亚瑟·韦利英译《道德经》的文化解读——以“天下”一词为例

The Cultural Analysis of the English Version of Tao Te Ching Translated by Arthur Waley :as the Translation of "Tian Xia" for Example

亚瑟·韦利在翻译《道德经》时提出,哲学文本的翻译重在其思想内涵的传递,采用的翻译策略应该是"史学性质的",是一种"文字翻译"。然而,韦利的翻译并没有摆脱前人的影响,尤其是基督教二元对立的超越观念仍然渗透在其中。通过考察五个《道德经》英译本中对"天下"一词的翻译,可以从中得见韦利的翻译策略和文化用心。

The Way and lts Power： A Study of the Tao Te Ching and lts Place in Chinese Thought, published by Arthur Waley in 1934, is a classic translated version of Tao Te Ching in the west. Arthur Waley put Tao Te Ching into the review of the entire ancient Chinese ideological system, advocating that the translation of Tao Te Ching was a “historical” or a “philological” one, for the reason that the importance of the original lay in the things it said. In fact, Waley was still influenced by the former translators that the transcendental idea of Christian dualism penetrated his translation, which was displayed in details. In this paper, “Tian Xia” was a high - frequency key word in Tao Te Ching. As a cultural concept, it bore different connotation and extension in the two cultures. With the review of the translation of “Tian Xia” in five different versions of Tao Te Ching, we could understand his translation strategies and cultural intentions.