[所有分类]AnOverviewofTranslationinChina.pptVIP

An Overview of Translation in China   Translation has been crucial to the introduction of western learning and the making of national culture in China. China has an over five thousand-year long history of human civilization and a three thousand-year history of translation. 1. Translation Practice and Theory in  Ancient China 1.1 Early Translation in China 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 late Zhou Dynasty, Jia Gongyan (贾公彦), 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. 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 (安世高), 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（支谦）, 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.” In the fifth century, translation of Buddhist scripture was officially o