5.1 Main Findings of this Thesis 31

5.2 The Limitations and Openness of this Thesis 32

References 34

Study on the Translation of Characters’ Names in Hong Lou Meng

Chapter one Introduction

1.1 Research Background

Hong Lou Meng is the most fantastic book in the history of Chinese literature. It ranks the first class among the world literature, and more and more people begin to appreciate, understand and praise this masterpiece. Many foreign scholars regard study on Hong Lou Meng together with study on oracle bone, study on the Dunhuang Caves as the three eminent and glorious theories of China, which are of international significance. Actually, the scholars who study Hong Lou Meng are communicating and interacting with the 5000-year history of China and encyclopedic knowledge. Therefore, study on Hong Lou Meng is an eternal and never-ending world cultural mission.

According to incomplete statistics (Ossge, 2015), Hong Lou Meng has been translated into 17 languages and has over 60 versions all over the world. Among them, 19 are complete translations in 9 languages, 26 are bridged versions in 12 different languages, and 17 are fragmentary translations. The translation of Hong Lou Meng has mainly experienced two periods: the 19th century and the 20th century. In 1830, John Francis Davis had his first try. He wrote The Poetry of China on Translations of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. In this essay, he translated two poems in the third chapter of Hong Lou Meng. This is the very important and historic beginning of translation for Hong Lou Meng. Robert Thom translated the fragments of the sixth chapter of Hong Lou Meng in 1846. In 1868, the English man Edward Charles Bowra translated the first eight chapters. The English to Macao vice consul Beneraft Joly started to translate Hong Lou Meng in 1892. By 1983, he translated about two volumes with 56 chapters. The title of this translation was Hung Lou Meng, or The Dream of the Red Chamber.Entering the 20th century, two students studying in America——Wang Liangzhi and Wang Jizhen translated Hong Lou Meng. Wang Liangzhi carried out its abridged translation version in 1927 in New York and the title was Dream of the Red Chamber. The version of Wang Jizhen in 1929 had 39 chapters. From 1973 to 1985, Oxford university professor David Hawkes published five volumes of The Story of the Stone, which was the first complete version for Hong Lou Meng. In 1974, Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang finished three-volume complete version of A Dream of Red Mansions, including 120 chapters. This is the only English complete version translated by Chinese people. 

The translation of Hong Lou Meng belongs to the literary translation, which plays a vital role in transmitting Chinese culture. “Translation itself is potential dialogue between heterogeneous cultures and languages”（朱安博, 2011, p.120). When it comes to literary works and literary translation, translation of names is a very important part. Some scholars think that proper nouns like names cannot be translated because according to Mill’s Theory, proper nouns have no connotations(Newmark, 1981, p.70; Coates, 2009, p.422). However, other scholars hold the view that the difference between proper nouns and common nouns cannot account for its untranslatability. Because translatability depends on text’s communicative and pragmatic functions (Glaser, 2005, p.264). In fact, names are not merely the linguistic signs. As the product of social environment and culture, names contain critical cultural information, such as religions, history, customs, morality and ethics. Name translation, as an integral part of social language, is a carrier for culture. Name translation has a long history and profound and rich cultural content. It centers on demonstrating the features of different nations. There are many word origins, allusions, stories and symbols. In Hong Lou Meng, there are over 900 characters. The name system in this novel is very distinctive and complicated. The study on translations of names in Hong Lou Meng is necessary to understand the characters, plot and meaning of this novel. 英文论文《红楼梦》人物名翻译研究(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_44417.html