Legge’s Gender Reconstruction of The Classics of Songs as Manifested in His Dialogue with Zhu Xi’s Annotations

Abstract This paper focuses on the differences of gender roles in the interpretations of James Legge and Zhu Xi。 The songs selected here are currently recognized as love songs, and considered by Zhu Xi as “licentious poems”。 A comparison of the distinctions shows that the two scholars with different social contexts both appreciate a return to the original meaning of the songs and a promotion of moral virtues, yet they are distinguished from each other in their attitudes towards women。 Possible reasons for Legge’s reconstruction are implied in his missionary strategies, biblical teachings, philosophical theory and influence from Chinese immersion。 Given that the Confucian traditions Legge advocated are shared in the Christian traditions, he still retains his identity as a Christian in his translations。 He seeks to present a translation that is more faithful to its original meaning than in accordance with neo-Confucian commentaries or annotations。

Keywords: James Legge; The Classics of Songs; Zhu Xi; cultural stance; gender reconstruction

理雅各《诗经》译本与朱熹《诗集传》对比体现的性别重塑

摘要詹姆士·理雅各《诗经》译本与朱熹《诗集传》中不同的性别角色为本文研究对象。文中所选择的诗歌在今天看来应该算作情歌，而在《诗集传》中通常被称为“淫诗”。两个版本中不同的性别角色表明，尽管理雅各和朱熹有着不同的社会文化背景，他们都对回归原文，提倡道德给予肯定，而他们的差异主要表现在如何对待女性角色。理雅各对诗经中的人物进行性别重构的原因大致有以下几方面：传教策略，圣经教义，哲学思想以及中国文化的影响。鉴于理雅各所欣赏的儒家观点同时也是基督教所提倡的观点，由此推断，他实际是以基督教文化为立场，对《诗经》原文进行客观公正的翻译，而不是按照儒家对《诗经》的诠释来进行翻译的。88528

毕业论文关键词：詹姆士·理雅各；《诗经》；朱熹；文化立场；性别角色重塑

Contents 

1。 Introduction 1

1。1。 Research 源Y于Y优E尔Y论L文W网wwW.yOueRw.com 原文+QQ752018.766 background 1

1。1。1 The Classics of Songs 1

1。1。2。 James Legge 1

1。2。 Research significance 1

1。3。 Research question 2

2。 Literature review 3

2。1 Previous studies of James Legge and his English version of The Classics of Songs abroad 3

2。2 Previous studies of James Legge and his English version of The Classics of Songs at home 3

3。 Legge’s reconstruction of characters in The Classics of Songs 5

3。1。 Definition of gender reconstruction 5

3。2 Specific reconstruction of gender roles 5

3。3 Classification of the reconstructions 6

4。 Legge’s attitude towards Chinese traditions reflected from his reconstruction 7

4。1。 Advocating Chinese tradition of textual interpretation 7

4。2。 Appreciating neo-Confucian’s promotion of moral virtue 7

4。3。 Disagreement on ethical teachings