《西遊記》五種英譯本韻文翻譯評析

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學翻譯研究所碩士論文 A Master’s Thesis Presented to the Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation at National Taiwan Normal University. A Journey to the Translation of Verse in the Five English Versions of Xiyouji. 《西遊記》五種英譯本韻文翻譯評析. Peter Chien 簡政章. Advisor: Professor Daniel Hu 指導教授: 胡宗文教授. June, 2017 2017 年六月.

(2) 摘要. 《西遊記》位列中國四大奇書之一，自十六世紀首度出版以來，一直都是中文圈最受歡迎的章回小說之一。歷經將近五世紀，書中的人物和故事眾所周知，也長久深受中文讀者喜愛，可以說得上是中國文學史上經典不敗的作品。最早的《西遊記》譯本是十八世紀出版的日文譯本，但第一本英文譯本卻到了西元 1913 年才出現。《西遊記》目前有五個主要的英文譯本，其中兩本為節譯本，首先是英籍宣教士李提摩太的 1913 年譯本，然後是英籍漢學家亞瑟偉利的 1942 年譯本。《西遊記》還有兩個英文全譯本，一是余國藩教授 1977 年的譯本，另一則是英籍漢學家詹納爾 1982 年的全譯本。此外，美籍作家兼詩人大衛克狄恩重新編寫了《西遊記》的故事，並於 1992 年出版。雖然有學者針對個別譯本做過研究與評析，但各譯本之間異同的比較研究卻寥寥無幾。此研究將從《西遊記》中的韻文翻譯作為出發點，比較分析各譯者所採用的翻譯策略，解決翻譯問題的手法，以及各譯者之間翻譯風格的異同之處，期待經由這項研究，能夠初步了解經典中文章回小說《西遊記》翻譯成英文時，其中韻文翻譯牽涉到的文化轉化過程，以及譯者觀點差異的影響。. 關鍵字: 西遊記、西遊記英譯本、翻譯研究、韻文翻譯、文化詞轉換. i.

(3) Abstract. Regarded as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature, Xiyouji has been one of the most popular Chinese novels ever since it was first published in the 16th Century. As many of the characters and stories from this novel have been known to and loved by the general Chinese readers for nearly five centuries, it can be said with great confidence that Xiyouji is indeed a timeless masterpiece of Chinese literature. The first translation of Xiyouji was into Japanese in the 18th Century; however, its first English translation did not appear until 1913. Two of the most prominent English translations of Xiyouji are abridgements, one translated by Welsh missionary Timothy Richard (1845-1919) and the other by British translator Arthur Waley (1889-1966). Two complete English translations of the entire 100 chapters of the novel have also been published, first by literary scholar Anthony C. Yu (1938-2015) and later by English sinologist W.J.F. Jenner (1940-). Last but not least, an adaptation retelling the story written by Armenian-American writer David Kherdian (1931-) is also available. Although reviews and critiques of individual translation have been conducted, a more concentrated comparison between the different versions is still necessary. This research will focus on the strategies implemented in the process of translating Xiyouji’s verses into English, the various techniques used to solve translation problems, as well as comparisons of the distinct styles among the translators. It is hoped that through this research, a better understanding of the processes of cultural transition and differences in perspectives involved in translating the classical Chinese novel of Xiyouji into English may be achieved.. Key words: Xiyouji, Journey to the West, translation studies, texts in verse ii.

(4) 誌謝. 這篇論文從初期鎖定題目、蒐集資料、閱讀文獻、製做筆記、構思內容、安排章節，接著開始動手在電腦鍵盤上一字一鍵地輸入，以至於到最後終於看見一道曙光接近完成的這段過程，與玄奘法師往西天取經所經歷的重重波折，似乎略有幾分相似。期間，不時覺得自己就像孫悟空一樣，在五指山下被壓得喘不過氣來。有時卻覺得自己像豬八戒被貶下凡之後，迷失方向一事無成。時而又覺得自己像是沙悟淨一樣，在流沙河中載浮載沉。能夠成功完成任務，第一位衷心感謝的人是胡宗文教授，還好有胡教授耐心從旁協助、引導、鼓勵，並不時提供各種寶貴的意見，否則要獨自一人克服這一路上的九九八十一難，真的不可能。另外，要感謝賴慈芸教授當初指點《西遊記》的研究價值，讓我得到了不少靈感。感謝李根芳教授耐心聆聽與引導，讓我對各種翻譯理論及跨文化研究略有啟發。感謝廖柏森教授運用獨到的幽默感和解說，讓量性研究與質性研究課程變得平易近人。也要感謝秋慧老師和容嫣，不厭其煩地提供各種協助。如果一路上沒有眾仙佛的加持和幫助，三藏一行人往西天取經的任務絕對無法完成。各位翻譯所的教授、同學、學長姐弟妹、生活中的好朋友們都是我的各路仙佛，法寶盡出，各顯神通，一路相隨，給予我各種幫助及鼓勵。能走完這最後一里路，滿心感謝的人還有很多，族繁不及備載，請容許擇日再當面一一致謝。. iii.

(5) Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction. 1. 1.1 Motivation. 1. 1.2 Literature Review. 4. 1.3 Theory & Research Method. 7. Chapter 2: Xiyouji and its Translations. 13. 2.1 Xuanzang, Wu Cheng’en, and Xiyouji. 13. 2.2 Various Translations. 21. 2.3 Timothy Richard and his Translation: Journey to the West—the Monkey King’s Amazing Adventures. 25. 2.4 Arthur Waley and his Translation: the Adventures of Monkey. 35. 2.5 Anthony C. Yu and his Translation: The Journey to the West. 42. 2.6 W.J.F. Jenner and his Translation: Journey to the West. 48. 2.7 David Kherdian and his Adaptation: Monkey—a Journey to the West. 52. Chapter 3: Two Ci. 60. 3.1 Definition of Ci as a Form of Poetry. 60. 3.2 An Example of Ci. 61. 3.3 Ci Number One. 67. 3.4 Ci Number Two. 74. Chapter 4: Three Shi. 84. 4.1 Definition of Shi as a Form of Poetry. 84. 4.2 Shi Number One. 84. 4.3 Shi Number Two. 92. 4.4 Shi Number Three. 102. Chapter 5: Further Discussion & Conclusion. 113. References. 127. Appendix. 132. iv.

(6) Chapter 1: Introduction. 1.1 Motivation. Written by Wu Cheng’en 吳承恩 and first published in the 16th Century, Xiyouji 西遊記 is one of the most popular Chinese novels and was named one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature by Ming Dynasty scholar Feng Menglong 馮孟龍(1574-1646). For nearly five centuries, anyone with a Chinese background is familiar with some of the characters and stories in Xiyouji. The kind-hearted and determined Buddhist monk Xuanzang 玄奘, the brave and witty monkey Sun Wukong 孫悟空, the greedy and whiny pig Zhu Bajie 豬八戒, the loyal and hardworking man-eating monster Sha Wujing 沙悟淨, and the dragon-transformed white horse make up the core of this fun-filled and adventurous novel. The mission of the party is to journey to India and to retrieve sacred Buddhist scriptures back to China while on the way they must overcome various obstacles and conquer scores of monsters and demons. Since many of the characters and stories in Xiyouji have been known to and loved by the general Chinese readers for centuries, it can be claimed with great confidence that it is indeed a timeless masterpiece of Chinese literature. Best known as Journey to the West, as coined by the title of Anthony C. Yu’s full-length translation published in 1977, Xiyouji has quite recently attracted public 1.

(7) attention again in a BBC News report titled Journey to the West: the endlessly remade Chinese folk tale on April, 27, 2017. It is reported that the 1970s Japanese TV series Monkey 孫悟空 became a mainstay on kids TV in Britain in the 1980s and won itself a huge fan base. And with a plan to bring back the same level of craze, streaming site Netflix has now teamed up with broadcast companies in Australia and New Zealand to bring back a new show based on Xiyouji as a “big budget fantasy drama.” Although Xiyouji had always been popular in China ever since its first publication in the 16th Century, the international craze actually started in Japan since its first translation into Japanese that was completed in the 19th Century. Starting in the mid-20th Century, many characters and stories in Xiyouji were constantly adapted into numerous TV series, movies, animations, and games and so on in Japan. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Dragon Ball manga and its sequel Dragon Ball Z were among the most popular manga and animation in Japan and Asia before being dubbed in several territories around the world, including the United States, Australia, Europe, India, and Latin America. The main character Son Goku 孫悟空 who can ride a flying cloud named Kinto’un 筋斗雲 and the initial story line is mostly inspired by Xiyouji. Instead of Buddhist scriptures, Goku and his friends go on a journey in search of 7 dragon balls that can grant any wish when all seven are collected. The manga and animation series have been so successful that the manga 2.

(8) has gone through numerous reprints, the animation has been rerun on TV for years, and countless theme movies and games have been created. As these products of Japanese pop culture started to journey from Japan to many other parts of the world and even made their way back to Chinese-speaking countries, all these adaptations of Xiyouji continued to thrive and enjoy an ever-growing popularity. The characters and stories of Xiyouji are no strangers in the English speaking world either. There are two abridged English translations of Xiyouji, the first one is translated by Welsh missionary Timothy Richard and published in 1913, the other is by British translator Arthur Waley and published in 1942. Two complete English translations of the entire 100 chapters of Xiyouji are also available, first by literary scholar Anthony C. Yu and later by English sinologist W.J.F. Jenner, published in 1977 and 1982, respectively. In America, the Monkey stories from Xiyouji have also recently been retold by David Kherdian in his Monkey—A Journey to the West published in 1992. Kherdian’s retelling of the stories are adapted both as a serial comic for adults and as a children’s story while Monkey himself showed up as a character in a Sesame Street TV special (Pearson, p.355). Almost every year in the past decade, at least one major-production film based on the stories of Xiyouji is released in Asia, and with the fast-developing movie special effects, more and more of such films are being produced. Stephen Chow's 3.

(9) Journey To The West: Conquering the Demons 西遊降魔篇(2014), its sequel Journey to the West: the Demons Strike Back 西遊伏妖篇(2017), and a recent release titled Wukong 悟空傳(2016) are just a few of the examples. Xiyouji or Journey to the West, the most well-known story to the Chinese, has also become the most famous and the most popular Chinese story worldwide. And as many of these endless reincarnations of the popular characters and stories of Xiyouji continue to be released in countries around the world and on the Internet, the translation of Xiyouji into English and various languages is still very much well and alive, and therefore, a topic worth further research.. 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 4.

(10) 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. 5.

(11) 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. 6.

(12) 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 7.

(13) 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 8.

(14) 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 9.

(15) 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. 10.

(16) 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 11.

(17) 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.. 12.

(18) 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, 13.

(19) 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 7th 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. 14.

(20) 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 15.

(21) 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 16.

(22) 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 20th 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 17.

(23) 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” author of Xiyouji. Because in the preface of his book Yu Ding Zhi 禹鼎志 Wu declares his predilection for the marvelous, the exotic, and the supramundane in literature (Yu, p.77) which matches perfectly the theme of Xiyouji. W.J.F. Jenner, another translator of Xiyouji, points out that in what proportion the novel was created and in what proportion it was compiled and edited by Wu Cheng’en remains unknown. Arthur Waley, also a translator of Xiyouji, concurs that much of the legend behind Xiyouji long existed in folk tales and on stage (Waley, preface). While the disagreement on Xiyouji’s authentic authorship may ensue, it is hardly the best interest of this research to involve in the argument as such topic should be left for further discussion by more capable researchers with further evidence. As such, for the purpose of this research, that Wu Cheng’en is the author of Xiyouji is taken as an established fact. Daniel Kane, professor at National University of Australia claims that it is widely believed that by naming his novel Xiyouji, Wu Cheng’en meant to pay tribute to Xuanzang’s Xiyuji (Kane, p.viii). Wu’s Xiyouji built upon the concept of Xuanzang’s 18.

(24) journey to India and combined a vast compilation of popular legends and folk tales that had been passed down through many generations. According to Hu Hsih in the introduction to Arthur Waley’s Monkey, the story of Xiyouji was originally in one hundred chapters which may be roughly divided into three main parts: Part I. The story of the Monkey: chapters 1-7 Part II. The story of Xuanzang and the origin of the mission to India: chapters 8-12 Part III. The Pilgrimage to India: chapters 13-100. Besides the main characters of Xuanzang and his three disciples, the novel hosts a wealth of Buddhist and Taoist deities, monsters and demons that are transformed from wild animals, objects and weapons with magical powers, humorous stories, witty dialogues, fierce battle scenes, well-thought-out poems, idiomatic expressions, and much more. The morals are not only to emphasize repentance, friendship, loyalty, and persistence, but also to encourage overcoming the demons that come both from the outside and emerge from within one’s own mind. Xiyouji is a story which values repentance of previous sins, Sun Wukong 孫悟空 violated the heavenly rules, Zhu Bajie 豬八戒 harassed the Goddess of the Moon, and Sha Wujing 沙悟淨 dropped and broke a crystal cup of jade, which caused the three to receive their own punishments. However, they were later offered opportunities to repent and make up for their wrongdoings. The fact that each of the main characters have their own flaws 19.

(25) and weaknesses helps the readers identify more with the story. Whereas some scholars hold the opinion that Xiyouji is an allegory with hidden political messages, others dismiss the idea. Hu Shih claims that Monkey is simply a book of good humor, profound nonsense, good-natured satire and delightful entertainment (Waley, preface). Prof. Shi Changyu approves of the viewpoint by further noting that humor is a major characteristic of the style of Xiyouji (Jenner, p.45). There also exists an interesting distinction between what the Asian and Western cultures perceive as the main character of the story. In Asia, Xuanzang’s faith and persistence as well as being the master of the fellowship per se win him much respect. In the west, on the contrary, Sun Wukong’s unique personality and extraordinary abilities transform him into the hero of the story. The following book review of David Kherdian’s Monkey—A Journey to the West on amazon.com places Sun Wukong the Monkey in the center of attention:. Part spiritual pilgrimage, part historical epic, the folk novel Journey to the West , which came to be known as Monkey, is the most popular classic of Asian literature. Originally written in the sixteenth century, it is the story of the adventures of the rogue-trickster Monkey and his encounters with a bizarre cast of characters as he travels to India with the Buddhist pilgrim Tripitaka in search of sacred scriptures.. Xiyouji has been published so widely and enjoyed such a vast readership that it is crowned one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature. An array of 20.

(26) imitations, adaptations, and retelling of the stories in the novel have been and still are being recreated in the forms of literature, children’s books, movies, TV series, Japanese anime, games, and so on. Just like the Sun Wukong’s magical powers of 72 transformations, the novel itself has taken on numerous shapes and forms.. 2.2 Various Translations. The first translation of Xiyouji appeared in Japan when famous novelist Korenori Nishida 西田維則 started to publish stories titled The Popular Journey to the West 通俗西遊記 using his pen name 口木山人 in 1758. Unfortunately, Nishida passed away in 1765 after having translated only the first 26 chapters. Subsequently, Sanjin Ishimaro 石麿呂山人 took on the task of translating chapters 27 to 39, Teisai Ogata 尾形貞斎 translated chapters 48 to 53, and finally Kyuzan Gakutei 岳亭丘山 continued with chapters 54 to 65. The stories of The Popular Journey to the West were published in 31 volumes in a five-part set through a total span of 74 years, from 1758 to 1831; however, the project never saw the day of its completion. On the other hand, Nishida also collaborated with others in the translation of the four volumes of Illustrated Journey to the West 繪本西遊記 which was eventually published in 1835 and marked the first full-length translation of Xiyouji into Japanese (Tanaka 田中, p.3-6). 21.

(27) According to Professor Shi Changyu 石昌渝 of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, these two Japanese translations of Xiyouji went through numerous reprinting and had a tremendous impact of spreading the story of Xuanzang far and wide in Japan (Shi, p.48). Afterwards, a dozen full-length Xiyouji translations in Japanese were completed in the 20th century, with the most well-known of versions translated by Koji Uno, published in 1936, by Yoshio Yudate, published in 1939, by Shinobu Iwamura, published in 1948, by Takamaro Ito, published in 1955, and by Shinobu Onu, published in 1977. The story of Xiyouji also journeyed to other countries in the world. The first complete translation into Vietnamese was published in eight volumes in Hanoi in 1961. The first complete translation into modern Korean was accomplished by Li Zhou Hong and published in 1966, though a couple of stories from Xiyouji in archaic Korean were already in circulation years before that. Two abridged versions in French were published in Paris in 1924 and 1957, respectively. An abridged edition in German was translated from Arthur Waley’s English translation Monkey and it was published in 1962 by Rudolstadt Graphen Publishing Company. And in 1959, Moscow National Literature Publishing House published A Povatsev’s full-length translation into Russian in four volumes. In addition, there are versions in Czech, Romanian, Polish, Spanish, and as of today, Xiyouji has been translated into more than a dozen 22.

(28) Asian and European languages and has been popular reading material for several centuries even until today. The first translation of Xiyouji into English appeared when N. C. Herald in Shanghai published Samuel I. Woodbridge’s translation under two different titles of the Golden Horned Dragon King 金角龍王 or the Emperor’s Visit to the Spirit World 皇帝遊地府 in booklets in 1895. In 1901, extracts from Xiyouji were given in Herbert Giles’ (1845-1935) History of Chinese Literature. Later in 1913, a more complete version in A Mission to Heaven was translated by Welsh missionary to China Timothy Richard (1845-1919) and published by the Shanghai Christian Literature Society (Shi, p.48). In 1930, Helen Hayes (1893-1932) provided in the Wisdom of the East Series her translation of A Buddhist Pilgrim’s Progress; however, it was later evaluated as “an accessible, though very inaccurate account” of Xiyouji (Waley, Preface of Monkey). At a time when only abridgments were available, renowned British sinologist and translator Arthur Waley (1889-1966) based his version on the text published by Oriental Press in Shanghai in 1921. Waley’s translation was named Monkey: A Folk Tale of China at first and was published by Allen and Unwin in New York in 1942. Waley’s Monkey not only became the source text of the 1962 German version of Xiyouji, but was also reprinted repeatedly and edited to cater to various readerships. 23.

(29) And for the several decades that followed, Waley’s Monkey remained the most influential in introducing the story to English readers. The first complete translation of the entire 100 chapters of Xiyouji appeared when Anthony C. Yu’s (1938-2015) The Journey to the West was published in four volumes by University of Chicago Press in 1977. Followed by British sinologist W.J.F. Jenner (1940-) with his translation in 5 volumes of Journey to the West in 1986, which was later included as a part of the Library of Chinese Classics 大中華文庫 to be published by Foreign Languages Press of China in 2000. Armenian-American writer David Kherdian (1931-) published his adaptation of Monkey—A Journey to the West in 1992 retelling selected sections of Xiyouji’s story based on Yu’s and Jenner’s translations. For the aims of this research, texts from Timothy Richard’s, Arthur Waley’s, Anthony C. Yu’s, and W.J.F. Jenner’s translations as well as David Kherdian’s adaptation will be used for as references. Before more comprehensive analyses and comparisons of their strategies for translating texts in verse from Xiyouji can be attempted, background information and selected works of each of the translators and adaptor, samples of their translations and adaptation of Xiyouji, and their personal unique styles will be introduced first in the following sections.. 24.

(30) 2.3 Timothy Richard and His Translation. Timothy Richard (1845-1919) was a legendary Welsh Baptist missionary who traveled to China in 1868. After Richard was assigned to Yantai, in the Shangdong Province, he became the editor of the Wan Guo Gong Bao 萬國公報, or Review of the Times, a monthly reformist journal published by the Christian Literature Society for China 廣學會 founded by the American Methodist missionary Young J. Allen. Timothy Richard was a prolific writer and translator, and one of the most influential missionaries of his day, often ranked with and compared to Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission (Kane, p.xxi). By the turn of the 20th century, China was prepared to come to terms with the West and to institute the reforms necessary to bring her into the family of nations. Kang Youwei 康有為(1857-1927), one of China’s greatest scholars and reformers at the time, took a leading role in these reforms. Though he never became a Christian, he acknowledged on one occasion: “I owe my conversion to reform chiefly on the writing of two missionaries, the Rev. Timothy Richard and the Rev. Dr. Young J. Allen.” Kang dedicated himself in his later years to the writing of The Book of Grand Unity 大同書, which curiously reflected many of Richard’s ideas such as a world ruled by one central government, and the improvement of humanity through the spread of. 25.

(31) modern technology (Kane, p.xxiii). The Book of Grand Unity, which was imbued with many of Richard’s beliefs, was later referred to by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) as the blueprint of the ideal society that the communists were to strive to establish. Timothy Richard’s most influential work of translation is A History of the Nineteenth Century by Robert Mackenzie first published in London in 1880. The Chinese version which is named 泰西近百年來大事記 was published by Christian Literature Society for China in 1895 and a concise version titled 泰西新史攬要 was published in 1898. The book gives a comprehensive account of the processes of the reformations in the Western countries in the 19th century, and was used by the Guangxu Emperor of the late Ching Dynasty as one of his main references during the Hundred Days’ Reform 百日維新/戊戌變法 in 1898. Liang Qichao 梁啟超(1873-1929), who was Kang Youwei’s student and one of the key leaders of the late Ching reformers, praised that 泰西新史攬要 was the best among all the Western history books available at the time. It can be said that Timothy Richard, not only through his writings and translations but also with his personal relationship with Kang Youwei and a number of prominent government officials, played an influential role in the modernization of China and the rise of the Chinese Republic at the turn of the 20 th century. While most other missionaries to China at that time seized every opportunity to 26.

(32) stamp out conflicting religious beliefs and legends, Timothy Richard was fascinated by such popular local tales of gods and heroes as Journey to the West, for he upheld the universal messages of spiritual challenge and growth these tales encompassed. In Timothy Richard’s translator’s introduction, he makes many associations between Xiyouji and what he calls the World Religion—Christianity. For example, Richard believes that the peaches, the wine, and pill of immortality represent the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Chapter 88 teaches that the Holy Spirit is in every instance the chief agent in producing a conversion and that prayer is the source of power, Richard is then convinced that the book is unmistakably Christian. The fact that the demons very frequently desire to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Religious Master in order that they may thereby become immortal is identical to what Jesus said, “Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life.” (Richard, introduction p.xxxix). The first English translation of Xiyouji into English appeared as A Mission to Heaven, translated by Timothy Richard and published by the Shanghai Christian Literature Society in 1913 (Shi, p.48). Richard’s translation contains 100 chapters that correspond to the chapters in the original Xiyouji; nevertheless, since many of the chapters are only one or two pages in length, it is still categorized as an abridged version. Richard’s translation was republished in 2008 by Tuttle Classics Singapore 27.

(33) and was given a new title Journey to the West – the Monkey King’s Amazing Adventures with an elaborate introduction by Daniel Kane, professor at National University of Australia. The 2008 republished version preserves 26 chapters from the 1913 version that tell more complete stories; furthermore, it makes some changes and replacements to Richard’s original translation. However, some of these alterations in the 2008 Tuttle Classics republication are no more accurate than the 1913 original version and fail to serve the purpose of telling the story better. An example of this can be seen in the names of the different hells in chapter 11 as the story tells of Tang Taizong’s experience in going through the Eighteen Hells Behind the Dark Mountain. Richard’s original translation of the names of the hells is clear and accurate and is placed on the right of the following chart. On the left of the following chart lists the 2008 Tuttle version, it can be seen that three of the names of the hells are revised. Chart 3a 2008 version published by Tuttle. 1913 version published by the. Singapore. Shanghai Christian Literature Society. 1. The Hanging by the Muscles Hell. 1. The Hanging by the Muscles Hell. 2. The Dark Mad Hell. 2. The Dark Mad Hell. 3. The Deep Furnace Hell. 3. The Deep Furnace Hell. 4. The Urban Living Hell. 4. The Hell of Fengtu City. 5. The Tongue Pulling Hell. 5. The Tongue Pulling Hell. 6. The Flaying Hell. 6. The Flaying Hell. 7. The Grinding Hell. 7. The Grinding Men Hell. 8. The Pounding Hell. 8. The Pounding Hell. 9. The Tearing on the Wheel Hell. 9. The Tearing on the Wheel Hell 28.

(34) 10. The Icy Hell. 10. The Icy Hell. 11. The Unmasking Hell. 11. The Unmasking Hell. 12. The Pulling of Bowels Hell. 12. The Pulling of Bowels Hell. 13. The Boiling Oil Hell. 13. The Boiling Oil Hell. 14. The Mad as Hell Hell. 14. The Dark Hell. 15. The Sword Mountain Hell. 15. The Sword Mountain. 16. The Hell of the Lake of Blood. 16. The Hell of the Lake of Blood. 17. The Hot as Hell Hell. 17. The Hot Hell. 18. The Balancing Hell. 18. The Balancing Hell. As to why the editor of the 2008 Tuttle version changed number 4, 14, and 17 of Richard’s original translation to “the Urban Living Hell”(酆都獄), “the Mad as Hell Hell”(黑暗獄), and “the Hot as Hell Hell”(阿鼻獄) while leaving the other parts mostly untouched is unknown(Richard, Tuttle,p.95). Whether the purpose is to add modernity or humor, regardless of what the reason may be, the alterations fail to do justice to Timothy Richard’s original good work on the translation of the list of hells. However, it must be pointed out that several parts of Richard’s 1913 A Mission to Heaven are so creative that would leave the 2008 Tuttle editor in awe. Richard’s original translation of the final litany at the end of the story of Xiyouji in chapter 100 offers a glimpse of his “unique” translation style in which he replaces some of the names of Buddhist gods and bodhisattvas with terms commonly found in Christian literature or inserts terms taken from other religions. The litany contains a short prayer and a list of fifty-nine names of gods and bodhisattvas and will be discussed in four parts as follows: 29.

(35) Chart 3b 大眾合掌皈依，都念：. Then they all folded their hands, worshipped, and chanted the following New Anthem in Heaven: —. “南無燃燈上古佛。. 1. We take refuge, or believe, in the Ancient Buddha (God), who created Light.. 南無藥師琉璃光王佛。. 2. In the Great Physician of the Crystal Sea.. 南無釋迦牟尼佛。. 3. In the world honoured teacher, Shakyamuni*.. 南無過去未來現在佛。. 4. In the God of the past, present and future.. 南無清淨喜佛。. 5. In the God of pure joy.. 南無毘盧尸佛。. 6. In Vairochana (the son of Righteousness.). 南無寶幢王佛。. 7. In the canopy Prince.. 南無彌勒尊佛。. 8. In the Messiah.. 南無阿彌陀佛。. 9. In Omito Fo (Amitabha.). 南無無量壽佛。. 10. In the God of Endless Age. (The Eternal.). 南無接引歸真佛。. 11. In Him who welcomes men to heaven.. 南無金剛不壞佛。. 12. In Him who is the indestructible Diamond.. 南無寶光佛。. 13. In Him who is precious Light.. 南無龍尊王佛。. 14. In the most terrible One.. 南無精進善佛。. 15. In Him who is the Essence of joy and progress.. 南無寶月光佛。. 16. In Him who is the Reflected Light.. 南無現無愚佛。. 17. In Him who has no darkness.. 南無婆留那佛。. 18. In Varuna.. 南無那羅延佛。. 19. In Brahma the Creator.. 南無功德華佛。. 20. In Him of all glorious merit.. 南無才功德佛。. 21. In Him who is most able.. 南無善遊步佛。. 22. In Him who goes about doing good,. 南無旃檀光佛。. 23. In Him with the light of the Sandal-wood banner.. 南無摩尼幢佛。. 24. In Him with the Mani canopy.. To start with, “the following new Anthem in Heaven,” “the world honoured teacher,” “(the son of Righteousness.),” and finally “(the Eternal.)” are all additions to the translation that are absent from the source text. The translations of 龍尊王佛 as “the most terrible one” and 現無愚佛 as “Him who has no darkness” are creative but inaccurate. In Richard’s religious perspective, since 燃燈上古佛 is the Ancient Buddha 30.

(36) who created Light, he must be God himself. Following Richard’s train of thought, one may not be too surprised to find that he translated 過去未來現在佛 into “the God of the past, present, and future;” nevertheless, as for why 彌勒尊佛 is “the Messiah” in Christianity and 那羅延佛 is “Brahma the Creator” who is the God of Creation in Hinduism, one cannot but feel baffled. Chart 3c 南無慧炬照佛。. 25. In Him who shines with great wisdom.. 南無海德光明佛。. 26. In Him whose goodness is vast as the ocean.. 南無大慈光佛。. 27. In Him who is Great in mercy.. 南無慈力王佛。. 28. In Him who is Strongest in mercy.. 南無賢善首佛。. 29. In Him who is Chief in all goodness.. 南無廣莊嚴佛。. 30. In Him who is God of boundless glory.. 南無金華光佛。. 31. In Him who is the God of golden glory.. 南無才光明佛。. 32. In Him who is an able Counsellor.. 南無智慧勝佛。. 33. In Him who is surpassingly wise.. 南無世靜光佛。. 34. In Him who is the world's restful Light.. 南無日月光佛。. 35. In Him who is the Light of the sun and moon.. 南無日月珠光佛。. 36. In Him who illuminates the sun and moon.. 南無慧幢勝王佛。. 37. In Him who is the Lord of the Wisdom Canopy.. 南無妙音聲佛。. 38. In Him who is the Gospel Sound.. 南無常光幢佛。. 39. In Him who is permanent Light of the Canopy of the heavens.. 南無觀世燈佛。. 40. In Him who is the Lamp of the World.. 南無法勝王佛。. 41. In the King of Perfect law.. 南無須彌光佛。. 42. In Him who is the Light of Mount Meru.. 南無大慧力王佛。. 43. In the All-wise and All-powerful King.. 南無金海光佛。. 44. In the Light of the Golden Ocean, (space?). 南無大通光佛。. 45. In Him whose great light pervades all the universe.. 南無才光佛。. 46. In Him who is the mighty Light.. 南無旃檀功德佛。. 47. In Him with the merit of the Sandal Wood Banner.. 南無鬥戰勝佛。. 48. In Him who is ever victorious.. From 25 to 48, a reader easily confuses the reading material for some Christian 31.

(37) publication. With the exceptions of references such as canopy, Mount Meru, and Sandal Wood Banner, the second section of the litany bears much resemblance to common Christian writings, prayers, or gospel songs. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind,” taken from John 1:4 from the N.I.V. bible, many verses in the bible start with the construction of “In Him” which is also the strategy Timothy Richard adopts to add to the names of the Buddhas in the litany. By doing so, Richard is quite successful in converting a Buddhist prayer into a Christian one, domestication was not what he had in mind but rather an attempt to impose his belief that Buddhism and Christianity were not much different. Chart 3d 南無觀世音菩薩。. 49. In Kwanyin.. 南無大勢至菩薩。. 50. In the Mighty One.. 南無文殊菩薩。. 51. In Saint Wên Shu.. 南無普賢菩薩。. 52. In Saint Pu Hien.. 南無清淨大海眾菩薩。. 53. In Mohammed of the Great Sea.. 南無蓮池海會佛菩薩。. 54. In the great Lotus Society.. 南無西天極樂諸菩薩。. 55. In all the Saints of Paradise.. 南無三千揭諦大菩薩。. 56. In the three thousand great choristers? (Giete, 揭諦) ?. 南無五百阿羅大菩薩。. 57. In the 500 great witnesses.. 南無比丘夷塞尼菩薩。. 58. In the monks and nuns.. 南無無邊無量法菩薩。. 59. In the saints who follow the boundIess and universal law.. The last section of the litany is no less spectacular than the previous ones as many of the 菩薩 transform into “saints,” “choristers,” “witnesses,” and “monks and nuns” in Richard’s translation. In the midst of all the Christian and Buddhist deities, 清淨大海眾菩薩 appears as “Mohammed of the Great Sea,” the last prophet of 32.

(38) Islam. According to Daniel Kane, how Timothy Richard got “Mohammed of the Great Sea” out of Chingjing dahai zhong pusa, “The Bodhisattvas of the Ocean of Purity” is a bit of a mystery. He may have misunderstood chingjing “pure and clean” as qingzhen “pure and true,” the Chinese term for Islam (Kane, p.xxii). But the author of this research tends to disagree with Kane’s explanation, because Richard translated number 5 on the list “南無清淨喜佛” into “the God of pure joy” which is hard evidence that Richard understood chingjing as “pure” instead of “islam.” Yet, as for why Richard translated number 53 on the list ”南無清淨大海眾菩薩” into “Mohammed of the Great Sea” indeed remains a great mystery. Chart 3e 南無金剛大士聖菩薩。. 60. In the Holy Cherubim.. 南無淨壇使者菩薩。. 61. In the angels who serve at the sacred Altar.. 南無八寶金身羅漢菩薩。. 62. In the burning Seraphim (Lohans?). 南無八部天龍廣力菩薩。. 63. In all the mighty Powers throughout the Universe.. The last four lines of the litany in Richard’s translation incorporate the concepts of “angels,” “Holy Cherubim,” as well as “burning Seraphim” into his version of the story of Xiyouji. It is worth mentioning that it is clearly explained before the litany that 八部天龍廣力菩薩 is the bodhisattva that Xuangzang’s horse turns into after completing the journey, but here his name is simply neglected and replaced with “the mighty Powers throughout the Universe.” In fact,八寶金身羅漢菩薩 of number 62 and 淨壇使者菩薩 of number 61 are Sha Wujing’s and Zhu Bajie’s bodhisattva 33.

(39) titles, respectively. Sha Wujing is turned into multiple burning Seraphim, while Zhu Bajie is translated into the many angels who serve at the sacred Altar. Let’s backtrack to number 48 and 47, 鬥戰勝佛 and 旃檀功德佛 are Sun Wukong’s and Xuanzang’s respective titles as Buddhas, but no explanation is provided for the names of these key characters in Richard’s translation. Timothy Richard’s translation of the final litany at the end of the Xiyouji story transforms the chanting of a Buddhist prayer into a song of angels to praise God. Three parentheses in the litany are strangely conspicuous, the first being “(space?)” in 44, the second “(Giete,揭諦) ?” in 56, and the third one is “(Lohans?)” in 62. What appears as the translator’s notes made their way through the editing and publication procedures and eventually appears in the actual published translation. It may be safe to assume that Timothy Richard’s A Mission to Heaven was published somewhat prematurely in 1913, and it is not difficult to imagine that when the book was to be republished by Tuttle in 2008, it had to undergo extensive editing. While Richard could simply leave out the litany altogether, he chose to translate the final ending of the story in whole. It is obvious that his intention was not to faithfully translate the names of the assorted Buddhist gods and bodhisattvas, otherwise he would not have opted to insert terms such as Messiah, Brahma, Mohammed, saints, Holy Cherubim, burning Seraphim, and so on. By implementing 34.

(40) such strategy, Richard was presumably to manifest once more his personal belief that Xiyouji shared something in common with Christianity and other world religions such as Hinduism and Islam. As Daniel Kane states in the introduction of the 2008 Tuttle version, he believes that people see things the way they want to see them, and Richard’s fundamental approach was that he wanted to see references to God, Jesus, the Messiah, and even Mohammed and Brahma, whether they were there or not. (Kane, p.xxiii).. 2.4 Arthur Waley and His Translation. Arthur Waley (1889-1966) is a renowned British orientalist, sinologist, and translator whose works achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim. Waley translated numerous poetry as well as literature from Japanese and Chinese into English, with his most famous works being A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), The Way and Its Power: A Study of the Tao Te Ching and its Place in Chinese Thought (1934), The Book of Songs (Shih Ching) (1937), The Analects of Confucius (1938), The Adventures of Monkey (1942), and more. Waley also translated Chinese philosophy and wrote such biographies of literary figures as the Life and Times of Po Chü-I (1949) and the Poetry and Career of Li Po (1959). Waley chose to translate a wide range of classical literature and to write for a general audience. 35.

(41) In spite of his accomplishments in translating many Chinese and Japanese classical texts into English, Waley never travelled personally to either country, or anywhere else in East Asia. In his preface to The Secret History of the Mongols (1963) he states that he was not a master of many languages, but declares to have learned Chinese and Japanese fairly well, a good command of Ainu and Mongolian, as well as basic Hebrew and Syriac. His achievement in acquiring multiple foreign languages makes him the object of many people’s envy. John Walter de Gruchy, author of Orienting Arthur Waley: Japonism, Orientalism, and the Creation of Japanese Literature in English (2003), is among Waley’s admirers. Gruchy points out in his book that Waley did an impressive job in transmitting the high literary cultures of China and Japan to the general English readers in the first half of the 20 th century. And despite being self-taught, Waley managed to reach remarkable levels of fluency, even erudition, in both languages. Gruchy also commended that Waley was the ambassador from East to West and made a unique achievement which was “quite unlikely to be repeated” (Gruchy, p.167). Arthur Waley considered that Xiyouji is unique in its combination of beauty with absurdity and of profundity with nonsense, and the story is compounded with folklore, allegory, religion, history, anti-bureaucratic satire and pure poetry. His translation of the story is named the Adventures of Monkey (Monkey for short), 36.

(42) putting Sun Wukong the Monkey King on center stage of the storyline which is divided into thirty chapters. The text Waley has used for translation was published by the Oriental Press, Shanghai, in 1921. It has a long and scholarly introduction by Dr. Hu Shih, then Chinese ambassador in Washington. Waley noted in his preface that the method adopted in earlier abridgements was "to leave the original number of separate episodes, but drastically reduce them in length, particularly by cutting out dialogue.” And Waley’s strategy for the most part was to adopt the opposite principle by omitting many episodes but translating those that are retained almost in full; however, he leaves out most of the incidental passages in verse that go very badly into English. The scale of Waley’s abridgement corresponds to roughly one sixth of the whole source text, and his extensive excising of the chapters has led to a recent critic awarding it the lesser place, as a good retelling of the story. On the other hand, it has been praised as "remarkably faithful to the original spirit of the work.” Arthur Waley’s version in thirty chapters has translated Part I and Part II of Xiyouji almost entirely, his chapter divisions corresponding exactly to the first twelve chapters in the original. From Part III, the journey to the west, Arthur Waley has translated only chapters 13-15, 18-19, 22, 37-39, 44-46, 47-49, and 98-100, which means that he has included less than one-third of the original (Yu, preface). Aside 37.

(43) from the thirty chapters Arthur Waley chose to translate from the one hundred chapters in the original, he left out in particular the second half (chapters 50-97) of the book. Of the thirty-four episodes after the conversion of the three disciples, Waley selected only four: 1. the story of the kingdom of crowcock, 2. The story of the three Taoist demons in the cart-slow kingdom, 3. The river that leads to heaven, and 4. The final calamity caused by the white turtle. But in spite of these few mildly regretted omissions, Waley has on the whole exercised excellent critical judgment in his selection of the episodes. Hu Shih expresses his opinion that he agrees with most of Waley’s omissions, and heartily approves his method of “omitting many episodes, but translating those that are retained almost in full.” He also states that Waley’s rendering of dialogue is truly masterful both in preserving its droll humor and retaining its rich proverbial form. Only a careful comparison with the original text can one fully appreciate the translator’s painstaking effort in achieving these goals. (Hu Shih, p.4) Lastly, he wishes that Arthur Waley may be persuaded to include a few more of other interesting episodes at a more opportune time in his “most admirable and most delightful translation.” Waley consciously followed Hu Shih’s lead, as shown in Hu's introduction to the 1943 edition. Hu scorned the allegorical interpretations of the novel as old-fashioned 38.

(44) and instead insisted that the stories were simply comic. Hu Shih's interpretation reflected the popular reading of the novel, but does not account for the levels of meaning and the allegorical framework which scholars in China and the west have shown to be an important part of the late Ming text. The 1943 Waley translation received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and has also been published as Adventures of the Monkey God, Monkey to the West, Monkey: [A] Folk Novel of China, and The Adventures of Monkey, and in a further abridged version for children, Dear Monkey. Waley’s translations of the classics, the Analects of Confucius and The Way and Its Power, are still in print, as is his interpretive presentation of classical Chinese philosophy, Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China (1939). Waley’s translations of verse are widely regarded as poems in their own right, and have been included in many anthologies such as the Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse under Waley’s name. Many of his original translations and commentaries have been republished as Penguin Classics and Wordsworth Classics, reaching a wide readership. Jonathan D. Spence, in A Century of British Orientalists 1902-2001 (Oxford: 2001), compliments that Arthur Waley selected the fine jewels of Chinese and Japanese literature and pinned them quietly to his chest. Spence assures that no one ever did anything like it before, and no one will ever do it again. Though there are 39.

(45) many westerners whose knowledge of Chinese or Japanese is greater than Waley’s, and there may be a few who can handle both languages as well, they are not poets, and those who are better poets than Waley unfortunately do not know Chinese or Japanese. He also believes that the shock will never be repeated, because most of the pieces that Waley chose to translate were virtually unknown in the West, so the impact they caused was both extraordinary and unique (Spence, p.239). Waley’s translation has met with its fair share of criticism as well. The literary scholar Andrew H. Plaks points out that Waley's abridgement reflected his interpretation of the novel. He holds a quite opposite view from Hu Shih that through its selection of episodes, Waley’s translation, despite its brilliancy, gave rise to the misleading impression that this is essentially a compendium of popular materials marked by folk wit and humor. Also a translator of Xiyouji, Anthony C. Yu believes that Waley’s abridgment is vastly superior to its predecessors in style and diction, but it is unfortunately a severely truncated and highly selective rendition, not unlike its predecessors (Yu, preface). Yu further adds that though Arthur Waley was immensely gifted for, and had magnificent achievements in, the translation of Chinese verse, elected to ignore the many poems that are structured in the narrative. As a result, Yu criticizes that, in Waley’s translation, not only is the fundamental literary form of the story distorted, but also much of the narrative vigor and descriptive power of its 40.

(46) language which attracted generations of Chinese readers is lost. Even though Anthony C. Yu has criticized Arthur Waley’s Monkey on numerous occasions, Waley’s ability in translating verse is highly praised by Yu. So much so that one of the texts in verse in Monkey is transplanted directly into Anthony C. Yu’s the Journey to the West. In chapter 10, the Dragon King visits a fortune teller in Chang’an who is said to be bestowed with the ability to predict any future events with precision. When consulted on the weather, the soothsayer announces that there will definitely be rain on the following day.. 雲迷山頂，霧罩林梢。若占雨澤，准在明朝。《西遊記》第十回頁九. Waley’s translation of the rhyme is as follows:. Mists hide the tree-tops, Clouds veil the hill. If you want rain to-morrow You shall have your fill. (Waley, p.97). In Waley’s translation, “Mists hide the tree-tops” and “Clouds veil the hill” are in reverse order from the first two sentences of the source text. The same rhyme in English appears in Anthony C. Yu’s translation in an exact format.. Mists hide the treetops Clouds veil the hill. 41.

(47) If you want rain tomorrow You shall have your fill. (Yu, p.223). Except for omitting the two hyphens in “tree-tops” and “to-morrow”, Yu’s version is identical to Waley’s translation of this verse. Yu did acknowledge in his notes that he decided to adopt Waley’s translation because he believed that “Waley’s translation of these four lines can hardly be improved on.” (Yu, p.517) Although the first two sentences can be swapped into the correct order, Yu’s choice of directly copying Waley’s translation corresponds to his compliment on Waley’s outstanding performance in translating texts in verse. In almost every text in verse that both Waley and Yu have translated from Xiyouji, segments of Waley’s translations make their way into Yu’s version. All in all, Arthur Waley’s translation of Xiyouji, the Adventures of Monkey (or Monkey for short) published in 1943 has received much praise. Of the sections Waley chose to translate, he rendered highly accurate and skillful translation, and his rendering of poetry in particular is held in high esteem.. 2.5 Anthony C. Yu and His Translation. Anthony C. Yu (1938-2015) is best known for his four-volume translation of Journey to the West and was a well-known scholar of literature and religion, eastern 42.

(48) and western. Some of his selected works include Parnassus Revisited: Modern Critical Essays on the Epic Tradition (1973), Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in the Dream of the Red Chamber (1997), and State and Religion in China: Historical and Textual Perspectives (2005). The name “Journey to the West” as first coined by Anthony C. Yu as the title of his version is a direct and faithful translation of the name of the book Xiyouji. Yet to the target English readers, the concept of “the West” can be a bit confusing as to where it is located precisely. Though the readers eventually find out as they journey through the story, perhaps “Journey to India” would be a more precise and easily comprehensible though less of an accurate translation of the title. In his own extensive scholarly introduction and notes, Yu explains that the main reason for his endeavor is simply the need for a version which will provide the readers with as faithful an image as possible of Xiyouji, one of the four or five lasting monuments of traditional Chinese fictions. Strenuous work was put into researching Buddhist and Taoist terminologies as well as cultural specific terms (Guo, p.7). Robert E. Hegel states in his article that Anthony C. Yu's Journey to the West far surpasses the truncated earlier English adaptations for revealing the novelist's art to readers unprepared to appreciate the linguistic complexities of the original, and for introducing this Chinese masterpiece to English readers of the West. 43.

(49) Hegel also believes that the copious notes included in Yu’s version will help readers with allusions and other word plays, particularly the references to traditional alchemy. Yu provides information as unfamiliar to most contemporary Chinese as it is to Americans, and as a result, Yu’s Journey to the West can also assist Chinese readers to better understand the novel (Hegel, p.340). Another reason for Yu’s hard work was to compensate for the many chapters, poems, and texts in verse that Arthur Waley decided to exclude from in his version. Yu points out in particular that the poems and texts in verse are essential in understanding the author’s meanings (Yu, preface xi). Waley’s Monkey, which literally put the word Xiyouji in numerous encyclopedias, had been the most significant English translation of the story for decades before Yu’s version was published in 1977. Despite the fact that Monkey played a crucial role not only in making the story of Xiyouji known to English readers, but also in being the basis of many translations into other languages, it was much criticized for being heavily truncated and abbreviated. After the publication of Yu’s Journey to the West, the popularity and status of Waley’s Monkey was slightly surpassed. Literary critic Andrew H. Plaks comments that Waley's Monkey is a delightful book, but it is not the same book as the Chinese masterwork which Anthony C. Yu has translated. Plaks explains that as a general rule, any complete translation that 44.

(50) achieves certain standards of linguistic competency, must be far more valuable than any partial one (Plaks, p.1117). A full-length translation of the entire 100 chapters of Xiyouji is such a grand task that its completion indeed deserves great respect. A revised version of Yu’s translation was published by University of Chicago Press under the title The Monkey and the Monk in 2006. According to the introduction, Yu explains that he had received feedback that the use of his lengthy translation in four volumes was much limited in the academics. In order to attract more readers from the general public, an abridged 31-chapter version was then organized and published (Yu 2006: p.xiv). Such decision seems to resemble the one Arthur Waley had previous made for his selections of 30 chapters of Monkey and at the same time invalidated Yu’s criticism for Waley’s shortened version of Xiyouji. Despite being held in high regard by many scholars, Yu’s translation includes details that occasionally betray him and cause unexpected humor. For example, in chapter 7 Sun Wukong engages in a fierce battle with legions of soldiers from heaven and "the Spirit of the South Pole ordered the various deities of the Fire Department to burn him with fire, but that, too, had little effect." (Yu, p. 166) Here 火部眾神 is translated into “the various deities of the Fire Department” and, quite contrary to popular belief, those representing “the Fire Department” turn into arsons and set fire to a person, or rather a monkey. 45.