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A Comparative Study of Two Translations of Shan Hai Ching Abstract Shan Hai Ching is a Chinese classic text and a reputed compilation covering pretty wide knowledge of geography, astronomy, meteorology, history and religion. And our eyes are broaden with myths, animals, plants, minerals and medicine introduced here. It is widely acknowledged to be a fabulous geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of Chinese mythology. The book is pided into eighteen sections, “with a great number of descriptions of over 550 mountains and 300 channels”, according to the wikipedia. It contains many short myths, and most rarely exceed only one paragraph. However, it is undoubtedly acclaimed as a local encyclopedia for the social life of ancient Chinese people, shining charmingly in the Chinese literature domain like a never-dimmed star, as we always acquire something new and meaningful no matter whatever angle we view it.47121
However, to our upset, there are not many papers about the translations of Shan Hai Ching, needless to say the English complete versions, which might result from its uncertainties in its contents and appropriate translation strategies. The first English version was published by Anne Birrell, an American scholar, called The Classic of Mountains and Seas in 1999, which was characterized in fully literal translation and vulgar Anglo-Saxon vocabularies. While in 2010, Hunan People’s Publishing House published The Classic of Mountains and Seas, translated by Wang Hong, a senior professor in Soochow University and a bellwether in Chinese classic translation, who always complies with the basic principle of translation, “clarity, smoothness and conciseness”. Although these two versions have exactly the book name in common, people find it difficult in echoing one particular understanding of the Shan Hai Ching because of its discursive style. Thus, there is going to be a comparison involved of the various translations of the place names ever appeared in the classic with the analysis of translation methods to find out which one is a better option of Shan Hai Ching to the audience. In this essay, there will be five sessions, an introduction, literature review, the analysis of the versions of Anne Birrell and Wang Hong, the advantages and disadvantages of the two versions and a conclusion in the end.
Key Words: Shan Hai Ching; translations of place terms; translation methods
摘要在我国浩如烟海的文化典籍中，《山海经》相当独特。它是中国先秦重要古籍，涵盖了上古地理、天文、历史、神话、气象、动物、植物、矿藏、医药、宗教等内容，可誉为上古社会生活的一部百科全书。但它“并非作于一时一人，而是经过漫长时间才不断增益的书。”顾名思义，它是以山为经，以海为维来记述上古社会的，“山海”观念囊括了名山棋布的海内华夏和四海之外的广大世界，含有天下和全世界的意义。“经”，经历、经过，表明《山海经》是上古先民对自己经行世界的一次记述。（方韬，2011）全书共18卷，包括《山经》5卷，《海经》13卷，记载了约40个邦国，550座山，300条水道，100多位历史人物，400多个神怪畏兽。1999年美国学者安妮·比勒尔(Anne Birrell)翻译出版了《山海经》的英文全译本(The Classic of Mountains and Seas, 1999)。其译本的一大特色是将《山海经》里所有人名、地名、动植物名和神话人物等全部根据其本意翻译成对应的英文，而非音译。她认为“采用意译法译人名地名等能在文中避免冗长和难懂的音译并立刻使译文充满生气。”2010 年王宏翻译的《山海经》属于大中华文库系列，主要面向普通英语国家的读者，因此他力求简洁、通畅。（李盈盈，2013）本论文包括五部分：引言、文献综述、两种英译版的比较、两种英译版的优劣、结论。