimilated into a living language… The new language should be a language of the masses – a language that the masses can understand and use. As the Chinese language is imprecise, we should make it more precise. As the Chinese language is unclear, we should make it clearer. As the Chinese language is not rich, we should make it richer…

Mentioned People (2)

Lu, Xun  (Shaoxing, Zhejigan 1881-1936 Shanghai) : Schriftsteller, Dichter, Übersetzer
Übersetzungen japanischer Autoren siehe Findeisen, Raoul.D. Lu Xun (1881-1936).

Qu, Qiubai  (Changzhou, Jiangsu 1899-1935 Changting, Fujian) : Schriftsteller, Politiker, Führer der kommunistischen Partei

Subjects

Translation : History and Theory / Translator

Documents (1)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 2004 Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (Benjamins translation library ; vol. 51).
Table of contents :
PART I
1. The traditional approach: Impressionistic theories 3
2. "Modern" theories of the 1920s and 30s 15
3. Theories from a postcolonial perspective 29
4. End of the century: The impact of "new theories" 43
References for Chapters 1-4 6o
PART II
A. Responses to Yan Fu 67
1. Yan Fu: "Preface to Tianyanlun (Evolution and ethics)" (1901)
Tr. C. Y. Hsu 69
2. Zheng Zhenduo: "How to translate literary texts" (1921)
Tr. Leo Chan 72
3. Bian Zhilin: "Literary translation and sensitivity to language" (1983)
Tr. Gilbert Fong 74
4. Ye Weilian: "Debunking claims of Xin, Da and Ya" (1994)
Tr. Ye Weilian 77
Notes to Articles 1-4 89
B. Spiritual resonance 91
5. Chen Xiying: "On translation" (1929)
Tr. Chapman Chen 93
6. Zeng Xubai: "Spirit and fluency in translation" (1929)
Tr. Chapman Chen 98
7. Fu Lei: "Preface to the retranslation of Pere Goriot" (1951)
Tr. May Wong 102
8. Qian Zhongshu: "The translations of Lin Shu" (1963)
Tr. George Kao 104
Notes to Articles 5-8 115
C. Art vs. science 121
9. Zhu Guangqian: "On translation" (1944)
Tr. Leo Chan 123
10. Fu Lei: "Fragments of my translation experience" (1957)
Tr. Leo Chan 126
11. Huang Xuanfan: "Review of Si Guo's Studies of Translation" (1974)
Tr. Matthew Leung 129
12. Huang Xuanfan: "Translation and linguistic knowledge" (1974)
Tr. Matthew Leung 134
13. Jin Di: "The debate of art vs. science" (1987)
Tr. Priscilla Yip 141
Notes to Articles 9-13 147
D. The language of translation 151
14. Qu Qiubai: "On translation - A letter to Lu Xun" (1931)
Tr. Yau Wai Ping 153
15. Lu Xun: "A reply to Qu Qiubai" (1931)
Tr. Leo Chan 158
16. Qu Qiubai: "Again on translation - A reply to Lu Xun" (1932)
Tr. Yau Wai Ping 162
17. Fu Lei: "Letter to Lin Yiliang on translation" (1951)
Tr. Sara Ho 168
18. Yu Guangzhong: "Translation and creative writing" (1969)
Tr. Leo Chan 173
Notes to Articles 14-18 175
E. Literal translation vs. sense-translation 179
19. Liang Shiqiu: "On Mr. Lu Xun's 'Stiff translation"' (1929)
Tr. Evangeline Almberg 181
20. Lu Xun: "'Stiff translation' and the class nature of literature" (1930)
Tr. Leo Chan 184
21. Ye Gongchao, "On translation and language reform" (1931)
Tr. Rachel Lung 188
22. Mao Dun: "Literal translation, smooth translation, and distorted
translation" (1934)
Tr. Leo Chan 192
23. Ai Siqi: "On translation" (1937)
Tr. John Lai 195
Notes to Articles 19-23 198
F. The untranslatability of poetry 201
24. Mao Dun: "Some thoughts on translating poetry" (1922)
Tr. Brian Holton 203
25. Cheng Fangwu: "On translating poetry" (1923)
Tr. May Wong 208
26. Bian Zhilin: "Translation and its positive/negative impact on
modern Chinese poetry" (1987)
Tr. Kellj Chan 211
27. Gu Zhengkun: "On multiple complementary norms and the
translation of poetry" (1990)
Tr. Julie Chiu 214
Notes to Articles 24-27 220
G. Translation theory for China 223
28. Dong Qiusi: "On building our translation theories" (1951)
Tr. Tan Zaixi 225
29. Luo Xinzhang: "Chinese translation theory, a system of its
own" (1984)
Tr. Tan Zaixi 230
30. Liu Miqing: "The basic paradigm of Chinese translation
theory" (1990)
Tr. Han Yang 236
31. Sun Zhili: "Some thoughts on building our nation's translation
theory" (1998)
Tr. Han Yang 240
32. Lin Zhang: "On theories in translation studies" (1998)
Tr. Leo Chan 244
Notes to Articles 28-32 246
H. Creativity and translation 249
33. Zheng Zhenduo: "Virgins and matchmakers" (1921)
Tr. Rachel Lung 251
34. Guo Moruo: "Letter to Zheng Zhenduo" (1921)
Tr. Rachel Lung 252
35. Mao Dun: "The 'matchmaker' and the 'virgin"' (1934)
Tr. Laurence Wong 254
36. Fang Ping: "Miscellaneous thoughts on translation" (1995)
Tr. Orlando Ho 257
37. Xu Yuanchong: "Verbal translation and literary translation" (1995)
Tr. Orlando Ho 261
38. Xu Jun and Yuan Xiaoyi: "For the sake of our common cause" (1995)
Tr. Orlando Ho 264
Notes to Articles 33-38 268
Index 271 S. 162-167. 		Publication / ChanL1
  • Source: Zheng, Zhenduo. How to translate literary texts.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (ZheZ6, Publication)
  • Source: Zheng, Zhenduo. Virgins and matchmakers.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (ZheZ7, Publication)
  • Source: Guo, Moruo. Letter to Zheng Zhenduo.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (GuoM16, Publication)
  • Source: Mao, Dun. Some thoughts on translating poetry.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (MaoD31, Publication)
  • Source: Cheng, Fangwu. On translating poetry.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (ChenF1, Publication)
  • Source: Qu Qiubai. On translation : a letter to Lu Xun.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (QuQ11, Publication)
  • Source: Lu, Xun. A reply to Qu Qiubai. (1931). In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (LuX217, Publication)
  • Source: Qu, Qiubai. Again on translation : a reply to Lu Xun.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (QuQ12, Publication)
  • Source: Mao, Dun. Literal translation, smooth translation, and distorted translation.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (MaoD30, Publication)
  • Source: Mao, Dun. The 'matchmaker' and the 'virgin'.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (MaoD32, Publication)
  • Source: Ai, Siqi. On translation.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (AiS1, Publication)
  • Source: Zhu, Guangqian. On translation.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (ZhuG16, Publication)
  • Source: Fu, Lei. Fragments of my translation experience.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (FuL1, Publication)
  • Source: Bian, Zhilin. Translation and its positive/negative impact on modern Chinese poetry.
    In : Chan, Leo Tak-hung. Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates. (Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 2004). (BiaZ2, Publication)
  • Cited by: Asien-Orient-Institut Universität Zürich (AOI, Organisation)