eh 2002

8/3/2019 EH 2002

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/eh-2002 1/12

A Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2002, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Translation and English in twentieth-century China

EVA HUNG*

ABSTRACT: Twentieth century China saw unprecedented attempts at cultural change and rejuvenationthrough the transfer of foreign knowledge, and translation played a role in almost all aspects of thisdevelopment. Except for a short period under the PRC, English was the dominant source language for thistransfer. This paper gives a brief historical background to the causes for the emergence of translation as akey to national survival and cultural change. It then focuses on three of the most significant translation-related phenomena in twentieth-century China: (1) the role of fiction translation (and later literarytranslation) as a vehicle for cultural change and construction; (2) the phenomenon of translating out of themother tongue, i.e. Chinese, into English; and (3) the relationship between translation and learningEnglish.

INTRODUCTION

The twentieth century was for China one of turmoil and hope, of destruction andregeneration. It saw violent and repeated changes in her political, social and cultural

systems. As a result, traditional norms were nullified, and new patterns and modes of

operation came in to fill the void. It was under such circumstances that translation gained

the attention of the intellectual vanguard and, for the first time in Chinese history, was

thrust into the ideological centre-stage.

To understand the significance of the emergence of translation as a cultural tool, we

need to know something about China's traditional attitude towards foreign cultures as well

as the way translation work had been done until the late nineteenth century. China had

always maintained a sense of cultural superiority, which was reinforced by the fact that

though her rival states through history sometimes overwhelmed her militarily, they in theirvictory often adopted Chinese culture as their own.1 This sense of superiority meant that

the Chinese intellectual mainstream, represented by members of and aspirants to the

scholar-official class, never showed much interest in other languages and cultures.2 It was

not unusual for the government to rely on people of non-Han origins to cater to its

translation needs: in the Han dynasty (206 bc ±220 ad) much of the diplomatic translation

work was handled by the tribute states of the Western Region (present-day Xinjiang

province), while the Tang (618±907) government employed immigrants of Turkic and

Scythian origin from the Western Region as translators. The reliance on foreign talent and

initiative is particularly obvious when large-scale cultural transfer was involved. The most

representative case was the Buddhist sutra translation movement (second century toeleventh century), in which the majority of the leading participants were non-Chinese.3

When an obvious need for cultural transfer arose again in the late sixteenth century, the

linguistic and cultural knowledge of Jesuit missionaries was called upon.4 As with sutra

translation, the Jesuits worked collaboratively with Chinese members of an ad hoc

* Research Centre for Translation, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. Hong Kong. E-mail:[email protected]

8/3/2019 EH 2002


translation team in which the person with bilingual knowledge and foreign cultural

expertise was always non-Chinese.

When Chinese intellectuals were first exposed to Western knowledge in the nineteenth

century, this traditional mode of collaborative translation was still in force. Protestant

missionaries who went to China in the mid-nineteenth century founded printing presses

and journals which introduced Western knowledge to Chinese readers. They all worked

collaboratively with Chinese assistants or co-translators. As in times of old, the mission-aries were those with the cultural and bilingual knowledge. However, this situation began

to change in the late nineteenth century, when a new generation of Chinese intellectuals

became keenly interested in foreign knowledge.

The roots of such changes lay in China's repeated military defeat in the second half of

the nineteenth century, at the hands first of the Western powers and then Japan. The shock

and humiliation led to intense self-questioning and the search for a means of national

survival and regeneration. In their quest, reformist officials and intellectuals turned first to

a range of Western knowledge, concentrating on topics related to military prowess, but

also covering others such as geography, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine,

agricultural studies, engineering, mining, mathematics, trade, and international law.

5

This quest was accepted by the Qing government as part of its efforts to fend off foreign

encroachment, and translations of works from the West done by the government-funded

Translation Bureau at the Jiangnan Arsenal, which employed notable Westerners such as

John Fryer (1839±1928) to head its work, had a considerable impact on broadening the

horizons of a new generation. Measures were also taken to nurture local Chinese bilingual

translators. This gave rise to a new mode of practice in translation. Yan Fu (1854±1921),

the translator of the immensely influential Tianyan lun (Thomas Huxley's Evolution and

Ethics), was the first of a new breed of cultural translators ± he was bilingual and worked

alone.6 The inroad that Western knowledge made in the progressive circles in China in this

period was to lead ultimately to the emergence of a new Chinese culture.

NEW FICTION AND THE RISE OF TRANSLATION

The end of the nineteenth century marked a critical juncture in the Chinese reform

movement. In 1898, the Chinese intellectual vanguard's hope of initiating reform within

the existing government was wrecked by the conservative triumph in the palace coup. This

coup turned the reform-minded young Emperor into a virtual prisoner, and restored power

to the Empress Dowager Cixi. The intellectuals behind the Emperor's reforms were either

executed or exiled. Barred from the possibility of creating change within government

circles, Liang Qichao (1873±1929), one of the younger reform leaders, directed his energytowards generating support among the public. One of his most important vehicles was the

New Fiction movement which elevated fiction from its traditionally low status by assigning

it a part in the script for national revival.7

The choice of fiction over other literary genres was entirely utilitarian. Unlike the genres

that were highly respected in China's classical tradition but were elitist in nature, fiction

could appeal to a mass readership. Moreover, according to its new champions in China,

the efficacy of fiction as a vehicle for social reform had already been proven in the West.

The following statement bears witness to this line of thinking among late Qing intellec-

tuals:

A Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2002

Eva Hung326

8/3/2019 EH 2002


Fiction's influence on men and its popularity far surpass the classics and histories. It therefore has

a hold on the thoughts and customs of the people . . . We have also heard that fiction had helped

to civilize Europe, America and Japan. (Yan and Xia, 1897, cited in Ying 1960: 1)

At the turn of the twentieth century, with the New Fiction movement well on its way,

fiction translation was billed as an ideal tool for national regeneration. Since the general

population was to be re-educated through this reinvented genre, it was important to ensurea supply of `instruction material'. And given the emphasis on modern Western knowledge,

it was difficult to create from scratch the necessary mass of material within a short time.

Translation thus became the logical solution. Besides being a quick source of `instruction

material', translated works also served as a model for creative writers to familiarize

themselves with new subject matter and ways of writing. For the first few years of the

twentieth century, fiction translations outnumbered works written in Chinese.8

The fiction translation movement also speeded up the changes in the way translation

work was done. The huge demand for translated fiction led to the quick emergence of a

large number of bilingual Chinese translators working on their own. Fiction translators

were not just participating in the worthwhile cause of national self-strengthening; theywere working for financial gain as well. The nature of popular literature meant that its

translator community had to be large, flexible, productive, and thoroughly at home with

Chinese language and culture ± requirements which differed significantly from those for

the technology- and knowledge-based reforms of the nineteenth century. The technical,

philosophical and cultural expertise which marked the cultural transfer of an earlier era

became far less pertinent, while good writing skills in Chinese rose in importance. Thus the

leading role played by non-Chinese translators was eliminated in this process of change.

POPULARIZATION, ENLIGHTENMENT, PROPAGANDA

The serious purpose which translated fiction was to serve did not mean that the majority

of Chinese readers in the early twentieth century became avid consumers of `serious'

Western literature; quite the contrary. Since fiction was to appeal to a mass readership,

popularization was the primary target. The booming publishing scene, fuelled by new city

economies such as Shanghai, also created a clear demand for fiction with entertainment

value. A good indication of this trend was the sub-genres which dominated the fiction

scene: detective stories, adventure and romance. In the first two decades of the twentieth

century, Arthur Conan Doyle (1859±1930) was the most translated foreign writer in China.

This decisive trend towards popularization might have made some critics uneasy, but it

was also a clear indicator of the acceptance translated fiction had among a growing

Chinese readership.9

Even at this early stage, English was the leading source language for translations;

English versions of books from other languages also served as the basis for Chinese

translation. The rival use of Japanese translations of Western fiction as an intermediary ±

for a time an easy and popular option because Japanese texts contained a large number of

Chinese characters ± steadily declined in prestige and importance. Of the book-length

translated fiction published in this period, English language titles amounted to 47 per cent

of the total output.10

But by now another wave of change was gathering. The May Fourth Movement (1919),

started as a political campaign against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, led eventually

Translation and English in twentieth-century China 327


8/3/2019 EH 2002


to a revolution in terms of language as well as culture. In the third decade of the twentieth

century, China officially discarded classical Chinese and adopted baihua as the national

language. The leaders of this movement, many of whom were educated in the West, also set

about to create a new literary tradition largely modelled on the various genres of Western

literature. While translation still played an important role in this process, its orientation

was markedly different from that of previous decades. Instead of popular literature, now

the emphasis was on Western canonical work and writings that would improve society, andinstead of classical Chinese, translations were made into baihua, the new written language

based on the spoken language of northern China centred around the Beijing-Tianjin area.

All the leading men of letters of the New Culture movement ± Hu Shi (1891±1962), Lu

Xun (1881±1936), Zhou Zuoren (1885±1967), Xu Zhimo (1896±1931) among them ±

engaged in literary translation as a means to develop the fledgling baihua literature. To

them foreign models provided support and reference points on at least three different

levels. First, the cultural battle was newly won and the viability and authority of the new

norms had to be reinforced. Since the need to import Western knowledge had by now

achieved national recognition, the introduction of representative works from the Western

literary tradition was seen as the most efficacious way to reinforce the message of authorityand viability. Second, since China was to discard her traditional literary models in favour

of new ones that would suit a modern society, it was essential for writers and readers alike

to familiarize themselves with Western literary genres ± the novel, the short story, the essay

and various forms of poetry ± which would become the foundation of the new tradition.

And what better way to do this than establishing direct contact through translation? For

creative writers, translation was also an ideal way of exploring Western literary forms and

techniques in depth. Third, as the newly adopted baihua was still in its infancy as a literary

language, writers and intellectuals were keenly aware of the need to develop and fine-tune

the language itself; some were also conscious of the opportunity to guide the language to

develop in a certain way. For them, translation was a vehicle not only for importing new

literary forms, ideas and practices, it was also a vehicle for importing new vocabulary andsyntax. Lu Xun, who as a matured writer adhered to a principle of extreme literalness in his

translation work, best exemplified this kind of thinking. For him, whether the translated

work was readily accessible to the average Chinese reader was not of primary importance;

he was more concerned with introducing new linguistic elements which would improve the

Chinese language, particularly in terms of logical thinking.11

The literary organizations of the period also reflected the above views. The leading

literary groups such as The Literary Association and the Creation Society were all involved

in translation work.12 Despite their differences in ideology and literary preference, the

general attitude towards translation was still largely utilitarian ± the elevation of Chinese

culture and the reform of Chinese society. The fact that Republican China was plaguedinternally by warlords and externally by aggressive foreign powers no doubt contributed to

the urgency of the utilitarian agenda. It was in relation to the search for a viable political

and social model that Marxist theories were imported into China in the 1930s, and the

theoretical discourses were complemented by translations of `outstanding proletarian

revolutionary work' which had a considerable influence on the intellectual vanguard

(Wong, 1991: 73).

The utilitarian approach to the translation of literature was continued and strengthened

after the founding of the PRC in 1949. As early as 1942, Mao Zedong made it clear in his

`Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art' that the sole purpose of literature was to


Eva Hung328

8/3/2019 EH 2002


serve the revolution, and later the `people's dictatorship'.13 Literature and translation both

came under the auspices of the government's central propaganda department. As in other

walks of life, translators were organized into national and regional associations and assigned

to specific posts and duties. This, together with comprehensive government control over all

publishing outlets, meant that every step in the translation process ± from the selection of

material to its printing and distribution ± was under the watchful eye of the government.

After the culturally barren years of the Cultural Revolution (1966±76), the PRC

reopened her door to the outside world at the end of the 1970s. Within a decade, the

volume of translations of foreign books increased tenfold.14 A partial relaxation in

ideological control gave a new generation of intellectuals the opportunity to seek new

knowledge. In their endeavour to carry on the spirit of `Enlightenment' initiated during the

May Fourth Movement, translation again played a significant role. In the mid 1980s,

several book series were launched with the tacit support of reform-minded members of

government and the cultural establishment.15 Over one third of the titles in these book

series, which played a pivotal role in intellectual exploration and debate in that period,

were translated texts. Nor was translation limited to serious intellectual endeavours. After

decades of uniformity imposed on her literary scene, Chinese readers were introduced topopular English-language literature in the 1980s through translation. Publishers vied with

one another to be the first to market their versions of such bestsellers as Noble House.

In a sense one may say that the situation of China in the 1980s had an eerie resemblance

to that of the first two decades of the twentieth century, and that in terms of China's

cultural self-perception, our story had come full circle. In both periods the Chinese

government of the day accepted the reality of her position in the global political and

social order, and decided to go on a path of drastic change. Struck by the same realities, the

intellectual vanguard worked both within existing structures and tried to push the limits of

existing borders to further the speed and extent of cultural transfer. In both cases, such

attempts opened Chinese society to new types of books (particularly popular genres) andnew ways of operation. And, central to our theme, in both these critical phases of

twentieth-century China's cultural development, translation was regarded by the govern-

ment and as well as the intellectual vanguard as an essential tool.

TRANSLATING INTO ENGLISH

It is a common assumption in the Euro-American translation and interpreting pro-

fessions that translators should only translate out of a second language into a mother

tongue or a mother tongue equivalent.16 In reality, the validity of this assumption is largely

limited to a Euro-American context. Many translators in Asian countries find that there is

considerable demand for translation into foreign languages, and in practice it is not

unusual for Asian translators to translate both into and out of their mother tongues. The

blooming English-related translation scene on the Chinese mainland in the last two

decades bears witness to the existence of a large number of translators working out of

their mother tongue (Chinese) into a second language (English), over which some of them

have but a shaky command.17

Commercial translation work

In terms of translation work related to international trade (including attempts at all

levels of government to attract foreign investment and promote tourism), this situation can



8/3/2019 EH 2002


be accounted for by a combination of practical factors, two of the most obvious being the

comparatively low translation fees or wages in China,18 and the scarcity of native-English

speakers who have enough Chinese for translation work. There is a clear imbalance

between the volume of work to be done and the number of qualified translators to do it.

However, the lack of general knowledge of foreign languages in China also contributes to

ignorance on the part of the client, many of whom believe that any graduate from an

English department must be a translation expert. This illusion is to some extent shared bythe translators themselves (many working freelance and part-time). In recent years there

has been repeated advocacy for upgrading the standard of translations into foreign

languages. (Ai, Lin and Shen, 2000; Lin, 2002; Wei, 2000). While this may contribute to

raising awareness of the problem, it is doubtful that advocacy or academic conferences will

do much to improve the general standard.

As China gains experience in international trade, awareness of the quality of commercial

translation work will no doubt increase. This will, hopefully, lead to a natural stratification

of translation services whereby quality will be linked to the scale of remuneration. It

should also lead to the concept of quality control in translation work. To put it simply,

market forces will, over time, play a significant role in restructuring the part of thetranslation profession that is oriented towards commerce.

Cultural self-translation

But market forces may not have such a strong role to play in non-commercial

translations into English, a type of work of which China produces plenty. One of the

new developments in the second half of the twentieth century has been the initiative within

Chinese communities to translate Chinese writings into foreign languages. This is a rather

unusual phenomenon: the norm for literary translation is for the work to be initiated and

published in the target-language country or community. Hence Gideon Toury's comment

that translators `operate first and foremost in the interest of the culture into which they are

translating' (1995: 12). On the positive side, the exceptional situation in China may beinterpreted as a desire on her part to establish a cultural dialogue with other countries.

However, her sustained effort at self-translation also has a strong ideological impetus.

How much does the existence of rival Chinese communities operating according to

different ideological norms (such as Taiwan and Hong Kong) contribute to the impetus

to self-translate, and thus impose a particular interpretation of Chinese cultural heritage

on the larger world? It is interesting to note that both Taiwan and Hong Kong also engage

in some form of cultural self-translation, though the work is not government sponsored.19

According to PRC government records, in its 50-year history, texts amounting to more

than a hundred million Chinese characters have been rendered into more than half a dozen

foreign languages by the central government translation bureau and the foreign languagesbureau. These include, of course, a large amount of writings by several generations of

political leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, whose complete works have all

been translated (Wei, 2000: 6). However, included in this output is also a substantial

amount of creative literature.

While many countries and communities with an inadequate pool of translators for their

language-policy or trade needs do regularly require translators to work into a second

language, China is unique in the scale of literary translation done by its citizens working

into a non-mother tongue. The literary translation work of the Foreign Languages Bureau

and Foreign Languages Press have shown a clear ideological orientation. Writers and


Eva Hung330

8/3/2019 EH 2002


works selected for translation all served to reinforce the government's world view, which

had no room for those considered antagonistic to the regime. Foreign language translation

was one way of reinforcing the PRC's official literary canon. The clearest indication of

how literary translation was expected to function within this system came during the

Cultural Revolution: the quarterly journal Chinese Literature, the literary flagship of the

Foreign Languages Press, devoted itself exclusively to slogans gleaned from Chairman

Mao's writing and the `literary' output of the worker-peasant-soldier triune.20

The thrust of the PRC's self-translation efforts has always been in English.21 Why? A

rather representative mainland Chinese translator justifies the importance given to English

in terms of numbers, thus: since a billion people in this world use English, and another

billion use Chinese, translation between these two languages is `the most important

intercultural communication in the world' (Xu, 1992: 1). What is equally, if not more,

important is perhaps the fact that, as the language of the British Empire and the USA,

English has been the language of economic, cultural and military dominance since the

nineteenth century. During the Cold War, it was also the language of China's arch-enemy.

If self-translation is all about cultural image projection, it is natural to try and project one's

ideological beliefs into the enemy camp. Equally natural is the attempt to effect thatprojection in the language of power and prestige.

China's government-organized self-translation work is to a considerable extent part of

government propaganda. That being the case, the assumed readers of the translated work

should be the population of the target language communities. However, there is also current

in China a unique situation in which Chinese texts translated into English are aimed

primarily at a local Chinese readership. Since 1980, a substantial number of English

translations of Chinese literature (especially of classical poetry)22 have been published

outside of the domain of the Foreign Languages Press. Though the editors and translators

claim that these books are aimed at intercultural communication (i.e. at a readership in the

Anglophone world), neither the translation approach nor the actual circulation of thesebooks seems to justify such a claim. The reality indicates that these books are aimed at a local

Chinese readership whose purpose is to learn English through translated material. These

books are produced by university teachers of English departments in Chinese universities,

whose status as foreign language experts is extremely convincing to this readership within

China. The fact that many such translations are closely bound by Chinese linguistic and

literary norms ± a fact which largely prevents them from achieving a real dialogue with the

target culture ± may actually be part of their appeal for Chinese readers whose only frame of

reference is the Chinese one. Those who aim at learning English through such translations

are heartened by the apparent ease with which they are helped to cross the linguistic and

cultural divide, not realizing that the crossing is, in many cases, just an illusion.

With the size of her population, China does have the critical mass to sustain publications

of this type, so source-culture bound translations tailored for local consumption may have

considerable staying power. In fact, given the rising popularity of English as the preferred

second language, such translations may achieve further quantitative increase.

TRANSLATION AND THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH

The phenomenon discussed above reveals that in China there is a strong link between

translation and English language learning. In this last section of the paper, we will deal

briefly with the teaching of English with emphasis on its translation-related aspects.



8/3/2019 EH 2002


Foreign language instruction was officially introduced into China with the establishment

of the Tongwen Guan (College of Translators) in 1862. The college was part of the Office

of Foreign Affairs (Zongli Yamen), and its English name is a clear indicator of its main

purpose ± to train Chinese translators and interpreters for the government. English was the

first language introduced, followed later by Russian, French, German and Japanese. The

college was later reorganized and renamed as Yixue Guan (College of Interpreters). When

the Imperial Capital University (forerunner of Peking University) was founded in 1898, theCollege of Interpreters was incorporated into the new institution. Thus it was that

translation became one of the oldest cornerstones of China's first university.

The new importance given to foreign languages was also reflected in the salaries and

ranking of this new type of translator. While translators who provided services for

indigenous national languages (i.e. Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian) were merely clerical

officers, the foreign language translators of the Qing started their careers as middle-

ranking officials, and could achieve status and pay equivalent to that of a consul (Hung,

2002). Thus, in the area of government activities, translation also gained recognition which

was unparalleled in previous history.

Nor was English learning and translation work limited to government initiatives. Theflourishing trading ports, especially Shanghai, saw great eagerness to learn a foreign

language, the most popular being English. This trend received a dramatic boost when the

Qing government decided in 1906 to abandon the civil service examinations in favour of a

new education system. Foreign language learning became an integral part of the secondary

school syllabus; English was also offered in evening classes by many schools and colleges.

Tools for self-learning, such as phrase books and bilingual dictionaries, also played an

important part in extending the reach of the English language.

The demise of the Manchu dynasty in 1911 speeded up the changes already underway.

There was a dramatic increase in new-style schools and universities (many missionary-

run),23 and the teaching of foreign languages became the responsibility of the education

sector rather than that of the government. At the same time, the number of Chinese whoundertook university or postgraduate studies in the English-speaking world also increased.

This situation ensured that there was a pool of eligible potential translators and

interpreters to serve the various needs of government and trade.

Both in Republican China (founded 1912) and under the PRC (founded 1949), the

teaching of translation has been done in foreign languages departments of the universities.

Except for a brief period when Russian was, for political reasons, the preferred foreign

language,24 the dominance of English has been unrivalled. It is thus not surprising that

English departments have played a dominant role in translation instruction. Towards the

end of the twentieth century, universities began to offer English instruction for special

purposes within newly developed courses such as tourism. The use of translation in thelearning process, however, remains intact. If one recalls the expressed purpose for the

founding of the College of Translators in 1862, one can see that the role translation plays

in foreign language instruction has not changed substantially over a century.

Traditionally, translation has served as a tool in foreign language learning both in the

West and in China. In recent decades this practice has been under scrutiny and criticism in

the West, from the point of view both of foreign language teaching pedagogy and of

translation studies. The problem lies in how to differentiate between translation as a tool in

linguistic (often vocabulary) acquisition, and translation as a professional or para-

professional practice which incorporates a large number of non-linguistic factors.


Eva Hung332

8/3/2019 EH 2002


Though this debate has a certain take-up in China,25 it seems to have had little real impact

on established practice and common perception. This is evidenced by the fact that the

official foreign languages examinations on the Chinese mainland all have a heavy

translation component. The increasing commercial possibilities of English teaching also

lend support to this view: World of English ± one of the most popular English-language

teaching magazines published in China26 ± devotes roughly 90 per cent of its contents to

English-Chinese translation material, all printed in bilingual format. This is a clear

indication that in China translation is still considered one of the most expedient ways

for learning English, and that many university teachers are encouraging this trend through

their own work.

CONCLUSION

China's twentieth- century experience shows that translation has been used as a tool by a

variety of people to serve a variety of purposes. Trade, diplomacy, reform, revolution,

modernization, cultural image construction and foreign language teaching all relied on

translation work. In that process, both the Chinese perception of translation and thetranslators' mode of operation went through dramatic changes. China's many twentieth-

century attempts at cultural transfer also reveal the power relations between preferred

source language culture(s) and a target language culture which has a long and proud

tradition. Yet what is perhaps most important is the fact that, regardless of changes in

government and ideology, twentieth-century China continuously showcased the role

translation played in large-scale cultural planning.27 This suggests that any meaningful

study of the development of modern Chinese culture should take special note of the part

translation played. In this area, the full intellectual potential of translation studies remains

to be explored.

NOTES

1. China had repeatedly come under the rule of non-Han houses. Notable examples are the Northern dynasties(386±581), Jin (1115±1234), Yuan (1271±1386) and Qing (1644±1911). All these dynasties adopted Chineseculture to a greater or lesser extent. The Toba of Northern Wei were the most eager coverts, renouncing theirown family name and language in the year 495.

2. The non-Han dynasties adopted bilingual or multilingual policies out of administrative necessity. However,all the languages involved were considered national languages rather than foreign languages. For details seeHung, 2002.

3. For details see Hung, 1999.4. By then the Chinese calendar was badly in need of revamping. Both the Ming (1368±1644) and Qing (1644±

1911) governments appointed Jesuit missionaries to the Bureau of Astronomy to supervise this work.

5. For a list of the works translated, see Xiong, 1994: 538±50.6. Educated for two years at the British naval academy at Greenwich, Yan belonged to the first generation of Chinese sent by the Qing government to study in the West.

7. For details see Chen, 1989 and Yuan, 1992. On the reinvention of Chinese literary norms in relation to theNew Fiction movement see Hung, 1998a.

8. The period was 1902±7. Moreover, the proportion of translated work in relation to the total number of fictionpublication was very high throughout the first two decades of the twentieth century. For details see Teruo,1998: 39.

9. Doyle was in fact the first Western writer to have all his major works translated into Chinese within his ownlifetime. As a comparison, readers may want to note that a complete translation of Shakespeare's works wasnot finished until the 1970s. For an analysis of translated popular fiction in the context of the New Fictionmovement and early twentieth-century reform, see Hung, 1998b.

10. Based on statistics listed by country of origin of the books (Chen, 1989: 42). Britain, with 293 titles, was at thetop of the table; the US ranked fourth with 78 titles. Japan was third with 80.



8/3/2019 EH 2002


11. For details of Lu Xun's arguments see Wong, 1999: 226±9.12. For more details see Wong, 2002.13. For an analysis see Hsia, 1968.14. Statistics show that between 1978 and 1987 more than 5,000 `social sciences' books were translated, ten times

the amount of work done in the first three decades of the PRC (Chen, 1994: 1). In China, the term `socialsciences' includes all humanities subjects.

15. These include the series `Aesthetics Translation Series' (launched 1982; general editor Li Zehou), `Towards theFuture' (launched 1984; general editor Jin Guantao), and `Culture: China and the World Series' (launched

1986; general editor Gan Yang). For details about the nature of these books and their editorial teams'relationship to the authorities, see Chen and Jin, 1997.

16. It would perhaps be more useful to adopt the classifications `A language', `B language' and `C language' usedin teaching translation and interpreting. In an age in which cultural identity and linguistic background oftenhave little to do with ethnic origin, the term `mother tongue' is often misleading when applied to the linguisticabilities of members of multicultural or immigrant communities.

17. For some examples of blunders made by translators, see Ai, Lin and Shen, 2000: 2±3.18. The remuneration for translation work done on the Chinese mainland is commonly a quarter or a fifth of that

charged in Hong Kong.19. See Hung, 2000 for a discussion on the role self-translation plays in cultural image projection and cultural

legitimacy.20. The flagship translation journal of the Foreign Languages Press ± Chinese Literature ± ceased publication in

2001 because it proved financially unviable after it was turned over to an academic publisher. However, thegovernment policy of sponsoring mainland Chinese academics to translate Chinese literature into foreign

languages seems to be still in force.21. Though Chinese Literature had a French edition too, the English edition was always the dominant one both in

terms of the quantity of works published and circulation. The literary translation series published by theForeign Languages Press is predominantly in English.

22. For a detailed study of this type of translations see Hung, 2000.23. By the end of 1921, there were over 13,500 missionary schools in China.24. This was the case from the founding of the PRC (1949) to the end of the 1950s, when relations with the Soviet

Union soured.25. See, for example, Shi, 2000.26. Monthly circulation over 100,000.27. For a discussion of cultural planning and translation see Toury, 1998.

REFERENCES

Ai-po-si-tan, Lin, Wusun and Shen, Suru (2000) Huyu zhongshi duiwai xuanchuan zhong de waiyu gongzuo[Foreign language work in relation to international publicity deserves greater attention]. The ChineseTranslators Journal , 6, 2±4.

Chen, F. C. and Jin, Guantao (1997) From Youthful Manuscripts to River Elegy. Hong Kong: Chinese UniversityPress.

Chen, Jiuren (1994) Zhoungguo Xueshu Yizhu Zongmu Tiyao (1978±1987) ± Shehui Kexue Juan [An annotatedbibliography of academic books and translations in China (1978±1987) ± the social sciences]. Changchun: Jilin

jiaoyu.Chen, Pingyuan (1989) 20 Shiji Zhongguo Xiaoshuoshi: Di Yi Juai, 1897±1916 [A history of 20th century Chinese

fiction: vol. 1, 1897±1916]. Beijing: Peking University Press.Hsia, Tsi-an (1968) The Gate of Darkness; Studies on the Leftist Literary Movement in China. Seattle: University of

Washington Press.

Hung, Eva (1998a) Sherlock Holmes in Early 20th Century China ± Popular Fiction as an Educational Tool. InTranslators' Strategies and Creativity. Edited by Ann Beylard-Ozeroff, Jana KraÂlovaÂ and Barbara Moser-Mercer. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 71±80.

Hung, Eva (1998b) Giving texts a context: Chinese translations of classical English detective stories 1896±1916.In Translation and Creation. Edited by David Pollard. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins,pp. 151±76.

Hung, Eva (1999) The role of the foreign translator in the Chinese translation tradition. Target, 11(2), 223±43.Hung, Eva (2000) A monocultural approach to translating classical Chinese poetry. In Translating Literary Texts:

Theory and Practice. Edited by Cheng Ngai-lai. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong, pp. 29±71.Hung, Eva (2002) Government translators in dynastic China. In De Gruyter International Encyclopaedia of

Translation Studies. Berlin: De Gruyter.Lin, Wusun (2002) Translation in China and the call of the 20th Century. In Teaching Translation and

Interpreting: 4, Building Bridges. Edited by Eva Hung. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.


Eva Hung334

8/3/2019 EH 2002


Shi, Bingyan (2000) Jindai fanyifa ji qi zai yingyu jiaoxue zhong de yingyong jiqiao [Translation methodology andits application in English teaching]. The Chinese Translators Journal , 6, 37±40.

Teruo, Tarumoto (1998) A statistical survey of translated fiction, 1840±1920. In Translation and Creation. Editedby David Pollard. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 37±42.

Toury, Gideon (1995) Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond . Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Toury, Gideon (1998) Culture Planning and Translation. In Anovar/Anosar: Estudios de TraduccioÂ n e Interpreta-

cioÂ n. Edited by Alberto AÂ lvarez LugrõÂs and Anxo FernaÂndez Ocampo. Vigo: Servicio de PublicacioÂns da

Universidade de Vigo, pp. 13±25.Wei, Jianhua (2000) Jiaqiang zhong yi wai gongzuo shi shidai de yaoqiu [The times require a strengthening of Chinese-foreign language translation work]. The Chinese Translators Journal , 6, 5±6.

Wong, Lawrence Wang-chi (1991) Politics and Literature in Shanghai: The Chinese League of Left-wing Writers,1930±36 . Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.

Wong, Lawrence Wang-chi (1999) Ershi Shiji Zhongguo Fanyi Yanjiu [Chinese translation studies in the 20thcentury]. Shanghai: Dongfang chuban zhongxin.

Wong, Lawrence Wang-chi (2002) Translation and politics in modern China, 1860±1980s. In De GruyterInternational Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Xiong, Yuezhi (1994) Xixue Dongjian Yu Wan Qing Shehui [The dissemination of western learning and late Qingsociety]. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe.

Xu, Yuanzhong (1992) On Chinese Verse in English Rhyme ± From the Book of Poetry to the Romance of theWestern Bower. Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe.

Yan, Fu and Xia, Zengyou (1897) Xiaoshuo zhi yuanqi [The beginnings of fiction]. Tianjin Guowen News.

Reprinted in A. Ying (1960) (ed.) Wen Qing Wenxue Congchao [Late Qing literature series]. Vol. 1. Beijing:Zhonghua shuju.

Yuan, Jin (1992) Zhongguo Xiaoshuo De Jindai Biange [The evolution of fiction in early modern China]. Beijing:Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.



8/3/2019 EH 2002


eh 2002

Documents