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CHI (S) 中国 SPA China |
origins and other terms
Officially named the People’s Republic of China (PRC), China is an East Asian country peopled predominantly by the Han ethnic group, whose ancestors were based in the Yellow River basin in Northern China. The Chinese word for China—Zhongguo— literally means "middle kingdom". The country is also referred to by names containing the characters Han and Tang, which invoke the two great dynasties in its long, continuous history. The English name was derived from a Portuguese word. Cathay, better known now in poetry than in ordinary use, is a misnomer that refers only to the northern part of the country but was widely used in early modern Europe.
abstract
This entry covers the full range of translations into Chinese from antiquity to the 21st century, with the goal of presenting a tradition primarily from the perspective of textual transmission, transfer and reception. The outward translation of Chinese texts into non-Chinese languages, sometimes initiated by Chinese translators themselves, is almost “another story” deemed worthy of separate treatment. The same is true of the translation between major and minor languages (such as Mongolian, Uyghur and Tibetan) within the country, and of intralingual translation between the national language and regional dialects. In contrast to the conventional focus on the Three Waves of Buddhist, Jesuit, and Modern Translations from the 1st century onward, the present account seeks greater inclusivity by covering translation activities that preceded the advent of Buddhist translations, on the one hand, and those that occurred between the "Second" and "Third Waves" on the other. More significantly, the Jesuit project is viewed as part of the effort to “export the West” begun by the missionary-translators and continuing up to the present, even though it is a history bedeviled by ups and downs and reframed by the Chinese as a program to “import the West.” In light of this, the “Three Waves theory” is considered untenable. In highlighting the contributing agents and pivotal events through three millennia, this entry discusses the tradition in nine sections, viz: (1) translation in antiquity, (2) the early penetration of Buddhism, (3) Buddhist translation in prosperity and decline, (4) between the two waves, (5) the Jesuit proselytizing mission, (7) translating the West and self-strengthening and (8) “a hundred flowers bloom.”
record
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(Leo) Tak-hung Chan |
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2024 |
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Chan, (Leo) Tak-hung. 2024. "China" @ ENTI (Encyclopedia of Translation & Interpreting). AIETI. |
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10938843 |
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https://www.aieti.eu/enti/china_ENG |