A Study on the Chinese-English Translation Strategies of Shan Hai Jing Under the Guidance of Chesterman's Norm Theory

Shan Hai Jing carries a strong mythical and legendary color, covering ancient Chinese history, geography, ethnic groups, products, shamans, and mythical stories. Guided by the theory of Chesterman’s translation norm, this paper, taking Birrell’s English translation of Shan Hai Jing as an example, discusses the translation strategies adopted, and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses and the translation norms followed. It can be concluded that Birrell followed the four translation norms and adopted some strategies in terms of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. With the guidance of Chesterman’s translation norm theory, the analysis of the English translation of Shan Hai Jing can help expand the dissemination of Chinese culture.

Appiah, K. A. (1993). Thick translation. Callaloo, 16(4), 808-819.  

Ban, G. (1964). Han Shu. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.

Birrell, A. (1999a). Chinese mythology: An introduction. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Birrell, A. (1999b). The classic of mountains and seas. London: Penguin Books.

Chen, L. S. (2012). Shan hai jing xue shu shi kao lun (An examination of the academic history of Shan Hai Jing). Beijing: Peking University Press.

Cheng, H. C., Cheng, H. C. P., Guo, P., Hao, Y. X., & Lawrence, T. K. (1985). Shan Hai Ching: Legendary geography and wonders of ancient China. Beijing: Committee for Compilation and Examination of the Series of Chinese Classics, National Institute for Compilation and Translation.

Cheng, L. Y. (2009). The transmission of mythological images: Studies on Anne Birrell’s translation of Shan Hai Jing (Unpublished master’s thesis, Fujian Normal University, 2009).

Chesterman, A. (2012). Memes of translation: The spread of ideas in translation theory. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Di Cosmo, N., & Wyatt, D. J. (2003). Political frontiers, ethnic boundaries and human geographies in Chinese history. London: Routledge.

Gao, J., & Yang, L. (2016). On Birrell’s thinking for translation: With the English rendition of The classic of mountains and seas as a case study. Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice, 36(3), 72-77.

Guo, P. (1989). Shan hai jing zhu (An annotation of Shan Hai Jing). Shanghai: Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House.

Hao, Y. X. (2021). Shan hai jing jian shu (The detailed explanation of Shan Hai Jing). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.

Huang, H. (2017). A comparative study on the two English versions of Shan Hai Jing: A “thick translation” perspective (Unpublished master’s thesis, Southwest University, 2017).

Lian, S. N. (1993). Contrastive studies of English and Chinese. Beijing: Higher Education Press.

Liu, S. F. (2020). A comparative study of three English versions of Shan Hai Jing: From the perspective of the manipulation theory (Unpublished master’s thesis, Soochow University, 2020).

Mao, D. (1999). Mao dun shuo shen hua (Mao Dun says mythology). Shanghai: Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House.

Miao, Y. S., & Hu, J. (2023). The Chinese culture translation from the perspective of harmony-oriented translation: A case study of English versions of Shi Shuo. Translation Research and Teaching, 1, 121-125.

Needham, J. (1970). Clerks and craftsmen in China and the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schiffeler, J. W. (1980). Chinese folk medicine: A study of the Shan-Hai Ching. Asian Folklore Studies, 39(2), 41-83.

Wang, H. (2012). Tian xia qi shu shan hai jing ji qi ying yi—Xie zai da Zhong hua wen ku shan hai jing ying yi ben chu ban zhi ji (The strange book of Shan Hai Jing and its English translation: Written on the occasion of the publication of the English translation of the Great China Library of Shan Hai Jing). Shanghai Journal of Translators, 27(2), 74-77.

Wang, M., & Luo, X. M. (2017). Cultural presupposition and multi-modal intertextual reconstruction of Chinese mythology: A case study on the English translation of Shan Hai Jing. Foreign Languages in China, 14(3), 92-100.

Wu, L. W. (2005). The explanation on the Shan Hai Jing of the Jesuit missionaries in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, 20(3), 118-121.