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A Study on the 1904 Chinese Translated Version of "The Treasure Island"

Received: 4 March 2022     Accepted: 21 March 2022     Published: 29 March 2022
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Abstract

Treasure Island is a novel published by Stevenson in England in 1883. Because of its great literary value, it has become a must-read literary work recommended by the Ministry of Education in compulsory education. At present, many translations have been published. It was first introduced in China in 1904 (the 30th year of the Guangxu era). This translation was born in the special historical period of the late Qing Dynasty, which has important research significance, but it has not attracted the attention of relevant research in mainland China, and more research has focused on the new translation within Chinese domestic. Based on this, this study takes the scanning version of Treasure Island published by the Commercial Press in 1904 as the object, studies some features of this version. It was found that this version is a re-creation of the original text that is adapted to the culture of the country. The language form selects a high variety language with high communication ability, avoiding sensitive and offensive content, changing the narrative perspective, and making a condensed description at the same time. These experiences may have some help in countering cultural colonialism and protecting weak cultures today, and also make supplements to the translation research activities in the late Qing Dynasty.

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16
Page(s) 35-40
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Treasure Island, Late Qing Dynasty, Commercial Press, Stevenson

References
[1] Chen Jianning. Fujian Intellectuals and Early Commercial Press from the Perspective of "Transformation Era" [J]. Fujian Tribune (The Humanities & Social Sciences), 2019 (10): 145-153.
[2] Fei Xiaotong. Rural reconstruction of rural China [M]. Beijing United Publishing Company. 2018.
[3] Feng Qi, editor-in-chief of Xu Xiaotong, Dictionary of Foreign Philosophy, Shanghai Cishu Publishing House, 2000. 07, p. 836.
[4] Guo Juan. The Embodiment of Semantic Translation and Communicative Translation in Literary Translation: Taking Liu Lihan’s Translation of Treasure Island as an Example [J]. Journal of Taiyuan Urban Vocational College, 2015, 000 (005): 185-187.
[5] Guo Minghe, Liang Chunning, Translators’ Styles in Literary Translation——A Brief Study on Chinese Translations of Extract from Treasure Island [J]. Journal of Changchun University of Science and Technology (social science edition), 2009, 22 (05): 774-775.
[6] Han Qiaoyang. A Comparative Study of Three Chinese Versions of the Treasure Island from the Perspective of the Polysystem Theory [D]. China University of Geoscience (Beijing), 2018.
[7] Hu Cui’e, a cultural study on late Qing fiction translations [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press., 2007.05, p. 277.
[8] Huke. On the Rewriting and Acceptance of Western Culture in Lin Shu's Translated Novels——Taking "Li Po’s Big Dream" as an example [J]. Cultural Journal, 2021 (01): 80-84.
[9] Kangxi Dictionary [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 2000. 12.
[10] Lin Xuwen. A Study on the Rewriting of the Western Fiction in Lin Shu’s Translations [D]. Zhejiang University. 2011, p143.
[11] Mu Lei (editor), Gender Perspective in Translation Studies, Wuhan University Press, 2008.08, p. 62.
[12] Qian Zhongshu. Translation by Lin Shu [A]. Qizhui Ji (revised edition). Shanghai Classics Publishing House. 1995.
[13] Shandong Provincial Local History Compilation Committee. Shandong Provincial Chronicle of Overseas Chinese Affairs, Shandong People Press 1998.05, P. 268.
[14] Steveson; Compiled by the Compilation and Compilation Institute of the Commercial Press. Adventure Fiction Treasure Island Vol. 1 Vol. 27 2nd Edition [M]. Shanghai Commercial Press, 1914.04.
[15] Steveson; translated by Commercial Press. Treasure Island [M]. Shanghai Commercial Press. 1904.
[16] Xu Shen (Eastern Han Dynasty). Shuowen Jiezi [M]. Beijing: China Bookstore, 2017.07.
[17] Xu zhixin. A Comparative Study of Two Chinese Versions of Treasure Island from the Perspective of Toury’s Translation Norms [D]. Gannan Normal University, 2017.
[18] Zhang Wenzhe. A Study of Chinese Translations of R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island [D]. China University of Petroleum, 2015.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Yu Qiuyan. (2022). A Study on the 1904 Chinese Translated Version of "The Treasure Island". International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 8(1), 35-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16

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    ACS Style

    Yu Qiuyan. A Study on the 1904 Chinese Translated Version of "The Treasure Island". Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2022, 8(1), 35-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16

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    AMA Style

    Yu Qiuyan. A Study on the 1904 Chinese Translated Version of "The Treasure Island". Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2022;8(1):35-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16,
      author = {Yu Qiuyan},
      title = {A Study on the 1904 Chinese Translated Version of "The Treasure Island"},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {35-40},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220801.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20220801.16},
      abstract = {Treasure Island is a novel published by Stevenson in England in 1883. Because of its great literary value, it has become a must-read literary work recommended by the Ministry of Education in compulsory education. At present, many translations have been published. It was first introduced in China in 1904 (the 30th year of the Guangxu era). This translation was born in the special historical period of the late Qing Dynasty, which has important research significance, but it has not attracted the attention of relevant research in mainland China, and more research has focused on the new translation within Chinese domestic. Based on this, this study takes the scanning version of Treasure Island published by the Commercial Press in 1904 as the object, studies some features of this version. It was found that this version is a re-creation of the original text that is adapted to the culture of the country. The language form selects a high variety language with high communication ability, avoiding sensitive and offensive content, changing the narrative perspective, and making a condensed description at the same time. These experiences may have some help in countering cultural colonialism and protecting weak cultures today, and also make supplements to the translation research activities in the late Qing Dynasty.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
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    AB  - Treasure Island is a novel published by Stevenson in England in 1883. Because of its great literary value, it has become a must-read literary work recommended by the Ministry of Education in compulsory education. At present, many translations have been published. It was first introduced in China in 1904 (the 30th year of the Guangxu era). This translation was born in the special historical period of the late Qing Dynasty, which has important research significance, but it has not attracted the attention of relevant research in mainland China, and more research has focused on the new translation within Chinese domestic. Based on this, this study takes the scanning version of Treasure Island published by the Commercial Press in 1904 as the object, studies some features of this version. It was found that this version is a re-creation of the original text that is adapted to the culture of the country. The language form selects a high variety language with high communication ability, avoiding sensitive and offensive content, changing the narrative perspective, and making a condensed description at the same time. These experiences may have some help in countering cultural colonialism and protecting weak cultures today, and also make supplements to the translation research activities in the late Qing Dynasty.
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Author Information
  • The Foreign Language School, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China

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