I

The need and value of translation, indeed, appears whenever there is an inter-cultural contact. So did it appear when Buddhism, along with Hindu culture, was coming to China, and such was the case during the Græco-Roman days. Cicero was puzzled by the problems of translation, and many a scholar has ever since attempted to solve the same problems. Confronted by the same, if not greater, difficulties, the present translator hopes that a few remarks here on matters of translation may not be out of place.

As the Chinese language is far more concise and less precise than English, writers of both languages, though able to write lucidly in either tongue, are somehow or other at a loss when asked, How should each be rendered into the other? In this connection it is well remarked by Dr. Duyvendak in the Preface to his own translation ofThe Book of Lord Shang, that "a translation is a re-interpretation of thought, and should never be a mechanical rendering of words, least of all in the case of Chinese". Then, what ought to be the right methods to attain that object, and how was The Book of Lord Shang translated? To such natural questions Duyvendak did not expound his answers, but only added that "a translation into a Western language acquires therefore more clearness and preciseness of expression than the original possesses, as Chinese characters have a far wider connotation than the English words by which they are rendered, and verbs and nouns are not differentiated".

The first great achievement in the study of the problems, principles, and methods of translation was in 1790 when A. F. Tytler read before the Royal Society his papers on Translation, which were soon afterwards published. Thus in hisPrinciples of Translation he prescribed three golden rules:—

I. A translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work.

II. The style and manner of writing in a translation should be of the same character as that of the original.

III. A translation should have the ease of the original composition.

The serviceability of these as guiding principles to subsequent scholars and the difficulties for every translator to reach such levels are beyond any doubt. Nevertheless, in correspondence to them, there were preached and practised by Yen Fu (1866-1921) three famous principles, Faithfulness, Elegance, and Proficiency, throughout his translations of English books into Chinese. So far in the art of translating English into Chinese, he has excelled everybody and has been surpassed by none.

An account of both technical requirements and etymological differences, it goes without saying that every translator of Chinese into English has to fight his way through all hardships. Thus, either because Chinese is more concise, or because it is less precise than English, I have found, above everything else, the necessity of using the liberty of making additions and omissions within certain limits. For instance, in many cases I have added to the ideas of the original such words as would help the reader grasp their meanings in so far as the superadded thought has the most necessary connection with the original and actually increases its intelligibility, not to speak of my additions of articles and specifications of tense, mood, case, number, and gender. Naturally, here and there throughout the translation I have interposed not only single words but also phrases, and sometimes even clauses.

Again, I have endeavoured to assimilate the style and manner of writing in the translation to that of the original. Take for example parallelism, which is a peculiar characteristic of the style and manner of Chinese writing. For illustration, Han Fei Tzŭsaid, "the literati by means of letters disturb laws; the cavaliers by means of weapons transgress prohibitions." To preserve the native colour in cases like this, I have kept repetitions in wording and balances in expression close to the original, provided they do not appear tiresome; otherwise, I have shortened them. On the contrary, the Chinese language very often admits of such brevity of expression as can not be successfully imitated in the English; wherefore to achieve perfect transfusion of the sense in such cases, I have found it necessary to sacrifice the imitation of style. On significant occasions, however, even matters of rhyme and rhythm have been taken into consideration.

As regards idioms, there are a number in the original to which I have found no corresponding idiom in English. In case a literal translation appears to be confusing, the sense is expressed in plain and easy English. Likewise, whenever the English way of expression is more concise in wording and elegant in style and less monotonous and less complicated in structure than the Chinese way, then the native colour is sacrificed with no regret. But wherever it is tolerable, there is made a literal rendering. Such Chinese idioms as "All-under-Heaven", "the Son of Heaven," "the lord of men," "the hundred surnames," and "the Altar of the Spirits of Land and Grain", being both expressive of the native colour and impressive to English readers, I consider worth translating literally. On the contrary, such Chinese terms as Tao, Teh, li, mou, etc., which have no exact equivalent in English but are rather widely understood by English readers, seem better transliterated in most cases than translated.

In short, I have taken for the guiding principle of the present translation the retention of Chinese native colour within the limits of intelligibility to an average English reader.