书评

Being as the thought that impacts the mainstream thought of China, the confucianism, which embodies abundant wisdom of life, has been highly praised and advocated for thousands of years. And in the world which has deepening international exchanges, the confucianism crosses over the national boundaries, influencing not only the Chinese nation but also the foreign world. Under this circumstance, translation owns great significance. I believe most of us are quite familiar with “The Analects of Confucius” in Chinese, but may know little about the translation versions of it. According to available statistics, the Analects of Confucius has been translated into more than 40 languages, among which the English versions has the most translations. In these English versions, the one given by Gu Hongming is arguably outstanding. Growing up in the Western background, Gu has a good command of several languages and a better understanding of Western mindset. All these paved the way for his wonderful production, and I summarize some of his translation characteristics after reading. First, omitting the names of Confucius’ disciples. In Gu’s version, Confucius’ disciples like Youzi, Zengzi, Zixia are all referred by “a disciple of Confucius”, which helps to eliminate the dyslexia caused by the Chinese names for Western readers. Second, citing the inherent cultural connotations of the West to explain the meaning. Like Gu translated “天” as “god”, “天命” as “the Law of God”. This kind of quotation is beneficial to Western readers understanding, but in my opinion, it secretly change the real concepts of Confucius’ words and lead a loss of Chinese features to some extent. Third, remaining rhyme in the translation. When translating, Gu tries his best to reproduce the original style in the translation. For example, he translated “子夏问曰：巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮……” as “Her coquettish smiles,How dimpling they are,Her beautiful eyes,How beaming they are”. In this sentence, odd and even lines are respectively neat and rhymed, making the text more readable and attractive. Though there still exists room for improvement in Gu’s translation, it can not be denied that it is a really good version and can be beneficial not only to our study but also to our understanding of our Chinese treasure.