·研究探讨·
265第36个故事
The Comparison and Analysis of Two Versions of Translation of the Classic of the Way and Its Virtue
河南省开封市东京大道西段开封大学艺术设计学院 赵贝西
Abstract: Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, one of the treasured books of Chine traditional culture, contains the truth of univer. The source text is very deep and profound so the translation of it is very difficult. The author of this paper cho Peter Merel’s translation and Wing-Tist Chan’s translation to make a comparison and analysis. Key words: Classic of the Way and Its Virtue; Wing-Tist Chan; Peter Merel大学生体育
1. Introduction
Taoism, along with Confucianism, is one of the two major indigenous religio-philosophical traditions that have influenced Chine life for more than two thousand years. Taoist doctrine permeates Chine culture and has also found its way into all Asian cultures influenced by China, especially tho of Vietnam, Japan, and Korea.
Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism, was born in the state of Chu about 600B.C. In his early years, Lao Zi was a librarian at the Zhou court, but at that time, he was famous for his great learning. His most famous book named Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, a book of five thousand words, is well-known by the world and translated into different languages.
When we read the Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, we must notice Lao Zi’ purpo of writing this book. In the feudal society, the books are always ud to rve the ruling class. Lao Zi also applied his theory into politics. Lao Zi criticized the Confucian doctrine of humanity and rites and advocated inaction in government, which meant to let things take their own cour and not interfere in people’s lives. But the “inaction” really means “not doing anything”? We will analyze this problem in the following part. Lao Zi advocated people to live a natural life. The “Three Treasures” for life advanced by Lao Zi are kindness, which enables one to be brave; frugality, which makes one profu; humility, which asks people never being the first.
2. Comparison of two English translation versions about Classic of the Way and Its Virtue
There are more than 150 English versions about the Classic of the Way and Its Virtue. I will choo Peter Merel’s translation and Wing-Tist Chan’s translation to make a comparison and analysis.
成长
First of all, I have to introduce the translators’ backgrounds. Wing-Tist Chan is a Chine-American scholar, historian of philosophy, scholar in studying ZhuXi's theory. So to some extent, Wing-Tist Chan’s understanding about Chine classics is better than that of Peter Merel.
笔耕不辍的读音Becau the translations are too long to be shown entirely so I just take Chapter One as the example to make a comparison and analysis.
Example 1
驾考科目一题库完整版There are two versions about Chapter One becau the source text has no denotations. So the difference of the place of denotation results in the different meanings.
The first version: 道，可道，非恒道。 名，可名，非恒名。
无名，天地之始；有名，万物之母。 僥故常无，欲以观其妙；常有，欲以观其徼。 此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄。 玄之又玄，众妙之门。 The cond version:
旅游的作文道可道，非恒道；名可名，非恒名。 无名，天地之始；有名，万物之母。 故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。 此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄。 玄之又玄，众妙之门。
The cond version is ud more frequently than the first version. Let's e Wing-Tist Chan’s translation:
The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the Named is the mother of all things.
Therefore let there always be non-being, so we may e their subtlety, and let there always be being, so we may e their outcome.
The two are the same, but after they are produced, they have different names.
开机启动项命令They both may be called deep and profound. Deeper and more profound, the door to all subtleties!婴儿多大能坐飞机
From the translation, we can e Wing-Tist Chan’s translation is conforming to the cond version. His translation is very faithful to the source text no matter in the structure or in the content. He translates the “道” into “Tao”, “有名” into “name”, “无名”into “nameless”, “天地”into “heaven and earth”,“母”into “mother”, “无欲”into “non-being”, “有欲” into “being”,“门”into “door”. At first sight, it ems like total literal translation, but it is also adhere to the source meaning. Translating “徼”into “su
btlety”，“玄妙” into “deep and profound” are both very proper .The
