A Study on the Principles of Translation from Yan Fu

The definition of translation from a dictionary is that a rendering from one language into another, but that seems to be too general and simple. To be more specific, we can say that translation is a science and an art. When we know about the nature of the translation generally, we can be a little bit easier to understand the principles of translation. To be frank, we could say that the principles of translation and the criteria of translation are namely the two aspects of the same theory. The former emphasizes on the translator him or herself; whereas the latter focuses on the reader, who could use the so-called criteria to get the evaluation of the translation.Yanfu had posed that the criteria of translation function as a scale plate for measuring the professional level of translation and it has a double function for all the translators to strive after. Therefore, the formulation of normal and definite criteria of translation has a crucial bearing on its quality and tasty. Here, I'd like to discuss about the principles of translation from Yan Fu,the three characters, faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance.