武俠小說中特殊詞彙之英譯研究及《楚留香傳奇之血海飄香》譯文分析

全文

(1)Keywords in Wuxia Xiaoshuo English Translations of Martial Arts Fiction and a Sample Translation of Gu Long’s Chu Liuxiang Chuanqi zhi Xiehai Piaoxiang. 武俠小說中特殊詞彙之英譯研究及《楚留香傳奇之血海飄香》譯文分析. A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation National Taiwan Normal University 國立台灣師範大學翻譯研究所碩士論文. Evan Michael Moore 慕容豪 Thesis Advisor: Professor Daniel Hu 指導教授：胡宗文教授. December 2017 2017年12月.

(2) Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................... 3 Chapter One ..................................................................................................... Wuxia Xiaoshuo and the Western Reader ........................................... 5 Research Goals and Methodology ......................................................... 6 Evolution of Martial Arts Fiction ................................................. 10 Authors of Martial Arts Fiction ..................................................... 13 Huanzhu Louzhu ........................................................................................................................... 13 Jin Yong.......................................................................................................................................... 14 Gu Long ............................................................................................................................................ 17 Challenges in Martial Arts Fiction Translation ....................... 19 Translating Gu Long and a Guide to Wuxia Translation ........... 27 Chapter Two ..................................................................................................... Wuxia Genre Specific Terms and Translations ............................. 29 Venuti on Foreignization and Domestication ........................................................ 30 Jianghu—Martial Society of River and Lake........................................................ 33 Wulin—Order of the Martial Forest ........................................................................... 54 Lülin—Outer Greenlands...................................................................................................... 60 Qinggong—Light Body Arts................................................................................................. 64 Fighting Moves and Styles................................................................................................. 71 Character Names and Nicknames ....................................................................................... 81 Chapter Three ................................................................................................. Translating a Martial Arts Novel ................................................... 91 Vocalization of Characters .............................................................................................. 92 Character Titles and Various Forms of Address................................................. 94 Filling in the Gap.................................................................................................................. 97 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 102 Works Cited ............................................................................................... 104 Appendix ........................................................................................................... List of Terms............................................................................................................................ 106 The Legend of Chu Liuxiang—Scents from the Blood Sea ....... 108. 2.

(3) Abstract Martial Arts Fiction has been one of the most popular forms of literature in Chinese communities around the world for decades. However this genre remains relatively unknown to the English-speaking world due to lack of translations. Complicated cultural and genre specific terms present a great challenge to translating said genre into English. Through this paper I present a guide to translating martial arts fiction through analysis of genre specific terms as found in existing English translations in addition to producing my own sample translation of famed martial arts fiction writer Gu Long’s (古龍) Chu Liuxiang. Chuanqi zhi Xiehai Piaoxiang 《楚留香傳奇之血海飄香》. Key words: wuxia fiction, Gu Long, translation, Jin Yong, jianghu. 3.

(4) 摘要幾十年來，在全球的華人圈中，武俠小說一直是最受歡迎的文學類型之一。然而，由於缺少翻譯，像這樣的小說形式在英語世界裡，卻鮮少被一般人所熟知。且武俠小說往往蘊含著濃重豐厚的傳統文化內涵與特殊的文體用法，要將其詳實的翻譯成英文，著實是一大挑戰。但透過本論文，筆者將會以分析現有英譯版武俠小說中之特殊文體用法、詞彙，來提供這類型文學的中譯英引導參考，此外也將筆者所翻譯之知名武俠小說作家─古龍的《楚留香傳奇之血海飄香》一併附錄於本文中。關鍵詞：武俠小說，古龍，翻譯，金庸，江湖. 4.

(5) Chapter One Wuxia Xiaoshuo and the Western Reader. Wuxia xiaoshuo, known as martial arts fiction or wuxia fiction in the West, is a form of modern Chinese literature with roots dating back to the Warring States period in ancient China. The meaning of the term wuxia comes from the two Chinese characters wu (武)—meaning martial or military, and xia (俠)—altruistic and independent individuals and the values they practice (Hamm, 2005, 11).. Though incredibly popular in the. East, wuxia, or martial arts novels have yet to make a significant impact in the West. However, in the year 2000 many westerners were given their first taste of martial arts fiction with the movie Crouching Tiger,. Hidden Dragon. The film was both a critical and commercial hit, becoming the highest grossing foreign language film of all time in the United States, as well as winning four Academy Awards. The movie is based off a martial arts novel of the same name from author Wang Dulu’s (王度盧) Crane Iron Pentalogy 《鶴－鐵五部曲》. While noteworthy for its many successes, the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can also be seen as the first major introduction of Chinese martial arts fiction to the West. It was because of this film that other wuxia films such as 2002’s. Hero and 2004’s House of Flying Daggers were marketed towards western audiences. Despite such cross-culture success on the silver screen, 5.

(6) martial arts novels themselves have remained relatively unknown to the average western reader mostly due to lack of translations. Nowadays martial arts fiction holds a prominent standing in Chinese literature, and is also an important part of Chinese culture not just in China, but also throughout Chinese and other Asian communities around the world. Wuxia fiction has also expanded outside the confines of literature into other mediums such as television, movies, comic books and videogames, further cementing its cultural significance in the East.. Research Goals and Methodology Even with such success and recognition in the East, wuxia novels and their forms in other medium have yet to reach anywhere near the same heights of popularity in the West.. Much of this is due to major. cultural barriers such material presents. These novels rich in adventure and fantasy, also contain unique elements of Chinese history and culture the average English reader has never been exposed to, leading certain important aspects of the novels difficult for western readers to relate to even if translated into English.. Reading a translation is the only. way for many western readers who lack the time or energy to learn enough (or any) Chinese to read the original texts. For those wishing to enter the world of wuxia, the language barrier is the first and most 6.

(7) difficult obstacle in their path. Translation, the tool for overcoming this obstacle, as specifically applied in wuxia novels is what I wish to discuss in full throughout this thesis. Wuxia novels contain many genre specific items that lack an equal counterpart in English, leaving it up to the translator to sort out the best way to relay the message in the target language—English. Some common methods for tackling this issue have included expansion through in-text explanation, footnotes, adding an index of terms, and omission. Although these methods can be somewhat successful, many can end up changing some of the unique Chinese specific elements for the target audience, sacrificing a certain loyalty to the text while also losing their Chineseness. Through a comparative analysis of multiple wuxia English translations I wish to discuss certain key terms found specifically in the wuxia genre and their corresponding English translations. Out of the thousands of wuxia novels in Chinese, only a select few have been officially (published) translated into English. Indeed there are many online fan sites such as spcnet, wuxiatranslations, and wuxiasociety dedicated to the translation of martial arts novels; however many translations suffer from severe quality issues. For sake of brevity, as well as said quality issues, this paper will only focus on the select few novels officially published in book form. To date, there 7.

(8) are only four wuxia novels that have been translated into English, and one xianxia novel(similar to wuxia novels but with more fantasy elements such as magic, demons, and immortals). that is only half. complete (book one of two). Of these five novels three are written by the same author: Louis Cha, pen name Jin Yong （金庸）. The Book and the. Sword 《書劍恩仇錄》 [Sword], translated by Graham Earnshaw, The Deer and the Cauldron 《鹿鼎記》 [Deer], translated by John Minford, and Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain, 《雪山飛狐》 [Fox], translated by Olivia Mok. One novel written by Gu Long, The Eleventh Son 《蕭十一郎》[Son], has been translated by Rebecca Tai, and book one of the xianxia novel. Blades from the Willows 《柳湖俠陰》[Willows], by Huanzhulouzhu (Li Shoumin) was translated by Robert Chard. Apart from the fact each novel is a separate story, they also have different translators, resulting in different overall translation strategies and wholly different reads. Thus the English reader is presented with a plethora of different translation techniques and ideas, all with their perspective merits and drawbacks. Through a close analysis of each English text compared to the original Chinese text, and through a comparison of certain genre specific terms between all the English translations, I wish to discuss the techniques, merits, and drawbacks of certain translated terms and further expand upon the lexicon of wuxia terms in the English language 8.

(9) for future translators of wuxia novels. With a more established English lexicon of common wuxia terms and translation strategies these novels should become more approachable by the average English reader, and help take some of the burden of translating the original text off the translator by having a tool for reference. Through most of the textual analysis I will be comparing terms specific to the wuxia genre—jianghu （江湖）, wulin（武林） , lülin（綠林）, qinggong（輕功）, names of fighting styles and moves (招式), and character names and waihao（外號） or nicknames—in other words, elements specific to wuxia novels, not found in western culture, or are specific to Chinese culture. It is my goal to provide a comprehensive analysis of genre specific terms taken from multiple English translations of wuxia novels and create a comprehensive guide much like that of John Minford’s extensive glossaries titled: Important Dates in the Historical Background,. Glossary of People and Places, and General Glossary of Terms found at the beginning of his translation of Deer filled with entries about historical figures, fictional characters from the novel, and wuxia specific terminology all designed to help the reader. With this newly created guide as my framework for translating martial arts fiction it will then be used to help me translate book one of Gu Long’s wuxia novel 《楚留香之血海飄香》 Chu Liuxiang Chuanqi zhi Xiehai Piaoxiang 9.

(10) (The Legend of Chu Liuxiang: Scents from the Blood Sea—my translation title) and hopefully used by future English translators of the wuxia genre. Along with said translation I will also discuss certain issues faced while translating the novel as well as how the analysis of the genre specific terms helped the translation process.. Evolution of Martial Arts Fiction To gain a better understand of martial arts fiction, one should first understand the evolution the genre throughout history as well as the authors who brought them to life. The term Wuxia did not appear in China until the early 20th century, when brought over from Japanese (Hamm, 2005, 11). However, literary works on the topic of xia （侠） can be traced back to the Warring States period (403-221 BC), first appearing in Han Feizi’s Wudu 《五蠹》 text (曹正文, 1998, 2). The term xia would also continue to appear throughout historical texts, often seen as youxia (游俠), or wandering knight (Hamm, 2005, 12). During the Six Dynasties (AD 222-589) period, literature inspired by historical records of xia started to appear, and continued through the Tang Dynasty (618-906). Further literary contributions on xia in classical-language prose were still being produced after the Tang Dynasty, during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (Hamm, 2005, 16). It was not until the Ming Dynasty 10.

(11) that Water Margin (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, or All Men are. Brothers) appear. Many consider this novel, written in vernacular Chinese as opposed to the more popular classical-language Chinese of the time, to be the inspiration for not just Qing Dynasty fiction but also modern wuxia fiction of the 20th century (Hamm, 2005, 17). However, wuxia fiction did not become a major cultural phenomenon until the late 1950’s, when serialized in newspapers by such authors as Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, Sima Ling, and Gu Long (曹正文, 1988, 148). Twentieth century wuxia fiction can be separated into two different time periods, Old School, mainly produced in Shanghai, Tianjin and other major urban areas in China before World War II, and New School, mostly produced in Hong Kong and Taiwan starting in the 50’s and continuing through the 70’s due to a ban on wuxia novels in Mainland China until the 1980s (Hamm, 2005, 32). Most English translations come from New School wuxia novels, with the one exception being Willows, which was written during the Old School period. The 1950’s to 1980’s, the era of New School Martial Arts Fiction, is considered by many to be the golden age of modern wuxia fiction. According to Cao Zhengwen author of Xiakexing 《俠客行》（1998） and expert on wuxia novels, authors from this era were usually split into two groups, those from Taiwan and those from Hong Kong. Hong Kong gave rise to such authors as Liang Yusheng (梁羽生) , Ni Kuang (倪匡) , Tifeng 11.

(12) (蹄風) and Jin Yong (金庸). While such authors as. Lang Hongwan (郎紅浣). , Wolong Sheng (臥龍生) , Sima Ling (司馬翎) , and Gu Long (古龍) (曹正文, 1998, 148) produced their works in Taiwan. According to Cao, the first peak in popularity of new martial arts fiction was from the early 1950’s to early 1970’s. Despite being the first author to start writing serialized martial arts stories in a newspaper (大華晚報) in 1952, Taiwan’s Lang Hongwan is often overlooked as the trailblazer for New School Martial Arts Fiction, a title usually given to Liang Yusheng from Hong Kong, whose works according to Cao, were not masterpieces themselves but showed a strong shift from the more fantasy based martial arts novels from Old School martial arts fiction like those of Li Shoumin, to stories more grounded in reality.. Liang Yusheng’s. background in history, his love for poetry, and career in the newspaper business helped him flesh out his own style of wuxia fiction. The newspaper gave his stories better visibility, and his writing style boasted better readability than earlier works, helping his rise to prominence as one of the earliest writers of New School martial arts fiction. Although more readable than previous martial arts fiction, Liang Yusheng’s characters often lacked depth, usually decidedly good or evil with very little grey area; typical tropes of old school martial arts fiction. According to Cao, Liang Yusheng is often seen as the middleman, 12.

(13) leading the stylistic transition form old school to new school (曹正文, 1998, 158). Although no longer reaching such heights as the seventies and eighties, new school martial arts fiction has remained popular to date becoming the basis for many television shows and videogames. Regardless of new or old school many authors of martial arts fiction were able to enjoy a large amount of success to due fiction being one of the more popular forms of entertainment of the time. Prior to delving into issues of translation I would first like to introduce the three authors who’s works are discussed in this paper.. Authors of Martial Arts Fiction Huanzhu Louzhu Li Shoumin, pen name Huanzhulouzhu （還珠樓主）, was a writer of xianxia novels, similar to wuxia novels with more fantasy elements. He was known as the head of the northern school of wuxia writers, having written many of his books in Tianjin.. His books are filled with such. fantasy elements as wild fantastical beasts, monsters, poisonous snakes and critters. His novels also include gods, immortals, devils, demons, and a variety of magical weapons. Some of what Li Shoumin is best known for is his description of geographical locations and character emotions. He also wrote extensively on local customs from all over China in his 13.

(14) novels as he often traveled and liked to visit with locals wherever he went. Due to the fact Li Shoumin used his fantastical characters and themes to make references to contemporary inequalities, his books were banned in Mainland China until the late 1980s. According to Cao, some issues critics point to of his novels is they can be lengthy as well as some being written over long periods of time resulting in plot inconsistencies. However, regardless of said issues Li Shoumin is still considered a major contributor to martial arts fiction as his novels are still being used today for television series, movies, and videogames (曹正文, 1998, 159). Jin Yong Completing the transition from old school to new school martial arts fiction was Jin Yong, who “leapt into the sea of martial arts fiction” (曹正文, 1998, 159) about one year after Liang Yusheng.. Jin. Yong is often considered the master of new school martial arts fiction. He is also the author of three novels that will be discussed in this paper. When he was young while working in a library his love for literature moved from east to west, becoming very fond of western authors such as Alexander Dumas, Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson as he got older, which would go on to become major influences on his own writings. According to Cao, three breakthroughs for martial arts fiction 14.

(15) came from Jin Yong’s novels helping to complete the transition from old to new school martial arts literature and bringing it to the mainstream. The first was his heavy use of historical backgrounds. He used historical backgrounds as a way to show his thoughts and reflections on both modern and ancient society, as well as on historical events. Readers are often “woken up”(曹正文, 1998, 159) from epic battles of good against evil in jianghu to real life historical figures throughout his novels.. Jin Yong’s second breakthrough, was turning. martial arts fiction into a branch of study, Jinology (金學). Besides sprinkling in historical events and figures into his books (three parts history, seven parts martial arts adventure according to Cao), Jin Yong also mixed in elements of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism along with a more realistic approach to learning kungfu than previously seen, describing both the physical and mental changes his characters went through while training. He also added in specific cultural elements like real Chinese music, alcohol, and medicine. The third breakthrough was his handling of character development. His characters were more complex and had deeper inner thoughts than those in the novels of his predecessors. Jin Yong’s body of work and the evolution of his writing can be split into three creative periods, according to Cao. The first period includes his earliest works like Sword, which is seen as a meeting point of old 15.

(16) and new school martial arts fiction. His next novel, Sword Stained with. Royal Blood 《碧血劍》, was the first real introduction to new school martial arts fiction, employing western writing techniques such as flashbacks and more complex characters containing elements of both good and bad, capable of love and hate. His next creative period, the mid 1960s, starts with Fox, which further streamlined his flashback style of story telling with the entire story taking a day in real time but covering over a hundred years of events through flashbacks. With his next novel, 《射雕英雄傳》, The Legend of the Condor Heroes (unofficial English title), Jin Yong’s writing style showed vast improvements, creating an immense world for his story and filling it with colorful characters that Jin Yong would continue to use for another two novels,. The Return of the Condor Heroes 《神雕俠侶》, and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber 《倚天屠龍記》. His third creative period started in the late 1960s with the aforementioned The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, and includes other works such as The Smiling Proud Wanderer 《笑傲江. 湖》, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 《天龍八部》, and Deer. Throughout Jin Yong’s career as a martial arts novelist (1955-1972) he wrote a total of fourteen novels, and is considered by most to be the best writer of martial arts fiction. However Jin Yong was not the only new martial arts author to come to prominence during the period of New School martial 16.

(17) arts fiction. He is also not the only author whose works have been translated into English. At around the same time Jin Yong was hitting his literary stride another author from Taiwan was just beginning to make a name for himself. The main creative period for New Martial arts fiction in Taiwan was from the early 1960s to mid 1970s. However, out of the four to five popular wuxia authors during that period, only one is considered able to go toe to toe with Jin Yong from an artistic quality standpoint— Gu Long (曹正文, 1998, 178).. Gu Long New School wuxia fiction had two main creative peaks, the first with authors such as Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, Wolong Sheng, and Sima Ling, and the second with the likes of Gu Long and Wen Ruian. From the mid 1970s to late 1980s Gu Long is often considered the main flag-bearer for this second peak. Gu Long wrote a total of 71 novels during his career as an author. While born in Hong Kong, Gulong moved to Taiwan at 13 years old. He got his start writing wuxia fiction as a ghostwriter for some of the other Taiwanese wuxia authors of the time like Zhuge Qingyun, Wosheng Long, and Sima Ling. Just like Jin Yong, Cao also separates Gu Long’s writing career into three creative periods. Gu Long’s first novel Cangqiong Shenjian《蒼穹神劍》，was published in 17.

(18) 1960 marking the start of what Cao considers his first creative period, 1960 to 1964. During this time Gu Long wrote 16 novels but still had not developed his own distinct writing style. The authors he helped ghostwrite heavily influenced his writing at the time, and his plots sometimes mimicked those of Jin Yong. His second creative period, 1965 to 1968, is when he started to come into his own in terms of writing style and innovation, at the same time also establishing himself as an important author of wuxia novels. During this time he wrote 10 novels including such works as Wulinwaishi 《武林外史》, Juedai Shuangao 《絕代雙驕》, Xiadao Chuliuxiang, 《俠盜楚留香》，and Son. Realizing he would never surpass Jin Yong if he continued to emulate his style of writing, Gu Long made major stylistic changes to his writing, and brought in elements of detective novels with Xiadao Chuliuxiang helping him become the most popular writer of wuxia fiction in Taiwan at the time. Gu Long’s third creative period started in 1969 and went until the early 1980s up until his death. This period is marked by his writing style’s continuous evolution, using more western style writing techniques like short concise sentences and sharp, witty dialogue. Through his bold writing style choices and innovation Gu Long was able to set himself apart from Jin Yong and cement himself in the upper echelons of modern wuxia writers. Unfortunately the quality of his work deteriorated 18.

(19) towards the end of his career, until his early death at the age of 47 in 1985 due to illnesses related to alcoholism (曹正文, 1998, 243). Gu Long and Jin Yong are considered the two great writers of New School martial arts fiction. Their writing styles however, are vastly different. Gu Long’s innovative writing style, taking major cues from western writing, is fast paced using short sentences and sharp dialogue. Jin Yong on the other hand uses more of a classic Chinese style of writing, incredibly detailed and methodical, full of historical and cultural references. There is however one more wuxia author who has been translated into English, and that is Li Shoumin, a wuxia writer from the Old School period of martial arts fiction.. Challenges in Martial Arts Fiction Translation Translating any novel from Chinese to English is no small undertaking, which makes the task of translating a novel from the wuxia genre into English all the more daunting.. The cultural differences that. exist between the English-speaking and Chinese-speaking world can be so vast that translating even the most mundane of sentences can be difficult. On top of this the genre of martial arts fiction has its own set of terms that don’t exist outside the genre, and more specifically don’t exist in western culture, creating major hurdles for the 19.

(20) translator. Jin Yong is considered by many Chinese readers to be the very best wuxia author, however his novels can pose quite the challenge to the translator. In her paper titled, Translating Jin Yong: A Review of. Four English Translations, author and translator Sharon Lai begins by laying out what makes it so challenging to translate wuxia novels stating, “Some of the obstacles are obvious: the gap between source culture and the target culture, the absence of martial arts tradition and martial arts literature, the lack of corresponding lexicon…”(Lai, 1998a, 356). Lacking the above mentioned elements in the target language means the translator has significantly less tools in the translation toolbox to rely on; from the onset the translator is already fighting an uphill battle. Sharon Lai then goes on to further discuss what makes Jin Yong’s novels even more challenging, explaining that his novels are a “deliberate celebration of Chineseness” (Lai, 1998a, 356). They contain many cultural specific references, and feelings of nostalgia for the Chinese reader, to which Sharon Lai wonders whether this will lead to boredom for the non-Chinese readers (Lai, 1998a, 356). There are certain elements of a Chinese martial arts novel, thoroughly enjoyed by the Chinese reader that when bought over to the target language/culture of English might not be interesting to the average reader. John Minford echoes this statement in his paper Louis Cha through the Translator’s 20.

(21) Eyes, when he brings up translating Tang Dynasty Poets as a metaphor, “ …it has not always been the ‘best’ Tang poets who come over ‘best’ in translation, so it is not necessarily those things that Chinese readers like the most… that come over best in English” (Minford, 1998, 305). Minford hints at the fact that while Jin Yong’s novels may be the best-written wuxia novels in Chinese they might not come out as the best wuxia novels in English. Part of the Chineseness Sharon Lai mentions has to do with historical background. What makes Jin Yong’s works so enjoyable for many Chinese readers besides the plot and interesting characters is the historical background the stories take place in. In fact, in his very first novel—Sword, the main character Chen Jialuo（陳家洛） is the fictional younger brother of Emperor Qianlong, placing the reader right in the middle of the Manchu reign of the Qing Dynasty in Chinese history; something other wuxia authors such as Gu Long avoided. Chinese history is a remarkably dense subject, over 4,000 years worth of material to which most westerners would be lacking a significant amount of background knowledge. It would take a tremendous effort for the translator to introduce every historical figure via in-text introductions or footnotes just to bring the English reader up to speed. Even then, the target audience would still not be on a level playing field with the average Chinese reader who at a glance would 21.

(22) probably know the historical figure and their historical significance allowing them to pick up and enjoy all the small nuances in the text that make up the Chineseness. Furthermore, even if the translator succeeds in introducing all the necessary historical information what’ s to say the target reader reads it. Aside from the average Chinese history enthusiast, it would be hard to find a reader who would get so much enjoyment from the historical references when they can be so numerous and sometimes irrelevant to the overall plot of the story. Another issue with translating wuxia novels into English is writing style. It is widely accepted that out of the two main authors to come out of the era of New School of Martial Arts fiction (post 1950s), Jin Yong and Gu Long, Jin Yong is considered to be the superior writer, “the heir of traditional Chinese fiction in the vernacular” according to Sharon Lai (Lai, 1998a, 361). By mixing two different styles of Chinese writing, vernacular and classical Chinese, translating Jin Yong’ s works “has much in common with translating classical Chinese fiction ” (Lai, 1998a, 362). The difference between classical Chinese and vernacular (modern) Chinese is considered by some to be equivalent to that of Latin and modern day English. To embark on translating one of these works is no small task that requires an extremely high level of competence in Chinese. 22.

(23) Another element that can often get overlooked in translation is the length of source text. In the Translator’s Preface for the English version of Li Shoumin’s Willows, Robert Chard states, to him it is not so much the language, “more archaic and sophisticated” than found in more modern (post 1950s) wuxia novels that he found difficult but the length of text because writers like Li Shoumin were paid by the word, and their novels were serialized in newspapers so it was in the best interest of the writer and publisher to keep the story going (Li, 1991, 10). Indeed many of the modern martial arts novels like Li Shoumin’s, Gu Long’s, and Jin Yong’s, were first serialized in newspapers, resulting in dialogue and narration sometimes being overly repetitive and wordy (Li, 1991, 10).. To western standards (and Chinese), many wuxia novels are. incredibly long reads, some spanning over 2,000 pages of text. One of the main reasons Jin Yong’s novel Fox, one of his lesser beloved has been translated is simply because it is more manageable in length than most of his other epics; around 130,000 Chinese characters in length compared to around 710,000, the average length of all his wuxia novels (“金庸作品,”n.d.) and Fox is only one volume in length. In the Preface for Olivia Mok’s translation of Fox, Margaret Ng states that the shorter works of Jin Yong are more manageable (for translators) even though they might not be enough for the diehard Jin Yong reader, however through 23.

(24) translating these shorter works Olivia Mok hopes to “whet the appetite of the English readers enough to induce them to ask for more” (Yong, 1996, xv). Another Jin Yong novel Sword, while coming in almost four times as long as Fox at 513,000 characters and two volumes (“金庸作品,”n.d.) is still considered one of his shorter works. However, the translator Graham Earnshaw still elected to omit a large amount (to be discussed later) resulting in the entire story being contained to a single volume in English. The third Jin Yong novel to be translated, Deer, just so happens to be on the other end of the length spectrum, consisting of five volumes in Chinese and 1.23 million characters (“金庸作品,”n.d.). A herculean effort was indeed needed for such an arduous translation. In his paper titled, Louis Cha through the Translator’s Eyes, John Minford writes about the steps he took to grasp the lengthy source text, Jin Yong’s Deer, before even attempting translation stating he spent the first years becoming familiar with the detail of the text, writing a lengthy synopsis, and compiling lists of characters and historical background information. He also began to read a wide variety of English historical romance literature (Minford, 1998, 310). He even goes on further to discuss creating a research group at his university to explore certain ideas about translating martial arts fiction in general. 24.

(25) The research group did sample translations of another Jin Yong novel. The Legend of the Condor Heroes 《射雕英雄傳》, investigating the best ways to tackle tricky translations, even going as far as collecting and rehearsing “traditional repertoire of the novelist of action and adventure, creating generous wordlists to refresh our memories for possible use in translation,” (Minford, 1998, 310). A multitude of steps were taken in order to undertake the task of translating this single Jin Yong novel, further outlining the difficulties translating such epically long novels into English can present. In an interview for the podcast The Biblio File, Sword translator Graham Earnshaw discusses his translation, including his reasons for choosing said book, as well as difficulties he faced translating a wuxia novel. In the same vein as Sharon Lai, according to Graham Earnshaw one of the main challenges he discovered was that as a Chinese novelist Jin Yong is writing for Chinese readers, which means they can make assumptions about certain understandings their readership will have. Certain actions take place, and there is no need to explain. However for an English readership outside the source culture, explanations would certainly be needed for clarification and getting readers up to speed (Robotech_Master, 2009). Graham Earnshaw continued stating his main issue with translating Sword was whether or not he should add in 25.

(26) explanations or expand descriptions to make the story more clear for the English reader. In the end he elected to do neither, going with simplification (omission) when deemed necessary, stating he simplified some sections, mainly fight scenes (Robotech_Master, 2009). He was also adamant that he and Jin Yong agreed he could never add anything to the story, as seen on his website’s description of Sword, “there are some differences between the original and my translation, but they are differences only of omission. In other words, I have added nothing”( “The Book & The Sword,” n.d.). During the podcast interview Mr. Earnshaw further elaborates on what made the fight scenes in particular difficult to translate discussing the names of fighting styles and moves stating his translations are basically direct translations word for word, which are then left up to the imagination of the reader to figure out what is going on (Robotech_Master, 2009). Once again from this interview one can see one of the main challenges facing translators of wuxia literature is a lack of cultural context and corresponding English lexicon for many of the genre specific terms that Chinese readers have become so accustomed to yet are almost nonexistent in the English speaking world. Furthermore, in the foreword to her translation of Fox, translator Olivia Mok writes that her translation is “an attempt to translate and make accessible” (Yong, 1996, ix) an important 26.

(27) work of Chinese wuxia fiction to the average English reader. From using words like “attempt” and “accessible” it is clear that the translator is admitting to a certain level of dissatisfaction with her own English translation illuminating, to some extent, the level of difficulty translating such a text presents. Delving into what the translators themselves have said about working martial arts fiction one can see translating them is no simple undertaking. Lacking equivalent terms in the target language, cultural gaps, challenging source language, historical references, and source text length all contribute to an enormous burden placed upon the translator to put forth a readable, loyal, and enjoyable text, further highlighting the need for a more established English lexicon of wuxia terms and the significance of having a genre specific guide to help the translator along the way.. Translating Gu Long and a Guide to Wuxia Translation Much of this paper has been focused on translating Jin Yong’s novels for several reasons. First, three of the five English translations are Jin Yong novels. Second, many consider Jin Yong to be the golden standard for modern wuxia fiction, thus more academic research has been done on his novels, i.e. Jinology（金學）. Out of the 27.

(28) other two authors of wuxia fiction that have had their works translated into English, Gu Long author of Son, has not had nearly as much research done on his works when compared to Jin Yong. Some of which can be attributed to his writing style, which is less dense, made up of short sentences and paragraphs with mostly dialogue between characters. His writing style is said to have been influenced by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, John Steinbeck and Friedrich Nietzsche and his novels are not set in any particular historical period due to the political climate in Taiwan at the time of writing. All of which makes Gu Long’s novels a somewhat easier choice for translating into English as pointed out by Ryan Kueck in his thesis Wuxia as Fantasy: An English. Translation of Juedai Shuangjiao (Kueck, 2013). For the many reasons above I have elected to translate book one of Gu Long’s Chu Liuxiang. Chuanqi zhi Xiehai Piaoxiang 《楚留香傳奇之血海飄香》 as an exercise in translation and an attempt to prove the benefits a wuxia genre specific translation guide and general translation strategy provide the translator. It is my hope that this guide will help reduce some of the mental burden caused by having to create new words and help solidify certain wuxia terms in English by first bringing together all English versions available from the published translations of genre specific terms followed by an analysis of said terms to find what works best for 28.

(29) which situations, allowing the translator to simply “plug-in” the English term they deem most appropriate for the situation.. Chapter Two Wuxia Genre Specific Terms and Translation Martial arts novels are filled with genre specific terms and lore that can be thought of as the backdrop and costumes to the many stories they are found in. Without them one ends up losing out on many of the rich details and characteristics these novels all share that make them stories of the martial arts novel genre. When translating martial arts fiction the translator must take care in preserving these terms so as to not lose the flavor or Chineseness previously mentioned. The following is a list of the genre specific terms or elements I have deemed necessary to preserve and to provide the target reader with a better understanding of martial arts fiction and more a authentic, faithful rendition of the source text itself; Jianghu （江湖）, Wulin. （武林）, Lülin （綠林）, Qinggong（輕功）, fighting styles and moves（招式）, and character names and nicknames（外號）. In the section below I will analyze and discuss the translations of some of these genre specific terms and elements from the five. 29.

(30) English translations as well as include my own translations and suggestions to which ones work best. I should note that not every genre specific term or element appears in all five novels so some terms might have more translations to discuss. Furthermore although I have done a thorough read through both Chinese and English texts, I may have missed certain terms from any of the novels throughout the several years I spent reading through all the source texts and translations. It has been my goal to produce the most comprehensive gathering of terms as found in all published English translations. Regardless of how successful I was at this, I still believe I have amassed enough information for a thorough analysis and discussion.. Venuti on Foreignization and Domestication Before going into a lengthy discussion on various wuxia genre specific terms it would be pointless to not discuss what qualities one looks for in a translation in order to deem it acceptable. When translating genre specific terms, terms with complex cultural undertones, or culture/language specific terms etc., the translator is left with two options, leaving the author in peace and moving the reader towards the author, or leaving the reader in peace and moving the author towards the reader (Venuti, 1995, 20). What this really means is does the translator 30.

(31) attempt to bring the target audience closer to the target text, ie foreignization, or the source text closer to the target audience, ie domestication. These two methods of translation are often used (consciously or not) when confronted with a term that may not exist in the target language, often the case with martial arts novels and the genre specific terms mentioned above. When using domestication translation techniques, the “otherness”or “foreignness”(Chineseness in this case) of the text virtually disappears, leaving a fluent yet possibly inaccurate representation of the source text, a blending of the source text into the target language. According to Venuti, in contemporary English language translation many texts are often judged acceptable based on readability or fluency. When a text is lacking any linguistic or stylistic oddities it appears as if the original was written in the target language (English) and considered a good translation regardless of what level of contortion the source text receives (Venuti, 1995, 1). Venuti continues to argue against the over emphasis on fluency and domestication in English translations when he brings up the fact that most authors themselves are not concerned with translations of their text when writing. Thus when attempting fluency, source language features not recognizable in the target language are often replaced with ones 31.

(32) that are, possibly changing the meaning (Venuti, 1995, 7). With foreignization translation techniques, the reader is brought closer towards the source text by “disrupting the cultural codes that prevail in the target language,”(Venuti, 1995, 20), which means presenting the reader with something written in a way they may not be accustomed to, or an entirely new thing or concept. It could be anything from customary writing styles of another language, syntax oddities, to completely alien terms or ideas that do not exist in the target language itself—lexicon oddities. Venuti argues that in this way the reader gets a closer adaptation of the original source text, sometimes at the expense of readability. However in this case, when the reader happens upon a strange term or oddly worded sentence they are wholly aware it is a translation. Venuti continues to explain foreignization translation techniques can be used to resist dominant target-language cultural values to signify, or make visible the cultural differences of the foreign text (Venuti, 1995, 23). It is in his hopes through understanding foreignization translators and readers alike will be able to recognize the linguistic and cultural differences of foreign texts. As previously mentioned martial arts novels are full of many unique cultural elements that are not found in the English language. It is from these elements that the novels’ inherent “Chineseness” can 32.

(33) shine through. As a translator I find it pertinent to present these terms in English as intact as possible (after all they are Chinese characters being represented in a completely different language system) while at the same time helping the reader understand their meaning without needing to add wordy explanations or descriptions that can take away from the reading experience while also avoiding washing away cultural specific content by dumbing down foreign terms, echoing what Sharon Lai points out when stating,“A fixed stock of expressions is often better than a wealth of redundant and repetitious descriptions”(Lai, 1998b, 132). In the end, martial arts fiction is still meant to be read for leisure; rather than disrupt the text with footnotes or repetitious descriptions disrupting the flow of the novel, it would be better to simply use terms that signify to the reader it is part of the “other culture” and can provide enough information for understanding. Through repeated use of the same or similar terms in various context the reader should be able to develop a firm grasp on most if not all terms by the end of the reading.. Jianghu —Martial Society of River and Lake When discussing martial arts fiction the term jianghu (江湖) must be addressed. Like the elephant in the room, jianghu for wuxia novels is 33.

(34) too large (geographically), and too important from a literature and plot sense to just ignore. It is one of the most important, complex, and culturally loaded of key terms that will be discussed in this paper. The term itself includes elements of geography, society, history, and culture ( 林保淳 , 2004, 2). Even to native Chinese speakers this term can be difficult to explain. Due to its complex nature it is also incredibly difficult to translate into English. For sake of simplification only. jianghu in martial arts fiction will be discussed as the term is also used in many different modern settings with a varying degree of meanings and undertones. Starting from the most basic point of view for western readers jianghu is an imagined world in which all martial arts fiction takes place (Lai, 1998b, 144). The term jianghu literally means “ rivers and lakes ” in reference to the three rivers (Yangtze, Pearl, and Yellow rivers) and five lakes (Lake Tai, Hongze Lake, Chao Lake, Poyang Lake, and Dongting Lake) which geographically place its location in Central and Eastern China (Five Lakes n.d.). However jianghu in martial. arts. fiction. has. no. clearly. defined. boundaries,. and. the. characters who inhabit it often leave the geographical location of “rivers and lakes” whether that be out to sea, north to Mongolia, or west to Tibet. According to Professor Lin Baochun, the real jianghu exists but simply as an idea; a special place in Chinese culture (林保 34.

(35) 淳, 2004, 7). Where this term becomes even more complex is the alternate sociological system it also implies (Hamm, 2005, 17). According to an interview with Professor Lin Baochun (2017), the author of such works on martial arts fiction such as 《台灣武俠小說發展史》，《縱橫今古說武俠》， and 《俠客行：傳統文化中的任侠思想》 , from a political power structure standpoint jianghu is the antitheses of the imperial court or government. It is a place that is far away from the central powers outside. the. reach. of. the. government.. In. martial. arts. fiction. geographically speaking the farther one is away from the government the less reach or power they have over you. According to Professor Lin the same laws that might rule most of society under the imperial court would not necessarily apply to those in jianghu simply because the government has little to no presence. Due to this fact many who live in. jianghu are those who wish to flee government rule—colorful characters from all walks of life living freely out their days on the margins of society with their own rules and moral code. A unique feature of the. Jianghu in martial arts fiction is the way yiqi ( 義氣 ), or loyalty between friends, is portrayed.. In jianghu, yiqi is everything (Lin, 2017),. often worth much more than fortune, fame, family, and even life itself and can be almost seen as a form of currency in itself. Another. 35.

(36) important aspect of the jianghu in martial arts novels worth mentioning is this setting it is always some time in “ancient China”. Historically speaking jianghu was a place for bandits, robbers, and outlaws to escape the government’s reach (林保淳, 2004, 2). In martial arts novels jianghu has its own members, organizations, hierarchy, and moral code (Lai, 1998a, 377), some of which will be discussed later on in this paper. Geographically speaking jianghu does not just strictly include natural formations such as the lakes, rivers, and mountains that make up the landscape, but also the complex of inns highways, temples, shops, and bandit lairs (Hamm, 2005, 17). One thing that makes the jianghu in martial arts fiction different than what the term might be associated with in a more modern setting is the fact that in martial arts fiction most of those who live in jianghu all practice some form of martial arts. When two people cross paths in jianghu one can never be too sure if the counterpart across the way could in fact be another martial arts master, creating an air of tension in every twist and turn of the story. In many martial arts novels servants, maids, inn keeps, merchants, and bankers might be the only ones generally shown as lacking any real martial arts prowess. When translating the translator often tries to draw on parallels from his or her own language or culture for complex terms such as 36.

(37) jianghu as it can help the reader get a better understanding (if accurate). What’s important for a term like jianghu is for the translator to draw the reader in close to the “other” culture of the source text. This is done through foriegnization, as opposed to domestication techniques that render the term “invisible”(Venuti, 1995, 61) by striving for a certain level of fluency. It’s best to tackle such terms head on through some form of foreignization letting the source culture shine through to the reader. Not surprisingly, the term jianghu appears in all five martial arts novels discussed in this paper. Every translator has taken a different approach as to how to handle the term, with varying degrees of success. How the term jianghu is used in the original Chinese also has to be taken into consideration. For example, apart from being used as just a noun, the term can also be used as an adjective 老江湖 (古龍, 1998b, 23) literally old jianghu, used to describe one who is well experienced with the ways of jianghu or has been living in jianghu for a considerable amount of time as seen in the novels Son and Willows. There are also instances where it is used as a verb phrase, such as 亡命江湖 (金庸, 1996a, 60) literally to cast one’s life away in jianghu, meaning to give up or flee one’s life in “normal” society and enter the realm of jianghu. There is no perfect one-size-fits-all translation for 37.

(38) jianghu, it mostly depends on context and how it is used in the original Chinese. However, there are certain ways it can be handled that fare far better than others that paint a clearer picture of such an important aspect of martial arts novels. A single, yet flexible translation of the term should be able to clearly signify to the reader of such a foreign term while at the same time allowing some form of understanding at first glance without having to go into further description of said term through either a glossary, in text description or side notes. Below I will discuss all the translated versions of jianghu that were found throughout reading the five English translations while keeping in mind the definition of the term as discussed above, especially in regards to the geographical, social, and martial arts aspects the term implies. These aspects should be taken into consideration when translating for a native English speaker who is generally unfamiliar with the term. In addition foreignization techniques will also be considered so as to ensure some level of “otherness” is maintained to help the reader understand new and different aspects of the source language and/or culture. In the end I will try to establish an argument for the most appropriate translation of the term.. 38.

(39) The term 老江湖(old jianghu) appears in both books Son and Willows. The translator for Son, Rebecca Tai, has translated it as martial arts. veteran: 「風四娘雖然是老江湖了…」（古龍, 1998b, 23) “Though a martial arts veteran herself…”(Gu, 1970, 13) While this translation does carry over the idea of someone with a lot of experience, at least in martial arts, it fails to really capture the remaining aspects of the term. There is no way to relate to the terms geographical or social aspects leaving more to be desired from a translation standpoint that would be necessary for a native English speaker to get a better understanding of the term jianghu as a whole. This is the first time in the novel the term appears, a prime opportunity to bring the reader closer to the source text with a more foreign looking translation. In Willows,. Robert Chard translates 老江湖. as old and experienced wanderer: 「到了湘西，遇見一個老江湖…」（李壽民, 1946, 145) When they crossed into western Hunan Province, they encountered an old and experienced wanderer… (Li, 1991, 185) Like Rebecca Tai ’ s martial arts veteran, Robert Chard ’ s does contain some of the aspects needed for the term old jianghu such as the most obvious being using both words old and experienced. The other 1/3 39.

(40) of this term (sans and) wanderer does somewhat address the geographical elements of the term. Wanderer might imply one who is not in line with societal norms, much like those who have chosen to live in jianghu fleeing the central powers. It gives the idea of one who roams the land, living on the margins of society. What Robert Chards translation is lacking is the element of martial arts. However when taken in context of the story it is not known to the main characters whether this old and. experienced wanderer indeed possessess martial arts abilities. To the main characters he is just a helpful old man who gives them directions. While a translation lacking any notion of martial arts for the term old. jianghu is not ideal, for this character it is still acceptable. One noteworthy issue is it leans more towards a domestication of the original term since jianghu is basically rendered invisible in English except for the aforementioned references to it. Perhaps translating it to something more a kin to an old and experienced wanderer of River and. Lake might better key in the reader. In Olivia Mok ’ s translation of Fox, she uses a few different translations for the term; the first being outlawry: 「若是做出這等事來，天龍門聲名掃地，在江湖上顏面何在？」（金庸, 1996b, 7). 40.

(41) “…it would be a shattering blow to the name of the Dragon Lodge if anything were to happen between us. How are you going to preserve your honour among the outlawry?”(Jin, 1996, 8) Unfortunately this translation fails to adequately address most of the elements necessary for an appropriate translation of the term for a non-Chinese speaker, in addition to essentially neutralizing the term in English through domestication. Furthermore, the term outlawry could actually be quite misleading for the target audience. While. outlawry does address the societal aspect of jianghu, mainly being one who is avoiding the central powers on the run from the law; it does not do enough in terms of the geographic or martial arts elements for it to be deemed suitable. Furthermore this term is actually quite misleading as it categorizes all who are part of jianghu as outlaws even though this is certainly not the case. While it may be true there are many outlaws in jianghu, it cannot be implied for the majority, especially not for all the monks, innkeepers, and a variety of other minor characters that also make their lives there. Even though the term outlaw has gone through various meanings throughout history, in more modern times it has taken on a meaning of one breaking the law and being on the run, living outside the reach of the government. Even if an outlaw might have broken 41.

(42) the law or gone against the government for the greater good, which can often be the case for our heroes in martial arts novels, not all who reside in jianghu have gone down said path thus it is inaccurate to paint everyone in jianghu as an outlaw.. In addition, in the context of. the novel one character is asking the other how they are going to preserve their, “honour among the outlawry?”, which is an odd question to ask considering one is worried about keeping their honor amongst outlaws, which can be depicted as without honor in modern culture. A better translation might be something like “honour among the Martial Society” as it’s really in reference only to the people of jianghu and not the geographic location itself. Olivia Mok’s second translation for jianghu is people moving in. our circle: 「若是江湖上傳揚出去，說我天龍門暗施偷襲…」（金庸, 1996b, 11) “If word reaches people moving in our circle that we of the. Dragon. adversaries…” This. term. misrepresentation. Lodge. make. surprise. attacks. on. our. (Jin, 1996, 15) also of. leaves the. the. term. target through. audience a. heavily. with. a. bland. domesticated. translation. There is no martial arts aspect, no geographical sense, and only a vague reference to some sort of counter culture or marginal 42.

(43) society. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition for circle as it is used by Olivia Mok is “a group of persons sharing a common interest or revolving about a common center.” While this may be true for a group of closely related people, it cannot be extended to the entirety of jianghu, the scope is too small thus becoming somewhat of a stretch when taken in the larger context of the world in which they live and the actual term being translated. When expanded even further to encompass all those who reside in jianghu this translation quickly becomes less applicable. Monks from the Shaolin Temple are certainly not going to have much in common (be in the same circle) as members of the Shenlongjiao Cult. Olivia Mok simplifies a complex term and an integral part of martial arts novels to the point it becomes completely washed out and vanishes to the English reader. When translating martial arts novels some translators chose to not translate jianghu every time they come across it. Some have elected to skip it at times while occasionally translating it when necessary. Graham Earnshaw, the translator of Sword, on the other hand seems to have taken great effort to translate the term as much as possible. In total he has used five different translations for jianghu or any other form of the term (such as verb and adjective forms as addressed above). For his first translation Graham Earnshaw presents the reader with the term 43.

(44) in the verb form mentioned above (亡命江湖), which literally translates as to cast one ’ s life away in jianghu. Here the translator chose to translate it as become an outlaw in the world of River and Lake: 「…回來把土豪刺死，從此命亡江湖，後來加入了紅花會。」（金庸, 1996a, 60) “He returned and sought vengeance for his father’s death. He killed the rich landlord and then became an outlaw in the world of River and Lake…”(Jin, 2005, 34) Although the translator has also used the term outlaw just as Olivia Mok, we see firsthand from the context that this character has just murdered a landlord, so the term fits this specific character and is not being applied to all those in jianghu. While slightly long, this translation does a competent job by also incorporating the term River. and Lake, giving the term a geographic clue while also including a literal nod to the Chinese term itself.. The fighting community is Graham Earnshaw ’ s second translation of jianghu: 「武功也頗不弱，江湖上送他一個外號，叫做武諸葛」 (金庸, 1996a, 84) “…and the fighting community had dubbed him the Kungfu Mastermind.”(Jin, 2005, 50) 44.

(45) This term does contain a somewhat loose reference to martial arts,. fighting, while also bringing the idea of being a separate societal body. While it does not contain any of the geographical notions it still seems to encompass almost enough to give the reader a solid grasp of the idea that jianghu is a place where a lot of fighting takes place. From a foreignization standpoint however it does wash away the martial arts aspect by using the verb fighting (to be discussed in section on Wulin). Although this is a more acceptable translation than some of his other attempts, unfortunately Graham Earnshaw proceeds to use it for the terms Wulin （武林）, Lülin (綠林)，and Heidao (黑道) (of which, Wulin and Lülin will be discussed further on in this paper). All four terms are different, and represent smaller groups that reside within jianghu, and are not an equivalent to jianghu itself (it is worth noting that. Wulin can sometimes be used interchangeably with jianghu as it is usually used to reference the people of jianghu). Even though the English reader would not know the difference when reading, it does them a disservice to not differentiate the terms. By grouping all four terms into one, the target audience is missing out on staple features of martial arts novels from unnecessary oversimplification.. 45.

(46) The next two translations from Graham Earnshaw, the underworld, and. underworld society can be used almost interchangeably as they are quite similar both making reference to an underworld: 「明明是黑沙掌所傷，江湖上黑沙掌的好手寥寥可數…」 (金庸, 1996a, 196) “ ‘…the two soldiers were obviously victims of Black Sand Palm kungfu’he said. ‘There are very few masters of that kungfu in the underworld.’”(Jin, 2005, 126) In terms of containing the necessary information for it to be deemed. acceptable. both. translations. still. come. up. short.. While. underworld might carry some weight as to being another society separate from government rule, it still lacks a martial arts and geographical reference to the source language. Regardless of either translation, from a foreignization standpoint both also miss the mark as an underworld or underworld society could exist anywhere, not just specifically in martial arts novels, which takes away from the unique Chinese element that comes from a term like jianghu. A slightly more fitting term for this translation might have been something like underground society of. Rivers and Lakes. The last translation Graham Earnshaw uses for the term jianghu in. Sword is a literal translation of the term—River and Lake: 46.

(47) 「江湖上人稱禿鷲雪鵰，合成天山雙鷹。」(金庸, 1996a, 448) “Her husband who was universally referred to on River and Lake as Bald Vulture…”(Jin, 2005, 289) While this provides the strongest translation in terms of the geographical elements needed as it is a literal translation of the actual Chinese term, it is lacking in the other two categories — a martial arts reference and the societal aspect. However in this context such references are not entirely needed. Strangely this translation is not used very frequently. In my reading I only found two instances. While it is capitalized to appear as the name of a location, being that the target reader might not be familiar with martial arts novels or have a thorough understanding of the term jianghu, it might be difficult for the reader to make the connection to what it actually references to, especially when compared with other terms Mr. Earnshaw has used like the. fighting community or underworld society. It does not fit in as it merely looks like the name of a place and not the same thing as any of his other translations for the term. With that being said from a foriegnization standpoint it is probably the most dramatic example of the “other” or bringing the reader closer to the source culture. River and Lake is a literal translation of jianghu to which the target culture has nothing equivalent to, cluing in the reader they are in fact reading 47.

(48) a translation. The problem remains however that the term is rarely used and. has. no. explanation. hence. the. reader. is. left. without. an. understanding of what River and Lake actually is. Although Mr. Earnshaw can be commended for translating the term. jianghu more times than some of the other translators, due to the fact he uses so many different translations (become an outlaw, the fighting. community, the underworld, underworld society, River and Lake) for the same term in Chinese, and uses the English term the fighting community to encompass four different Chinese terms (江湖，武林，綠林，黑道), the real jianghu and all the various groupings of people that reside in it start to become fairly convoluted, leaving the target reader with a disjointed. understanding. translations situations,. of if. the the. of. same. a term. translator. very can is. complex. term.. be. effectively. mixing. used them. up,. While. multiple in. some. especially. such. mainstays to the genre, it can lead to a watered down version of a martial arts novel and in this case loss of a key feature to wuxia ficiton; the backdrop to almost every martial arts novel. Although the novel still reads well in English it might have been more accurate and left the reader with a better understanding to use the same term with just slight variations when needed in addition to providing different. 48.

(49) translations for the aforementioned Chinese terms that were grouped together under one umbrella term in English. The final translations of the term jianghu to be discussed in this paper is from John Minford’s translation of Deer, which he translates as Brotherhood of River and Lake, to which he then uses various alterations of this term such as Brothers of River and Lake (59),. Brotherhood Code (105), Friends of River and Lake (315), Brotherhood (310) to fit the context of the novel: 「自宋朝以來，便是江湖上的一個大幫。」(金庸, 1996c, 33) “Ever since that time they have been a part of the outlaw world, part of the Brotherhood of River and Lake.” (Jin, 1997， 40) Although translation. lacking. does. a. contain. specific both. martial. geographical. arts and. reference, societal. this. elements. offering a literal translation of the term while adding the English word Brotherhood to include some sort of societal notion. Adding in. Brotherhood to further establish a notion of a society or group of people does enhance the translation, painting a clearer picture of jianghu. However, using the term brotherhood can still lead to some confusion on the readers’ end. Just like the Olivia Mok’s translation of people moving in our circle, brotherhood also might lead the reader 49.

(50) to believe everyone who resides in Brotherhood of River and Lake is on the same side, working in the same profession, or have a common goal when in fact jianghu is made up of many different factions, often outright opposing each other and are usually involved in some plot of revenge or doing their utmost to stop the opposition from reaching their goal. Furthermore the term brotherhood itself does not feel far reaching enough to encompass the entire society that makes up jianghu. One part or one group residing in jianghu, could be called a brotherhood, perhaps using it in the term Wulin, but once again jianghu and its citizenry are too complex to be lumped together and defined as just simply a. brotherhood when it is much more than that. One important thing to note is that John Minford ’ s translation contains a general glossary of terms explaining a few of the more complex terms. In this glossary professor Minford does give an in depth explanation of the term, describing some of the complexities such as the origin of the name. River and Lake, the counter-culture societal aspect, and some examples of the colorful characters that reside in jianghu educating the reader ahead of time. Whether or not the reader will actually read it is another issue.. Jianghu is very much an integral part of martial arts novels. It is the ancient Chinese backdrop to which almost all martial arts 50.

(51) fiction takes place. Thus it is imperative when translating martial arts novels this term is translated often and appropriately to help the uninformed English reader understand. If done properly the more it is translated in the various context it appears the more the complexities and nuances of the term will be understood by the target audience. Even if at first a translation feels awkward or too foreign, for such an important term in martial arts novels as jianghu it is pertinent it be kept intact and not overly simplified or skipped, as has been the case with some translations. Rather than skip over or try to describe something that doesn’t exist in the target culture/language it is better to come up with new terms for that thing itself, so as to create a new lexicon or vocabulary to enter the target language.. Although. there may never be a perfect translation of jianghu in English, as long as it contains most if not all necessarily elements discussed above (containing. geographic,. societal,. and. martial. arts. references),. is. context appropriate, and does not overly domesticate—the translation should be sufficient enough. While some translators have done admirable jobs with their overall translations of the martial arts novels, the term jianghu has not always been handled in an appropriate manner, either by ditching the term altogether or not going far enough to keep it in place to let the reader understand its importance in martial arts 51.

(52) fiction. After analyzing each translator’s own take on the term keeping in mind the definition of the term itself, the three major elements that it should contain to better inform the reader, and staying in line with foreignization translation techniques I have been able to come up with what I believe to be the most all encompassing English version of. jianghu—Martial Society of River and Lake. By using the word Martial there exists a reference to martial arts. Society is a reference to the counter culture, the people that exist in jianghu and the rules of law to which they live their lives. Putting them together and one is left with a separate society having something to do with martial arts while also feeling larger in scope than if such words as community or brotherhood were used. The last part, River and Lake is a literal translation of the term itself to help preserve some of the Chineseness notifying the readers of the existence of a foreign item as well as make reference to the geographical aspects and the origins of the term itself. While to some this translation may seem overly long, it can be used to introduce the term jianghu as early as possible in a translation and adjusted as needed throughout so long as it remain clear to the reader. it. is. in. reference. to. the. same. thing,. a. technique. some. translators have decided to forego. As an example, the Chinese term 老江 52.

(53) 湖 (old jianghu) could be translated as an experienced (noun) of the. Martial Society (able to use whatever noun seems most suitable to the character described), well versed in land of River and Lake, or an old. wanderer of River and Lake. When coming across jianghu in noun form, the translator could either choose to use the full translation or even simplifying it to either Martial Society or River and Lake based on context.. As. the. terms. Wulin. and. Jianghu. are. sometimes. used. interchangeably so could the translation. If more of an emphasis is being placed on the people in the source text, then the translator could choose to use Martial Society, if more emphasis is placed on the location then River and Lake would suffice. All of these translations are enough to make reference back to the original translation notifying the reader of its ‘otherness’ while being flexible enough to fit the context and even the structure of the sentence the term is being translated from.. From a reader standpoint the more exposure to a new. term or idea the better understood the term or idea becomes, allowing for. more. opportunity. for. the. reader. to. become. familiar. with. a. previously unknown from a different culture.. 53.

(54) Wulin —Order of the Martial Forest The term wulin (武林) literally meaning martial forest, is a reference to many capable martial artists gathering together in a condensed area, much like bamboo in a bamboo forest, hence martial forest (Lin, 2017). According to professor Lin Baochun, wulin was originally the name of a place near present day Hangzhou and was not in any way related to martial arts novels. However the term did appear in the New Book of Tang 《新唐書》 dating back to the 10th century (林保淳, 2004, 6). Professor Lin also states the idea behind wulin could have originated from the Four Books 《四書》where rulin (儒林) originates. The term rulin means many Confucians gathering together, or a forest of Confucians (Lin, 2017). Later on terms like Wenlin (文林) and Yilin (藝林) were also used to describe men of letters and capable artists gathering together. In martial arts novels the term wulin did not appear until the author Baiyu（白羽）of old-school martial arts novel fame. Up until that point many novels simply contained the terms jianghu and. lülin but not wulin (林保淳, 2004, 6). Wulin was meant to be a more allencompassing lülin, including martial artists and groups from both the just (白道) and unjust（黑道）sides. In more modern martial arts novels the term has gone through a slight change. Since wu (武) or martial arts is practically a basic necessity for residing in jianghu (or at least a 54.