The Earliest Translations of Chinese Fiction into English Focus on The General History of China  

作　　者：Chen Tingting 

机构地区：[1]School of Foreign Studies Anhui University, Hefei Anhui 230601 [2]The Postdoctoral Station Fudan University, Shanghai 200433

出　　处：《学术界》2017年第5期267-278,共12页Academics

基　　金：the staged achievement of the National Social Science Fund of China(国家社科基金青年项目No:15CZW023)

摘　　要：The first works of Chinese vernacular fiction available in the West were published 1735,when the French Jesuit Jean-Baptiste Du Halde compiled translations of three pieces of Chinese vernacular fiction from Jingu qiguan(Marvels Ancient and Modern).These were later translated into English in The General History of China(1736)edited by John Watts.The three stories are"Lu Dalang gives money to re-unite his family","Zhuangzi bangs a drum and becomes an immortal",and"The bad servant sues his master because of a private grudge".The stories are framed by a dual purpose:they were a means to understand the nature of Chinese society,and they were also a pivot in the changing views of China.The moral content of the stories is played out in ambiguous ways,varying between simplistic moral lessons of good and bad rewards for good and bad deeds,and a more amoral tone.The first works of Chinese vernacular fiction available in the West were pub- fished 1735, when the French Jesuit Jean - Baptiste Du Halde compiled translations of three pieces of Chinese vernacular fiction fi＇om Jingu qlguan （ Marvels Ancient and Modem ）. These were later translated into English in The General History of China （1736） edited by John Watts. The three stories are ＂Lu Dalang gives money to re - unite his family＂ ＂Zhuangzi bangs a drum and becomes an immortal＂, and ＂The bad servant sues his master because of a private grudge＂. The stories are framed by a dual purpose： they were a means to understand the nature of Chinese society, and they were also a pivot in the changing views of China. The moral content of the stories is played out in ambiguous ways, varying between simplistic moral lessons of good and bad rewards for good and bad deeds, and a more amoral tone.

关 键 词：中国通史 今古奇观 中国虚构的事实 转移 

分 类 号：H315.9[语言文字—英语] I046[文学—文学理论]