"I am so lucky to have read this book!" "Highly recommended, ancient, concise and clear oriental wisdom." On the global online book shopping platform, the translated version of Tao Te Ching has been highly praised by a large number of foreign readers for many years. According to the statistics of UNESCO, among the classic works from all over the world, China's Tao Te Ching is the handed down classic that has been translated into the most languages and has the largest circulation.
In 2019, on the day the Japanese version of the Chinese science fiction novel "Three-Body Problem" was released, it immediately topped the Japanese Amazon literature and art sales list. The "Three-Body Problem" has swept overseas, creating the world's largest collection of Chinese contemporary literary translations in history.
From the philosophical classic "Tao Te Ching" to the science fiction literature "Three-Body Problem", Chinese translation has experienced a transition from ignorant progress to active exploration. Chinese books that go to the world through foreign translation have become an important carrier of Chinese culture "going overseas" in dialogue and construction. The "Chinese Bookshelf" that is going to the world is "spreading branches and leaves", but it seems to be far from "blooming and leafy". In an era of coexistence of opportunities and challenges, how to make Chinese books "go deeper and more solid"?
1. Chinese books and foreign translations, from the history
"The large-scale translation of Chinese books to foreign countries can be traced back to the missionaries who came to China at the end of the 16th century. It has been more than 400 years. Although it is not the main purpose of spreading Chinese culture, they have objectively completed the transmission of civilization." Beijing Foreign Studies University English Wang Yingchong, associate professor of the college, said.
"There were more than 70 well-known missionaries who came to China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties." Pan Wenguo, a tenured professor at East China Normal University and honorary president of the China-English-Chinese Comparative Research Association, found that during this period, mainly Chinese classics went west, such as The Four Books translated by Matteo Ricci.
According to textual research, the first book translated into Europe in Chinese history was "Baojian of Mingxin" translated by Spanish missionary Jacobson in 1590.
The professional development of foreign translation of Chinese books began in the second half of the 19th century.
After the Opium War, the number and types of translations of Chinese and foreign books increased significantly.
At the same time, Chinese translators are also systematically involved in the business of translating Chinese books to foreign countries.
For example, Gu Hongming translated The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean and The Great Learning into English.
"This is closely related to the policy of studying abroad at that time and the changes in the environment of domestic and foreign language education." Wang Yingchong said.
Since the reform and opening up, the Chinese translation of "national team" has gradually grown.
In the 1980s, the "Panda Books", which was all the rage, built "a real road" for Chinese culture to go global.
A series of national translation practices, such as "Greater China Library", "Chinese Books Promotion Program", "National Social Science Fund Chinese Academic Foreign Translation Project", have greatly satisfied the desire of Chinese works to "go global".
The proposal of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative has broadened the imagination of Chinese publishing in "going out", and has given Chinese publishing more opportunities for mutual learning, exchanges and interaction.
Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (“Foreign Language Research Institute”) cooperates with China National Book Import and Export Corporation to bring literary works of famous contemporary Chinese writers, such as Yu Hua’s “Alive”, Wang Gang’s “Inglis” and Su Tong’s “Rice”. And other export to many "One Belt and One Road" countries.
To this day, many foreign sinologists are still active on the stage of Chinese translation.
For example, the American sinologist Ge Haowen, who was born in 1939, has translated more than 60 works by more than 30 Chinese writers, and has been hailed as the "chief midwife" of Chinese literature overseas.
Things have changed, and some young sinologists have also come to the fore with translations.
"The Legend of Nushu" is a masterpiece by Zhao Liming, a professor at Tsinghua University.
The Italian version of "Legend Girl" was rated as one of the "50 Most Worth Reading Books in Italy" this year by the famous Italian magazine Panorama.
It seems that the "wild roses in the deep mountains", with the Qingfen of Nanling and the warmth of Xiaoshui, walked out of "isolation" and "picked" for more people on the other side of the world.
It was the Italian translator Giulia Falcini who brought the Nüshu characters that circulated in Jiangyong County, Hunan Province into the field of Italian humanities.
"Italians are increasingly interested and curious about Chinese culture." Julie found that Chinese writers such as Mo Yan, Yu Hua, and Su Tong are already famous in Italy, "their works are very popular."
Culture can only develop and continue through constant communication.
"I really believe in the power of stories. The exchange of stories helps humans understand the world, and it also helps us understand ourselves." Stefan Rusinov, who is engaged in the translation and research of Chinese literary works, is from Bulgaria and has translated Mo Yan's "Sandalwood Punishment", Liu Cixin Bulgarian version of the Three-Body Problem and many other Chinese books.
When she studied Chinese modern and contemporary literature in Central China Normal University more than ten years ago, the "post-80s" Si Dai "would like to share the good things she has learned with her compatriots and promote literary dialogue" because "these works have greatly enriched me. the spiritual world, and I hope they can bring similar gains to more Bulgarian readers.”
2. The deficit is obvious, yet to get out of the valley
Throughout the 20th century, there are countless varieties of Western works translated by China; by contrast, the variety of Chinese literature exported to the West is extremely disproportionate—the difference between "Chinese translation" and "foreign translation" is 100 times as a whole.
In recent years, with the accelerating pace of Chinese books to the world, the number of "Chinese-to-foreign" works has increased significantly.
However, there is still a 10:1 deficit in the import and export trade of Zhongshu, which does not match the long history and profound connotation of Chinese culture.
Behind the deficit, a series of issues need to be deeply considered.
What is the most worthwhile introduction to the world in Chinese culture?
This is a problem that cannot be circumvented by the Chinese translation of "going deeper and more realistic".
Wang Dake, an assistant researcher at the Institute of Intelligent Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, found that compared with books on politics, economics, and science and technology, literature and cultural books accounted for a significantly higher proportion; "The proportion of books is significantly higher.
"If the focus of Chinese book export is only on issues such as literature, it may invisibly give up the right to interpret major issues such as world politics and economy."
"In the 1990s, Japanese translations of Chinese books increased, but most of the political and economic publications focused on the problems that occurred in China's development." Guo Deyu, deputy director of the International Business Chinese Base of the University of International Business and Economics, found that not only publishers often use Mainly small and medium-sized, the translators are mostly Japanese, and the readership is relatively stable.
"It should be said that the positive impact of translation is not large."
Choosing a translation version is the key to enhancing cultural influence.
What are the requirements for translators' competence and quality in Chinese-to-book translation?
Translators know the joys and sorrows of translation.
"Translating Changyao, but not understanding poetry, this is unimaginable." Xiao Xuezhou, an associate professor at the School of Literature, History and Law of Hunan University of Arts and Sciences, believes that Chinese translation must have comprehensive literacy, and then look at foreign language proficiency.
"The most difficult thing to translate is the works with unique language." Si Dai is translating the Chinese short story "The King of Chess", the language is simple and elegant, "the text has a certain taste of ancient poetry, but this feeling is reproduced in Bulgarian , need to redesign a language style."
In order to translate the "Legend of Nushu", Julie travels to Jiangyong, Hunan every year, to live with people in the small town, to understand the cultural ecology and local customs behind the characters of Nushu, "You must understand the history and culture behind the books, It's very difficult and important."
Wang Yingchong believes that the first choice for literary translation is to "translate into" the mother tongue, that is, the translation of Chinese literature into foreign languages should give priority to foreign translators.
"In foreign countries, the translators involved in the translation of Chinese books to foreign countries are mainly local sinologists. However, the number of this team is still very limited."
In addition, limited by professional background, vision, and cultural accumulation, it is not easy for foreign translators to fully reproduce the Chinese contextual meaning contained in the original text in the translation, and to retain its unique literary and artistic ecology.
"From the point of view of understanding, it is rare that even the most brilliant Western translators do not make mistakes or even serious mistakes when translating ancient Chinese books into English." Pan Wenguo said.
How to overcome prejudice and share the fruits of civilization?
You Yonghong, an assistant researcher at the University of International Business and Economics who was the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Malawi in Africa, pointed out that there are not many books and materials about China in some African university libraries, and some of these works are colored with Western discourse.
"How to reduce the 'cultural discount' in the business of translating Chinese books to foreign countries and show a true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China to the world still needs a long-term driving force." You Yonghong said.
3. Overall planning, should cooperate with foreign countries and focus on me
"When we take Chinese translation into foreign languages as an important undertaking, we can't take a piecemeal approach and 'catch in the basket is a vegetable'. We must have a comprehensive consideration and a systematic understanding." Pan Wenguo emphasized.
Those who do not seek the overall situation are insufficient to seek a domain.
Shen Tianyu, a Chinese student studying at the National University of Singapore, observed and found that China's governance model, poverty alleviation, and technological innovation are all topics that foreign students are more concerned about, while Singapore's translation of comprehensive description and in-depth analysis of China's development practice is still relatively low. lack.
"Foreign students can only get fragmented information about China through the Internet."
It's not just foreign students who are curious about China's development path.
With the rapid growth of China's scientific research and academic output and influence, the international academic community hopes to have a deeper understanding of the research situation of their Chinese counterparts.
"Especially books on contemporary China's economic development, social governance, management innovation, and industrial models have attracted the attention of the international academic community." According to the relevant personnel of the Foreign Research Institute, Li Yining's "The Road to Economic Reform and Development in China" and Chen Yunxian's "Market Competition" were translated by the agency. Books such as Double Subject Theory and Xu Xianglin's Social Transformation and State Governance in China have attracted much attention from overseas academic circles.
"While telling Chinese stories well, we also need to focus on 'telling the world's stories well' from a Chinese perspective, so that the process of Chinese books 'going out' resonates at the same frequency as the growth process of China's subjective worldview." School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiaotong University Dean Li Bengan said.
In addition to the content, the cultivation and support of foreign translation talents is also the key.
"The construction of a translation team of 'Sino-foreign cooperation, focusing on me' is an ideal translator model, which can not only ensure that the standpoint of the original work is not out of shape, but also make the translation language fluent and readable." Long-term inspection of translation, Guo Deyu pointed out.
Faced with the current situation of lack of high-level foreign translation talents, it is urgent to reserve a group of translation and revision teams including local Chinese translators, overseas Chinese translators and foreign sinologists.
At present, only relying on overseas sinologists to translate into their mother tongue cannot meet the expectations of my country's foreign communication.
Guo Deyu believes that "strengthening the cultivation of 'Chinese-to-foreign' talents, and high-level translation talents who are proficient in foreign languages, have professional backgrounds and extensive knowledge reserves, is the hope for the continuous growth of the translation career."
"I really hope to see Chinese literature gain greater influence in my own country." For "small language translators" of Chinese literature such as Si Dai, they look forward to receiving more support for translation and promotion, so that they can more easily Engaged in the translation of Chinese books that I love.
In 2013, the Sino-foreign high-end cultural exchange brand project "New Sinology Program" was officially launched. Through such projects as "doctoral training", "comprehensive academic research" and "overseas senior Chinese translation talents training", it is committed to providing overseas students, scholars, elites from all walks of life and other projects. Outstanding young people provide high-quality resources, cultivate a group of Sinology and China Studies scholars who are proficient in their mother tongue and Chinese, have diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, and have outstanding scientific research capabilities, serve the overall situation of international Chinese education, and actively promote Sino-foreign language exchanges and cooperation and the world's multicultural mutual learning and mutual learning.
The dissemination of translations is not only about the translator, but also inseparable from publishing.
"From the perspective of publishing, we have broken down the barriers of peer competition. Domestic and foreign publishers have jointly planned, published, and marketed together to spread high-quality Chinese book content to the world," said Xu Qian, director of the International Cooperation Department of Zhejiang University Press. Internationalization of titles, publishing services, and marketing globalization” are important paths for publishing houses to enhance copyright and “go global”.
Multi-faceted cooperative operation mode, multi-themed topic selection space, multi-channel distribution field, and multi-modal presentation form are all important for improving the quality of translation of Chinese books to foreign countries and allowing more Chinese cultural ideas to appear in the overseas book market. critical.
In the profound and grand changes of the times, Chinese translations need to strengthen cultural self-confidence, broaden their vision of the world, and make greater contributions to the dialogue of multi-level civilizations in knowing themselves and their enemies.
(Our reporter Xiao Renfu, our correspondent Shu Tianchu)