“礼”的英译问题研究

A Study on the English Rendition of the Chinese Caracter of "礼"(Rite)

数百年来,西方传教士和汉学家翻译的儒家经典英文译本众多,但从儒家重要的思想概念之一"礼"的翻译来看,其中的曲译和误译现象十分普遍,原因是译者大都局限于字面意思,没能做到从汉民族历史文化的角度去透彻理解和翻译儒家思想。这种翻译虽然能在一定程度上起到"媒"的作用,但并不能传达出儒学真谛,据此西方读者无法真正认识儒家思想,这极不利于儒家思想的外传播。

Hundreds of years ago, the Western missionaries and sinologists had already put forward quite a number of English versions of Confucian classics. In terms of their rendition of ＂礼＂ （Rite）, one of the most important Confucian concepts, mistranslations in the extant versions are quite common due to an over - literal translation and negligence of its underlying socio - cultural background. These versions may well amuse the Westerners＇ interests in Confucian classics to some extent; however, they may at the same time bereave the Westerners＇ true access to genuine Confucian thoughts. Thus, in essence, this kind of rendition is harmful to the transmission of Confucian thoughts.