Wang Hongyin devoted himself to the study of translation theory and achieved fruitful results, making great contributions to the construction of translation theory in my country. His research is not carried out on one plane, but is multi-level and multi-angle. His discussion allows readers to appreciate a colorful world of translation, which includes tracing the history of translation, analyzing the translated works, and more. Exploration and research on translation theory. The reason why he was able to achieve brilliant achievements should be said to be due to his extensive knowledge and academic path. In his early years, he worked as a scientific translator, tour guide and academic interpreter. He also has profound attainments in literature, linguistics, Chinese and Western philosophy, aesthetics, psychology and other fields, and has written many books. In addition, he loves painting, calligraphy, and music, and has translated texts in various genres such as poetry, painting theory, calligraphy, and Qinqiang opera scripts. These experiences laid a solid foundation for his translation teaching and research on translation theory.
Wang Hongyin believes that traditional Chinese translation theory is the cornerstone of the construction of Chinese translation studies and must be carefully summarized and carried forward. But what exactly does traditional Chinese translation theory include? There is currently a saying that all theories on translation produced in Chinese academic circles belong to traditional Chinese translation theory. However, this classification is too general and it is difficult to clearly explain the characteristics and essence of traditional translation theory. Wang Hongyin pointed out the characteristics of traditional translation theory in the book "Classic Interpretation of Traditional Chinese Translation Theory" (Hubei Education Press, 2003):
(1) The typical traditional Chinese translation theory is based on the Chinese A translation theory based on traditional literature, aesthetics, essay studies, literature and art, and linguistics as its theoretical foundation and basic methods;
(2) The time demarcation of traditional translation theory does not originate from the history of Chinese translation The lowest limit of the earliest translation practice is not the modern and contemporary periods in the sense of political history or sociological history, but should be based on the logical evolution of translation theory itself;
(3) Traditional Chinese translation theory It does not rule out the influence of foreign cultures, such as the influence of Buddhist scriptures and Western academic methods, but these influences are not large enough to change the form and nature of its traditional translation theory;
(4) China Traditional translation theory refers to translation theory that shows a strong flavor of traditional Chinese studies in terms of translation topics, research methods, expression methods, theoretical characteristics and spiritual interests, making it different from translation theory in other countries.
Wang Hongyin believes that Chinese translation theory and Western translation theory are different in many aspects and cannot be studied in the same model. For example, the development process of Chinese translation theory has its own characteristics. Wang Hongyin classified it into four stages: the initial stage, the classical stage, the metaphysical stage and the intuitive stage. In the initial stage, relying on the practice of Buddhist scripture translation and taking the preface to the translated scripture as the main form, a primary theory on Buddhist scripture translation was formed. The most important translation theories include: Dao'an's "Five Lost Originals, Three Not Easy to Change", Yancong's "Eight Preparations", Xuanzang's "Five Untranslated", and Zan Ning's "Six Examples"; basically involving Ontology, subject theory, text theory, methodology and other issues are not discussed in detail, and it is difficult to establish a system. In the classical stage, it mainly tried to find and establish the basic ideas of Chinese translation theory by drawing on traditional Chinese rhetorical writing theory and Western linguistic theory. The most important theories include: Yan Fu's three-character formula of "faithfulness, expression and elegance", The debate between Zhang Shizhao and Hu Yilu on transliteration and free translation mainly focused on in-depth discussions on translation standards and translation issues. The theoretical and operational tendencies were more intense than before, and there was an attempt to formulate translation rules. In the metaphysical stage, one uses philosophical principles to intervene in the study of translation theory, or philosophizes translation issues in order to solve the problem of whether translation is possible, in an attempt to establish a philosophical foundation for translation; the most important theories include: He Lin's theory on the possibility of translation Argument of nature, Jin Yuelin's distinction between "translation meaning" and "translation taste"; mainly contemplating the possibility or translatability of translation, involving the different nature of literary translation and non-literary translation, but the taste of philosophical speculation is too strong , failed to be fully transformed into theoretical issues of translation studies itself. In the intuitive stage, the theoretical source and thinking characteristics are the return to the intuitive thinking method of traditional Chinese literature and art, with special emphasis on drawing on etymological materials and paying attention to language issues. In name, it attempts to integrate Eastern and Western learning, but in fact it still returns to the fundamentals of Chinese studies, such as artistic conception. problems, problems of form and spirit, problems of style, etc.; the most important theories include: Qian Zhongshu’s theory of “transformation”, Fu Lei’s theory of “spiritual resemblance”, etc.; the core part of which revolves around the conversion of translation, integrating standards and methods. In one, it focuses on the discussion of the essential theory of literary translation.
Wang Hongyin is an influential figure in the field of translation theory in my country. He has devoted a lot of energy to "cutting-edge" theoretical research. At the same time, he has not neglected basic theoretical research. His research has a distinctive feature: he analyzes problems thoroughly and is far-sighted when formulating his arguments. For example, many people who are engaged in translation have vague concepts about the translation process and the role of the translator, and cannot examine issues from an academic perspective. Wang Hongyin put forward a set of innovative and in-depth views based on his own practical translation experience and many years of theoretical research (see Wang Hongyin's "Comprehensive Tutorial on English-Chinese Translation", Liaoning Normal University Press, 2002). He pointed out: "Translation, as a copying activity of language works, manifests itself as a psychological process, that is, a series of thinking and imagination carried out in the mind of the translator who is the subject of the translation after being stimulated by the language signal (i.e., Pavlov's second signal). The direct result of this series of psychological activities is the restoration of language signals, that is, the production of the target text...The translation process starts with the reading of the original language, and then proceeds to expression, that is, writing of the target language. . The reading comprehension process is basically a process of thinking in the original language, with analysis as the mainstay, supplemented by synthesis; the writing expression process is basically a process of thinking with the target language, with synthesis as the mainstay, supplemented by analysis. The conversion between understanding and expression penetrates into the understanding stage of original language thinking on the one hand, and the expression stage of target language thinking on the other. It is full of crossover, interpenetration and interchange of bilingual thinking, and the conversion itself is also an analysis and synthesis. The complex process of cross-use.”