Literature Review - 《西遊記》五種英譯本韻文翻譯評析

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.2 Literature Review

There are quite a few published books, articles, reviews, and research papers on the discussion of Xiyouji, but regarding the English translations of Xiyouji, there are fewer publications available. And when it comes to making comparisons between two or more versions of translations, such publications are simply few and far between. Among the available publications, most focus their discussion on one translator alone, even when a second translator is mentioned, he is usually used as a reference only. An example of this is Andrew H. Plaks, a noted American sinologist who specializes in the study of vernacular fictions of Ming and Qing dynasties. Plaks

wrote several articles introducing and commending Anthony C. Yu’s complete translation of Journey to the West. Whenever Arthur Waley’s abridged version is referred to in these articles, it is downplayed and used to emphasize the author’s preference for a full-translation.

The majority of studies on the translation of Xiyouji have been conducted in China. Li Pei-jia 李培甲 published in the Journal of Foreign Languages and Translation his research titled Studies of English Translations of Xiyouji in China: An Analytical

Description and Suggestion. According to the chart by Li in appendix ii, between the

years of 1980 and 2010, a total of 45 research papers focusing on Xiyouji’s English translations were published (Li, p.38). The papers come in various research topics such as the studies of individual translator, the translation of names, translation strategies, the transmission of culture, and studies using linguistic perspectives (Appendix iii).

Two papers are found to explore and study topics similar to this research. In 2006, Wang Chong-qiang 王中強 conducted a research comparing the English translations by Arthur Waley and W.J.F. Jenner based on foreignization and

domestication. The conclusion drawn by Wang is that Waley’s translation strategy is predominantly domestication, while Jenner’s methods are mostly foreignization.

Wang’s research offers few insights and has little academic value.

Later in 2009, Huang Xiao-hua 黃小花 conducted a research by comparing and contrasting four English translations of Xiyouji, namely those translated by Timothy Richard, Arthur Waley, Anthony C. Yu, and W.J.F. Jenner. Huang’s research is built on the frameworks of foreignization and domestication, readers’ feedback, and cultural translation. It investigates the variety in the translators’ strategies in translating polite speeches, measurements, cultural specific terms, and religious culture. In addition, she also provided her own views on the strengths and weaknesses of each translation. Her research is considered meaningful in the field of study of English translations of Chinese literature and is a recommended to someone who plans to retranslate Xiyouji into English.

Articles that compare and contrast the various translation strategies and techniques implemented by different translators are quite rare. Although reviews and critiques of individual translation have been conducted, there is a strong need for a more concentrated and comprehensive comparison among the five published English versions of Xiyouji. This research will focus on the strategies implemented in the process of translating Xiyouji’s poetry into English, the various techniques used by the translators to solve translation problems, and the comparisons of the distinct styles among the translators. It is hoped that a better understanding of the processes of cultural transition and differences in perspectives involved may be achieved.

1.3 Research Method & Theory

This research uses five of the most prominent English versions of Xiyouji available so far for text analysis of various translation strategies and techniques.

Unfortunately, the epic story of Xiyouji in its 100 long chapters and 5 different English versions is too grand in scale to be thoroughly compared and analyzed, so for the purpose of this research,emphasis will be placed on its poetry.

Brilliant texts in verse sporadically dot many of the chapters of Xiyouji to portray the current scenery, moods, atmosphere, seasons, and environments surrounding the characters throughout the story. Such texts are normally short but may be coded with many elements that often present challenge to translators. An excellent

example of this can be found in chapter 15, where a short verse depicts the fresh green colors of early spring observed by Xuanzang and Sun Wukong as they travel through a peaceful land over the span of two months. Parts of the translations that are mentioned in the discussion below are changed into bold texts for easy

recognition.

Chart 1 山林錦翠色，草木發青芽。梅英落盡，柳眼初開。

You could see jade green gilding the mountain forest, and green sprouts of grass appearing; the plum blossoms were all fallen and the willow-leaves gently budding.

(Yu, p.329)

They saw mountains and forests clad in emerald brocade as plants and trees put out shoots of green; and when all the plum blossom had fallen, the willows started

8 coming into leaf. (Jenner, p.527)

The mountain forest had begun to robe itself in shades of new green. The plum blossoms had fallen, and the willow leaves had come into bud. (Kherdian, p.128)

Skipped by Timothy Richard and Arthur Waley, these specific verses come in three English versions, two of which are translated by Anthony C. Yu and W.J.F. Jenner, and the other is rewritten by David Kherdian in his adaptation using Yu’s and Jenner’s translations as references. By means of careful comparison, it can be observed that diverse strategies are adopted by each of them. First and foremost, each version provides its readers with a different perspective. In Yu’s translation, the “You could see…” in the beginning verse interestingly places the readers in a second-person viewpoint, as if the readers were the characters in the story. In Jenner’s translation, though, “They saw…” pushes the readers away to an ordinary third-person

perspective. And finally in Kherdian’s version, the verse is simply adapted as a part of the narration.

In addition, conjunctions and tenses in the translations also reflect the differences in the translators’ perception of time. In Yu’s translation, the words

“gilding,” “appearing,” and “budding” as well as the two “and’s” combine to create a scene in which all the actions take place simultaneously. In Jenner’s version, when all the plum blossoms had fallen, symbolizing the end of winter, all the signs of spring started to show afterwards. In Kherdian’s version, the verbs are all in their past

perfect forms such as “had begun,” “had fallen,” and “had come.” Because this verse is used to describe the change of seasons Xuanzang and Sun Wukong witness in person on their journey, Kherdian’s strategy fails for the reason that the tense he chooses indicates that before Xuanzang and Sun Wukong arrive the scenery has changed.

There are a few minor issues in Yu’s and Jenner’s translations that have been overlooked by the translators themselves. In Yu’s translation, the phrase 草木 is translated into “grass” with the word 木 completely neglected. In contrast, Jenner translates the same phrase into “plants and trees” while Kherdian’s strategy is to ignore the plants altogether and simply represent them with “shades of new green.”

Also, Yu’s translation of “willow-leaves gently budding” may strike a reader as somewhat illogical since willow leaves bud before they become leaves, not after.

While some of the texts in verse in the story of Xiyouji are used as transitions to link one scene to another, like the one just discussed above, others are virtually indispensable components of the narrative of the story (Yu, preface). Of the 750 or so texts in verse scattered throughout the story of Xiyouji, all are included in Yu’s and Jenner’s full-length translations as a matter of course; however, 72 are translated by Richard, 16 by Waley, and only 5 are selected by Kherdian. Interestingly, the five texts in verse that Kherdian chooses to rewrite are the common denominators which are

included in all the other four previous versions, making these five texts perfect subjects for this research. By comparing and contrasting them, the respective strategies, techniques, and perspective of all the translators and adaptor can be observed and analyzed.

To have all 750 plus texts in verse analyzed and compared would be ludicrous and impractical and would serve little purpose for this research as doing so would only reveal differences between Yu’s and Jenner’s full translations for the most part because Richard’s, Waley’s, and Kherdian’s versions are abridgements. It is hoped that through the theoretical sampling and analysis of the five texts in verse that are included in all five English versions of Xiyouji, a level of saturation may be reached to derive enough information on the variety of strategies, techniques, and perspectives involved in the process of creating each version (Corbin & Strauss, p.144).

Starting in the 1970’s, Katharina Reiss started her work on the concept of equivalence. Based on a diagram of Reiss’s functional text types and text varieties (Munday, p.73), poetry is at the extreme of expressive text type. And according to Reiss, the target text of an expressive text type should transfer the aesthetic and artistic form of the source text (Munday, p.74). In that, to reach a certain level of equivalence, the translation of a poem should reflect as much as possible the beauty of the words used by the author of the source text.

11 Diagram 2

K. Reiss’s view somewhat evolved when she collaborated with Hans Vermeer to further develop the skopos theory in the 1980s. The skopos theory takes into

consideration the function and purpose of both the source text and the target text, which helps to determine the methods and strategies to be implemented to produce a functionally adequate result. In skopos theory, understanding why a source text is to be translated and what the function of the target text will be are crucial for the translator (Munday, p.79).

The function of a translation relies on the knowledge, expectations, values, and norms of its target readers. Whether the source text can be preserved or have to be modified in some way must be determined by taking these factors into account. An important advantage of skopos theory is that it allows the possibility of the same text being translated in different ways according to the purpose of the target text and the commission which is given to the translator (Munday, p.80). Reiss’s

functional equivalence theory and Vermeer’s skopos theory can probably be used to

help explain why the five English versions of Xiyouji in discussion are so different in their own strategies when they all tell the same story.

In chapter two, a brief background story of Xuanzang and Wu Cheng’en will be followed by a general introduction of Xiyouji and its various translations. The four translators and one adaptor who translated and adapted the story into English as well as examples of their own individual styles will also be included. In chapters 3 and 4, five text excerpts from Xiyouji in the form of verse and poetry will be compared, analyzed, and discussed. Finally, in chapter 5, as a conclusion, ratings will be provided for each of the five English versions of Xiyouji based on criteria derived by the author of this research.

Chapter 2: Xiyouji and its translations

2.1 Xuanzang, Wu Cheng-En, and Xiyouji

In 629AD, a 28-year-old Buddhist monk named Xuanzang (602-664AD) set off on his pilgrimage from China to Tianzhu 天竺, or what is now India, which would last sixteen years. He started off from the Tang Capital of Chang’an 長安, or modern-day Xian, traveled through Gansu and the oasis cities around the Taklamakan Desert, deep into Central Asia, and then through what is now Afghanistan to India. Xuanzang spent many years in India, traveling from one kingdom to another, learning to read and write Sanskrit, collecting various Buddhist scriptures, and hoping to bring back to China what could unify some of the disagreements in the Buddhist belief.

Xuanzang finally returned to Chang’an in 645AD, and with him he transported back hundreds of Buddhist scriptures, which he started translating without any delay.

According to Dan Lusthaus, author of Buddhist Phenomenology (London: Curzon Press, 2000), Xuanzang translated 74 volumes of Buddhist sutras, which equaled to a total of 1,338 fascicles. Lusthaus also comments that a survey of Xuanzang’s prolific translations demonstrates that he was anything but a narrow sectarian and that his translations covered the gamut of Buddhist literature.

Apart from his remarkable achievements in translating Buddhist scrolls,

Xuanzang dictated a detailed geographical description of the lands he had passed through on his journey, with specific references on the local residents, their languages as well as their beliefs. The book is called Xiyuji 西域記 in Chinese or

Record of the Western Regions in English, which was and still is the longest and most

comprehensive account of the countries in Central and South Asia in the early 7^th century. In the 1850s, Xiyuji was translated into French by Stanislas Julien and was published commercially in small booklets and had a large readership (Chang, p.254).

While the main purpose of Xuanzang’s journey was to obtain Buddhist books and receive Buddhist instruction in India, he ended up achieving much more by preserving the political and social aspects of the lands he visited. In the early twentieth century, Record of the Western Regions became a valuable guidebook to many of the so-called “foreign devils on the silk road” who used it as an accurate map to locate long lost cities and sites buried under the sand dunes of the

Taklamakan Desert. Some archaeologists and adventurers even used the information in the book to gain advantage in their favor. A well-known example of this is Sir Aurel Stein (1862-1943), who successfully convinced the curator of the secret library of Dunhuang that Xuanzang was his patron saint and that the large quantities of thousand-year-old manuscripts within the library’s possession be handed to him for further studies.

Xuanzang’s successful feat was of immense inspiration to the entire nation, upon his return he was warmly welcomed by the residents of Chang’an, as well as government officials, and even the emperor himself. Although Xuanzang enjoyed great respect from emperor Tang Taizong 唐太宗 and the succeeding emperor Tang Gaozong 唐高宗, distinguished Buddhist leaders and monks from all sects

throughout the nation, and of course the general public, he was dissatisfied with his lack of freedom after returning to China. He dedicated the last two decades of his life to translating Buddhist scriptures, which was his only consolation, first at Hongfu Temple 宏福寺 and later he relocated to Dayan Ta 大雁塔, all the while forced to stay in Chang’an. His petitions, first to Tang Taizong and again to Tang Gaozong, to reside in the Shaolin Temple near his birthplace were both denied.

According to author Qingyun Ma 馬慶雲, there are three main reasons behind restricting Xuanzang’s whereabouts and preventing him from living in the Shaolin Temple. First of all, Xuanzang had left China illegally without an official approval from the government which reflected their fear of Xuanzang’s possible success in

completing the long journey. Secondly, emperor Taizong relied heavily on Xuanzang’s knowledge of the lands in Central Asia, which was a valuable asset in diplomacy, especially when Tang Taizong had been planning on going into war with the Turks.

And most importantly, the last thing emperor Taizong hoped to see was the

unification of all Buddhist sects in China, a force so powerful that could threaten the the ruling class of Tang Dynasty just as it had helped overthrow the Sui Dynasty before. Xuanzang’s success in journeying to India and retrieving sacred books won him so much fame throughout China that he had to entertain visitors from all over the country on a daily basis, month after month. However, it was exactly this unceasing fame that caused him to be “detained” in Chang’an.

Despite suffering from politics, Xuanzang remained an inspiration for centuries to come and he would not have known that his amazing journey and endeavor would greatly inspire a fellow victim of politics nearly a thousand years later—a talented writer and poet from the Ming Dynasty, Wu Cheng’en (1501-1582). Wu did not become an official until he was in his middle age, but before long, he grew tired of the political environment, corruption, and false accusations against him so he resigned from office. The last two decades of his life he spent as a near recluse, enjoying the friendship of less than a handful of contemporary poets and writers, and maintaining a meager living by selling his writings. Despite the hardships Wu Cheng-En underwent, his achievements in the world of literature are well-recognized.

According to Wen Tao, Wu’s poems can be compared to those of Li Po, his verse to those of Sung Dynasty writer Qin Guan 秦觀, and his prose has a similar style to those of famous Sung Dynasty scholar Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修. Since Wu’s talents are

held in such high esteem, it is most unfortunate that few of his works but a small number of poems and prose have been retained due to his living in poverty and his lack of descendent.

Wu Cheng’en is best known for being the author of Xiyouji, which was in actuality published anonymously in 1592, and for well over three centuries the authorship of the novel remained a mystery. Wu is speculated to have published the novel in anonymity for fear of the social pressure at his time when the literary mainstream was to take to heart and mimic the classical literature of Han and Tang dynasties. As Xiyouji was written in a vernacular tongue that was deemed by many as

“vulgar” language, Wu Cheng’en had no intention to take the ill reputation and harsh criticism when he was still alive. Although Wu did not refer to Xiyouji in any of his other writings, the people of his home town did attribute the novel to him early on in a 1625 gazetteer 淮安府志, a form of local history that unfortunately attracted little attention.

As of early 20^th century, the mystery of Xiyouji’s authorship started to unfold.

Nowadays, it is generally believed that Wu Cheng’en is the actual author of Xiyouji on the basis of the conclusion Hu Shih and Lu Xun drew from their textual analysis and research on such Qing Dynasty literature as Wu Yujin’s 山陽志遺, Ruan Kuisheng’s 茶餘客話, and Ding Yan’s 石亭記事續篇. On the other hand, a few skeptical scholars

have argued otherwise and pointed out such issues, for example, that the dialect implemented in Xiyouji is different from the Huaian dialect that Wu Cheng’en would speak and that the styles of the texts in verse in Xiyouji contrast his other works.

Anthony C. Yu, one of the translators of Xiyouji, offered his perspective on this topic in his book 余國藩西遊記論集 in favor that Wu Cheng’en is the “most probable”

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