Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2nd edition)

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(b)Astronomy:Schall,whowascommissionedbyboththeMingandtheQing

governmentstoassistinthepreparationofthenewcalendar,wasthemost

prolifictranslatorinthiscategory;

(c)Geography:mostlyintheformofannotatedmaps.Individualworkson

mineralresourcesandminingwerealsotranslated,notablyAgricola’sDere

metallica;

(d)Physics:includingsuchtopicsashydraulic,mechanicalandcivilengineering.

ThebestknowntitleisQiqitushou(IllustratedBookofMiraculous

Equipments),anamalgamationofmaterialsgleanedfromvariousEuropean

publications;

(e)Religion:thefirstextanttranslationofsectionsoftheBiblewasbyJean

Bassett(1662–1702).ThefirsttranslationoftheOldandNewTestamentsinto

vernacularMandarinwasdonebytheJesuitP.L.DePoirot(1735–1814).

TherewerealsoseveraltranslationsoftheImitatioChristiaswellas

translationsofCatholiccatechisms.

AfterthePapalsuppressionoftheSocietyofJesus,manyJesuitsstayedonin

China.Evenwhenthegovernmentturnedagainstthem,theywereprotectedby

officialsandChineseconvertsandweregenerallyabletocontinuewiththeir

translationandmissionarywork;anumberofthemcontinuedtoservetheQing

government.JeanFrançoisGerbillon(1656–1730)andThomasPereira(1645–

1708),forexample,wereappointedspecialLatininterpreterstoadiplomatic

missiontoNerchinsk,Russiain1689.

TheJesuits,andlaterothermissionaries,didnotengageinonewaytranslation

butwerealsoinstrumentalinbringingtheChineseclassics,andtherefore

Chinesephilosophy,toEurope.Riccitranslatedthe‘FourBooks’(Great

Learning,DoctrineoftheMean,ConfucianAnalectsandMencius)into

Latin,whileNicolasTrigault(1577–1628)translatedthe‘FiveClassics’(Book

ofSongs,BookofDocuments,BookofChanges,BookofRites,andThe

SpringandAutumnAnnals),alsointoLatin.Someofthetitlesinthe‘Books’

and‘Classics’werelaterretranslatedbymissionariesactiveintheQing

Dynasty.ThisledtoheightenedinterestinEuropeinallthingsChinese,

particularlyintheseventeenthcentury.

Theendofempire

IntheearlynineteenthcenturythetradingincursionsoftheEuropeanpowers,

backedbymilitarymight,grewtooinsistenttobeignoredbythePeking

government,andLinZexu(1785–1850)wasdespatchedtoCantonin1838to

puttheforeignersintheirplace.Itwashisinsightthat‘inordertocontrolthe

foreignerswehavetomastertheirarts’thatpromptedthefirstofficialteamof

translators(fourmenschooledabroad)totackletheEnglishlanguage.They

translatedexcerptsfromthelocalforeignpress,suchastheCantonRegister

(started1827)andCantonPress(started1835),andvariousEnglish

pamphletsonChinesemattersandinternationallaw.Theirmainachievement

wasHaiguotuzhi(GeographyoftheMaritimeNations),publishedin1844and

basedonMurray’sEncyclopaediaofGeography(1834).

Lin’smissioneventuallyprovedafailure,andafteraseriesofmilitarydefeats

theManchurulersagreedtofoundaCollegeofLanguages(Tongwenguan)in

Pekingin1862.Students,firstadmittedin1867,followedaneightyearcourse

inlanguages–initiallyEnglish,thenFrench,RussianandGerman–andnatural

andsocialsciences.Theirprimaryrolewasinthefieldofdiplomacy,butthe

Collegealsotranslatedandpublishedbooksonlaw,politicsandnatural

sciences.Theireffortsinthefieldoflawwerethemostsubstantial:lawbooks

translatedincludedWheaton’sInternationalLaw,theCodeNapoléon,and

Bluntschli’sInternationalLaw.

Inthesouth,theJiangnanArsenalsetupitsowntranslationbureauinShanghai

in1865.ItbothcomplementedandrivalledthePekingTongwenguan,

concentratingontechnicalmanualsbutalsoextendingitsscopetoembracea

broadspectrumofWesternsciences.ThebureauwasresponsibleforChinese

translationsofstandardWesternworkslikeHerschel’sOutlineofAstonomy,

J.D.Dana’sSystemofMineralogy(1872)andCharlesLyell’sPrinciplesof

Geology(1873).BoththePekingandShanghaibureausemployedforeign

expertswhohadlearnedsomeChinese,andseveralofthembecameknownin

theirowncountriesas‘Chinahands’.Thenormaltranslationprocedurewasfor

theforeignexpertstotranslateandexplainverballytoChinesecollaborators,

whotooktheirwordsdownandmadeadraftversion.

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Theirmanuscriptswerethenpolishedandimprovedstylisticallybyoften

monolingualChinesescholarswithoutfurtherreferencetotheoriginal.Anumber

ofChinesetranslatorsemployedbythebureaus,suchasLiShanlan(1810–82),

werescientistsintheirownrightandwerethereforeabletocollaboratewiththe

foreignexpertsasequals.TheworksbyHerschel,DanaandLyellwere

producedbysuchpartnershipsandhadalonglifeascollegetextbooks.

Technicalandscientifictermsposedaparticularproblem.JohnFryer,who

servedattheJiangnanArsenalforovertwentyyears,from1867,explained

theirmodusoperandi(XiongYuezhi1994:497):firstacheckwasmadetosee

ifatermwasintheexistingliteratureorinuseintradecircles;ifnot,a

translationwasinvented,eitherbyconcoctinganewcharacter,borrowinga

disusedone,orbycoiningadescriptiveterm(forexample‘nourishinggas’for

oxygenor‘lightgas’forhydrogen),orbyusingpolysyllabicphonetic

representation.Theinventedtermwasthenenteredintoadictionaryforlater

standardization.Despitethisattemptatsystem,variationwasrife.

Theaboveinstitutions,andseveralmorebesides,weresetupandrunby

Chineseofficials.Alongsidethem,themissionarybodieswerealsoactive.Apart

fromreligioustexts,theyalsotranslatedandpublishedworksofgeneral

educationalinterest.ThefirsttobesetupwastheLondonMissionPressin

Shanghaiin1843.ThemostproductivewastheSocietyfortheDiffusionof

ChristianandGeneralKnowledgeamongtheChinese,establishedinShanghai

in1887.By1903theyweresaidtohavepublishedaround250books.Their

translationproceduresweresimilartothoseemployedbytheofficialbureaus,

buttheirtechnicalbooksinparticularsufferedfromtheexplicator’slackof

expertiseandhisChinesecollaborator’slackofunderstanding,andthemajority

ofthemweredismissedbyMaJianzhong(1845–1900),theeminentChinese

linguist,asunreadableorunintelligible.

ThethirdforceinthetranslationofWesternworkswasneitherofficialnor

foreign.Itemergedinthe1890sandwascomposedofnativeintellectualsand

spearheadedbypoliticalreformists,thebestknownofthembeingKang

Youwei(1858–1927)andLiangQichao(1873–1929).Toimpressupontheir

compatriotstheneedtostruggleiftheydidnotwishtoperish,theyintroduced

theominouslessonsofotherempiresinworldhistory(allpreviouslyunknownto

theethnocentricChinese);theyalsoundertooktranslationsinthefieldsof

politicsandsociologyasawayofensuringnationalsurvival.Bynow,the

leadingintellectualshadrealizedthatWesternthoughtandskillshadtobemade

theirown.Notonlythefocusbutthechanneloftranslationshifted;Japanese

becamethechiefsourcelanguage,bothfororiginalworksinthatlanguageand

alsoforJapanesetranslationsofWesternworks.Thereasonsweresimple:

JapanwasagenerationaheadofChinainitsabsorptionofWesternknowledge

andculture,andwrittenJapaneseusedChinesecharacters.LiangQichao

estimatedthatittookfivetosixyearsforaChinesetogainareadingknowledge

ofEuropeanlanguages,butonlymonthstoacquireanelementaryunderstanding

ofJapanese.ThedrawbacksoftranslatingfromJapanesewerethatitwasoften

basedononlythiselementarygroundinginthelanguage,andthatitadded

anotherfilterfortheoriginalmessagetopassthrough,assuming,aswas

frequentlythecase,thattheJapanesetranslationwasbasedonanEnglish

translationofanoriginalinanotherlanguage.

Thereformistswereverymuchinvolvedintherapidgrowthofindependent

publishinghousesintheperiod1895–1900.Theirnewspapersandmagazines

carriedtranslationsofitemsfromtheforeignpress,andpublishedininstalments

translationsoflongerworks.Themostprestigiousofthenewspaperswerethe

Shiwubao(TheTimes)inShanghai,editedbyLiangQichao,andtheGuowen

bao(NationalRegister)inTientsin,editedbyYanFu(1853–1921).YanFu’s

translationofThomasHuxley’slongessay‘EvolutionandEthics’wasfirst

publishedintheGuowenbaoin1897beforebeingissuedinbookformunder

thetitleTianyanlun(OnEvolution).

ThisbookwasamilestoneinChinesetranslationhistory,bothbecauseits

content(itpopularizedSocialDarwinism)andstyletooktheeducatedworldby

storm,andbecauseYanFulaiddowninhisprefacethethreedesideratafor

translationthathavebeenquotedeversince,namelyFaithfulness,

CommunicabilityandElegance.Elegancederivedfromthelanguageofclassical

antiquityasthemediumoftrans