I. Translation criteria
"Faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" are recognized as the three criteria for classical Chinese translation. "Faithfulness" means that the translation should be accurate, that is, the translation should be faithful to the original, and the original should be translated truly and properly by using modern Chinese.
"Da" means that the translation should be fluent, that is, it should conform to the grammar and usage of modern Chinese, and the words and sentences should be fluent without language defects. "Elegance" means that the translation should be beautiful and natural, that is, it should be vivid and vivid, and it should perfectly express the writing style of the original text.
Second, the principles of translation
The translation of classical Chinese requires the implementation of every word and try to maintain the language style of the original text. In the process of translation, we must follow the principle of "combining literal translation with free translation, focusing on literal translation". This requires us to "execute every word in the sentence and put it in the right position", as long as it has certain real meaning. When translating, we should directly change the classical Chinese into the corresponding modern Chinese according to the meaning and word order of the original text, so that "words cannot be separated from words and words cannot be separated from sentences". If the meaning is not smooth after literal translation, free translation should be used as an auxiliary means to make the meaning of the sentence as perfect as possible.
Third, the steps of translation
For the steps of classical Chinese translation, we should first read the full text, grasp the main idea of the article, and be aware of it, so as not to be in a hurry to translate it as soon as we start. When you encounter difficult words in translation, you can put them down temporarily and weigh them after you finish translating the context. After the full text is translated, read it through again and check the changes to prevent mistranslation, omission and mistranslation of songs. In short, read the whole sentence and mark the main points; Pay attention to the full text and understand it accurately; Corresponding translation in word order; Adjust the whole sentence to conform to the specification.
Fourth, translation methods.
The basic methods of classical Chinese translation: literal translation and free translation. The so-called literal translation refers to the word-for-word translation of the original text with modern Chinese words, so that the content words and function words are as opposed as possible. The advantage of literal translation is the implementation of every word; Its disadvantage is that sometimes the translated sentences are difficult to understand and the language is not fluent enough. The so-called free translation means translating according to the meaning of the sentence, conforming to the original intention as much as possible, and taking care of the original intention as much as possible. Free translation has certain flexibility, which can add or subtract words, change the position of words and change sentence patterns. The advantage of free translation is that the text is coherent, and the translation conforms to the expression habits of modern languages and is fluent, fluent and easy to understand. Its disadvantage is that sometimes the original text cannot be translated literally. The specific methods are: leave, delete, supplement, modify, adjust and modify.
"Stay" means to keep. Words with the same meaning in ancient and modern times, as well as ancient names of people, places and things, can remain unchanged when translated. "Delete" means delete. Delete function words that do not need to be translated in classical Chinese. For example, "Pei Gong joined Fan Kuai"-Pei Gong's bodyguard Fan Kuai. "This is also" is an auxiliary word at the end, which is not translated. "Supplement" means supplement. (1) Turn monosyllabic words into disyllabic words; (2) make up the omitted elements in the ellipsis sentence; (3) Fill in the omitted sentences. Note: Fill in the omitted components or sentences with brackets. "Change" means replacement. Replace ancient words with modern words. For example, replace "I, Yu, Yu" with "I" and "II, Ru" with "You". "Adjustment" means adjustment. Adjust ancient Chinese inverted sentences to modern Chinese sentence patterns. When translating subject-predicate inversion sentences, prepositional object sentences, prepositional object postposition sentences and attributive postposition sentences, the word order should generally be adjusted to conform to modern Chinese expression habits. "Change" means flexibility. On the basis of being faithful to the original text, relevant words are vivid. If "the waves are calm", it can be vividly described as "the lake is calm".
Common types of translation errors
1, forced translation without translation
In classical Chinese, all country names, place names, personal names, official names, emperor names, year numbers, object names, weights and measures, etc. , can be preserved intact without translation, because these words are generally unable to be translated into modern Chinese. For example, Qin Bo surrounded Zheng in the Jin Dynasty because he was rude to Jin. Duke Xiang of Jin and the king of Qin surrounded Zheng because he was rude to the state of Jin.
2. Take the present meaning as the ancient meaning
With the development of society, the meanings of some words have changed. Some have broad meanings, some narrow meanings, some have shifted meanings, some have changed their emotional colors, and some have changed their names. Therefore, the meaning of a word should be determined according to the context of the original text, and the present meaning should not be regarded as an ancient meaning. For example, Qin Shihuang was not mean to his ministers. Mistranslation: The late Emperor (Liu Bei) didn't think I was mean. "Mean" belongs to the change of emotional color. This word is a neutral word in ancient times, which means low status and shallow knowledge. Now it is a derogatory term, referring to a person's bad behavior or quality. In the translated sentences, the present meaning should be changed into the ancient meaning.
3. The translated words haven't been translated yet, such as regarding the other party as a great hero and worshiping Shangqing. Mistranslation: Thanks to Lin Xiangru's great contribution, he was regarded as a senior minister. The translated sentence should be translated into "because" and "worship" instead of "to", and it should be translated into "about" to be correct.
4. The word translation is incorrect. For example, I don't like expensive things and cherish fertile land. Mistranslation: if you don't cherish pearls and precious stones, you will have fertile land. It is inappropriate to translate "love" into "cherish" in translation sentences. "Love" means to cherish, but in this sentence it means "stingy".
5. The deleted words still exist. For example, the teacher's teaching has been handed down for a long time. The fashion of learning from teachers has long since disappeared. In the translated sentence, the word "ye" in the original sentence was not deleted, which led to errors. In fact, the word "ye" in the original sentence is an auxiliary word in the sentence, which plays a role in soothing the mood and has no practical significance. In translation, it can be completely removed. In classical Chinese, some auxiliary words or function words only indicate pause, complete syllables, or play the role of mood, which has no practical significance. Although they are indispensable in the original text, they should be deleted in translation because there is no equivalent word to express them. For example, the words "zhe" and "ye" or "zhe ye" and "zhe ye" should be deleted from the translated sentence, and the judgment word "yes" should be added in the appropriate position.
6. The omitted components have not been translated. In classical Chinese, some omitted elements do not need to be translated, but some omitted elements need to be translated into complete semantics, for example, the power display group will be shocked and eclipsed. (Sima Guang's Battle of Red Cliffs) Mistranslation: Sun Quan showed his ministers that there was no one but his face changed with fear. The omission of the word "zhi" after the word "zhi" in the sentence refers to Cao Cao's letters, but there is no translation in the translated sentence. "Letters to Cao Cao" should be added after "Sun Quan" to make the language clear and complete.
7. The added content has not been added. In translation, sometimes in order to conform to the habits of modern Chinese, it is necessary to add some contents, such as: Liu Biao is dead now, and the two sons are not at peace. Now that Liu Biao has just died, the two sons are not United. Adding the quantifier "ge" after the numeral "two" makes the tone smooth. See you every three times because of Zuming. Therefore, when Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang, he always had to go three times to see him. The quantifier "ci" is added after the numeral "three" in the translation.
8. Add content out of thin air. Generally speaking, the translation of classical Chinese must respect the content of the original text, and can't add some content according to personal likes and dislikes, or even go against the meaning of the original text. Otherwise, it will cause mistakes, such as: a threesome, there must be my teacher. Many people travel together, there must be noble people, people of insight, ready to help others, and can be my teacher. In the translated sentence, "a person with noble character, academic expertise and willingness to help others" is not in the original sentence, but is added by the translator at will and should be deleted to conform to the meaning of the original sentence.
9. The meaning of translation is omitted. I didn't mean the whole sentence, only part of it. For example, Confucius said, "Learning from time to time is fun." Mistranslation: Confucius said, "Isn't it a pleasure to review after learning?" The meaning of "time" is omitted in the translation sentence, and the word "punctuality" should be added before "review" to be a complete translation sentence.
10, the translated sentence does not conform to the grammatical rules of modern Chinese. In ancient Chinese, there was an inverted sentence. Generally speaking, when translating this sentence, it should be restored to the normal sentence pattern of modern Chinese. For example, asking for help can make the person who reported Qin get nothing. Mistranslation: No one can be found who can send messengers back to the State of Qin. This sentence is not translated correctly, because the original sentence is placed after the attribute, and the attribute must be put back in front of the head word when translating. Looking for someone who can go back to Qin, I didn't find it. Another example: Earthworms have no advantage over claws, but their bones and muscles are strong. Earthworms are not as sharp as claws and teeth, but as strong as bones and muscles. This translated sentence is not translated according to the characteristics of attributive postposition. Earthworms have no sharp claws and teeth, only strong bones and muscles.
Training points:
"Flexible use of parts of speech", "special sentence patterns" and some "fixed structures" are all important aspects of writing questions in various Chinese exams. As long as you master the basic rules of this knowledge, you can learn from others.
1. Classical Chinese notional words
(1) Every time you cry, you are absolutely defeated. Every time I cried and danced at the funeral, I always fainted and woke up for a long time. (2) Flow and death are equal. -Labor, exile and even the death penalty are graded. (3) In the protection of natural forests, floods and man-made disasters occurred in the county boundaries, and more than a thousand people went on hunger strike. During the period of natural forest protection, Suqiong was flooded, and the people were affected. 1000 people were deprived of food.
Note: (1) The basic mode is that monosyllabic words become disyllabic words. (2) The combination of accumulation and inference from context. (3) The emphasis is on the flexible use of interchangeable words in ancient and modern parts of speech. (4) Special words are not translated, but general words are thoroughly translated.
2. Function words in classical Chinese
(1) I heard this statement today, so I still haven't heard it. -now that I hear this, I know that you still don't understand. (2) Being found guilty and living in 1000 rooms, what is there to complain about? -I am convicted alone, and many people will be saved. What can I complain about? (3) Send an envoy to Yan. Long live the Yanjun. -sent messengers to discuss surrender with the Yanjun, who cheered for a long time.
Note: (1) accumulation, get a general understanding of the general usage of key function words. (2) Correct translation of key function words in sentences. (3) Reasoning according to the context and the meaning of related notional words.
3. Classical Chinese sentence patterns
Some special sentence patterns in classical Chinese have rules to follow. If interrogative pronouns are used as objects, the objects should come first. When a negative pronoun is used as an object, this object is often a preposition, and it should be reversed in translation. For example:
(1) As for business, how can I help? As for handling public affairs, why can we succeed?
(2) Obey today and be rich tomorrow. Obey the golden man today and enjoy the wealth tomorrow.
(3) and desire, know its meaning. When (Dao Yan) asked for a visit, (Su Qiong) anticipated his purpose in advance.
Points to note:
(1) Pay attention to and accurately reflect the relationship between clauses.
(2) Pay attention to and fill in the omitted components in the sentence accurately.
(3) Pay attention to word order to conform to modern habits.
(4) Pay attention to the inference based on the full text and context.
At present, classical Chinese translation occupies a large proportion in the whole classical Chinese reading test, which requires candidates to do translation training in peacetime to improve their translation ability. Make your translation accurate and clear, without language errors; It can not only reflect the characteristics of the original language, but also conform to the habits of modern Chinese. And strive to make their own translation beautiful, vivid and expressive. I believe that as long as we are good at summing up and mastering the laws in our study, we can solve them through understanding. It is much easier to open the door to classical Chinese translation with the key of understanding.