Mr. Lu Gusun, the editor-in-chief of the "English-Chinese Dictionary", once said with emotion: "Qian Zhongshu's translation of elegant Spanish in Guan Zhui Bian can be used as a thesis topic for any postgraduate student majoring in translation. Shang Chuo There is more than enough, so I won’t go into details. I can only recommend the translation of one word to my colleagues: oxymoron was translated by Qian Zhongshu as ‘the word for grievances’, how incisive and far-reaching it is!” (46) Here are a few quotes from Qian’s writings. Here are some translation examples to prove the elegance of the translation:
This is an art/Which does mend nature,change it rather, but/That art it self is Nature (from Shakespeare's "The Winter's Fairy Tale", "Talking about Art Record? Supplementary Edition", page 61)
Human skills can complement the work of Heaven, but human skills are also the work of Heaven.
Agenius differs from a good understanding, as a magician from an architect; that raises his structure by means in visible, this by the skilfuluse of common tools. (Edward Young on Poetry, "Talk about Art" ?Supplementary Edition", page 411)
The difference between genius and intelligence is as different as that of an illusionist with magical powers and a skillful craftsman of construction; one cannot see his work, but the tower suddenly appears, and the other is good at using boards. Build regular utensils and manage them.
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Withoutcontrariesisnoprogression.AttractionandRepulsion,ReasonandEnergy,Loveandhate,arenecessarytoHumanexistence.
(Blake, "Five Volumes", pp. 446-447)
Without counteraction, there is no movement: attraction and rejection, wisdom and strength, love and hatred, without which people cannot survive.
In Qian Zhongshu’s English essays, it is always possible to see his reference to ancient Chinese classics such as The Analects of Confucius. ", "Laozi", "Zhuangzi", "Liehzi", "Huainanzi" and fragments of translations of Buddhist scriptures such as "Lotus Sutra", "Huayan Sutra", "Surangama Sutra", etc. Below is a translation of one of his translations Ancient poems:
AlldaylongIlookedvainlyforasignofSpring
Mygrassshoesraisingcloudsfromthedustofallfields
Returninghome,ISmilinglypickaplum-blossomandsniffit
Andlo!hereonthesprigisSpringinitsfullness
Looking for it all day long There is no spring,
The mango shoes are all over the long head clouds;
When I come back, I smile and smell the plum blossoms,
Spring is already on the branches. (p>
In addition to being highly regarded for his translation skills, Qian Zhongshu's translation theory is also highly valued in the translation industry. His theory of "translation" ("The highest ideal of literary and artistic translation can be said to be 'translation'. When the work is transformed from the language of one country into the language of another country, it can neither reveal any traces of rigidity and far-fetchedness due to differences in language habits, but can also completely preserve The flavor of the original work can be considered to be in the 'translation realm'" - Qian Zhongshu's "Lin Shu's Translation", see Qian Zhongshu's "Seven Suits Collection? Revised Edition", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1994) and is even regarded as a reference to the original work. Translation practice has "far-reaching significance" in translation thinking. (47) If the above translation is compared with the theory of "transformation", it is not difficult to see that Qian Zhongshu is almost perfect in avoiding "trace of bluntness and far-fetchedness due to differences in language habits", and in terms of accurately conveying the original meaning, Qian Zhongshu is almost perfect. Impeccable too. However, whether Qian Zhongshu's translation has achieved the goal of "completely preserving the flavor of the original work" is a matter of opinion and it is difficult to reach a conclusion. To be fair, the "translation realm" of translation, as "the highest ideal of literary and artistic translation", is an almost unattainable aesthetic realm that is desirable but difficult to achieve. As far as the Chinese translation of British literature is concerned, Mr. Zhu Shenghao's translation of Shakespeare's plays, which he devoted his whole life to, is almost the same.
The previous article mentioned the following point of view of Xu Guangqi of the Ming Dynasty: "If you want to transcend, you must understand; before you can understand, you must first translate."
This undoubtedly suggests that "translation" (and the corresponding annotation and elucidation of the original work), as a means of introducing foreign civilization, not only plays the function of communicating Chinese and foreign cultures, but also has a deeper social/cultural significance, that is, through Introduce foreign civilization to transform local culture, thereby achieving the goal of transcending one's own tradition ("old learning and new changes") and even surpassing foreign civilization. This point has already been discussed in the "Origin" section, so I won't repeat it here. What needs to be added is that Qian Zhongshu, as a humanities scholar with a deep intention of transforming old learning in his practice of connecting China and the West, is not a utopian "world citizen", but a cultural luminary with deep national concerns. Hermes.