Cultural-Differences-Between-English-and-Chinese-Proverbs-and-Their-Translation-Strategies.doc

Cultural Differences Between English and Chinese Proverbs and Their Translation StrategiesAbstract: Through the comparison in English and Chinese proverbs and some typical examples, I analyze the importance of cultural differences in understanding proverbs. At the same time, I list three strategies, namely, literal translation, free translation and the combination of these two methods to translate proverbs. Literal translation is a good choice as it keeps the original message and form. But literal translation is not word-for-word translation. Some proverbs should not be translated literally. Then translators should use free translation，which calls for extensive cultural knowledge of both source knowledge and target knowledge. Key words: English and Chinese proverbs; cultural differences; translation strategies1 IntroductionProverbs date back from life. It reflects the marrow of culture. Because of the differences of origins, religious beliefs, humanistic ideals, moral views and life and work experiences, English and Chinese proverbs carry on different cultural characteristics and information. It has everything with culture and cant be separated from each other. In this paper, I set some typical examples to discuss the cultural differences between English and Chinese proverbs from the respects of religious beliefs, humanistic ideals, moral views and life and work experiences.Due to cultural differences in English and Chinese proverbs, the same words may display different ideals. Translation plays an important role. Be literal translation, free translation or literal translation combined with free translation, it should be in accordance with language features and cultural backgrounds.No matter what method to choose, we must follow it, “Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.” (Eugene A. Nida, 1893) 2 Influence of English and Chinese Cultures on Their Proverbs 2.1 Culture and Proverb2.1.1 What is Culture? What is Proverb?Different people have different views on culture. Culture derives from the Latin word “culture”, which means “cultivated materials” and “human cultivated nature”. Among various definitions, the first generally accepted and comparatively complete definition is presented by an anthropologistSir Edward Tylor in Primitive Cultures (1871). He defines culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society”. Some linguists consider culture as the deed and thought of a society. Some famous translation theorists define culture as the way of life of a peculiar community, which is expressed by a language.Culture, in A New Concise Course on Linguistics for Students of English, means the total of life of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language that characterize the life of the human community (戴炜栋，2002：127).No matter what its definition is, culture covers every aspect of our life, from environment to cultivated nature, from social production to spiritual works.Proverb is a short well-known saying that states a general truth or gives advice (霍恩比, 2002: 1192). Proverbs come from life and reflect culture. As Bacon says, “Genius wit and spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs” and as an English proverb says, “A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience” (Whiting, 1977: 285).The proverbs of a nation are closely associated with its culture. English and Chinese proverbs are no exception to the rule. English and Chinese religious beliefs, humanistic ideals, moral views, and life and work experiences are all stamped on their proverbs. 2.2 Influence of Religious Beliefs upon English and Chinese Proverbs 2.2.1 Four Religious BeliefsAs an important part of peoples spiritual activities, religious beliefs pose to some extent influences on national cultures. As we all know, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are the three great religions in China and have deep influence on Chinese culture, whereas the English are faithful to Christianity.So there are many proverbs reflecting the main ideals of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, such as “善有善报，恶有恶报” (Be true in word and resolute in deed.), “种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆”(As you sow, so shall you reap.), “物极必反，否极泰来”(No weal without woe.), “受人滴水之恩，应以涌泉相报” ( Graciousness of the water drop, when the bubbling spring reports.), “有志者事竟成” ( Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.), “夫唱妇随”(A bad husband makes a bad wife.) and so on.In Britain and other English-speaking countries, duo to their faith in Christianity, there are proverbs as follows: Man proposes, God disposes; Do as you would be done by; God provides for him that trusts; The love of money is the root of all evil and so on.2.2.2 Different Influences of Beliefs on Proverbs Therere many differences between Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. So here Ill analyze them from the following three aspects:Firstly, they take different attitudes toward deity. In China, some people think there is no deity in the world. Others may think it is possible for everyone to become a deity, that is to say, there exist many deities. However, Christians admits only one God and think it as the dominator of all lives in the world, people included. The relationship between God and human beings is like not only father and son but also host and servant. And people must submit themselves to the God, who is considered to know everything. So a number of proverbs suggest the sovereignty and glory of the God. For example, “God is above all”. Whats more, Christians consider the God to be the paramount deity, meaning they show piety to their religion to a certain degree, there being an example “God is where He was”. However, the Chinese recommend various theories according to different needs. So Cui Xiliang has ever said, “大致说来，中国古代知识分子得意时倾向于孔孟，失意时倾向于老庄；青壮年时倾向于入世，晚年时倾向于出世” (王德春, 杨素英, 黄月圆, 2003: 94) and there are proverbs such as “平时不烧香，临时抱拂脚” (Never burn incense when all is well, but clasp Buddhas feet when in distress).Secondly, equality is obvious in English proverbs; and hierarchy in Chinese proverbs. People dont have any other idol except the God, which results in the equality among people. Therefore, I set several examples to explain it. “Six feet of earth make all men equal”, “We are all Adams children”, and “Every one is a master and servant”. Under the control of equality, people will belittle imperial power, such as “A cat may look at a King”. And “Kings go mad, and the people suffer for it”. Conversely speaking, the Chinese are divided into several ranks in that theres no deity in their hearts. “大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾” and “鸡蛋碰不过石头” all reveal it.Thirdly, bestow and cause and effect are revealed in two kinds of proverbs. Lets begin with the proverb “There, but for the grace of the God, go I ”. It means that if there were no charity given by the God, I would be in a bad luck and misfortunes would befall me; however, with it every bad thing would be dealt with. Heres another example, “God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb”, which comes from LSternes novel. It means weak or vulnerable people have divine protection from the worst misfortunes; its also used when such people are treated with compassion by their fellowmen (马丁.H.曼瑟, 2004: 119). It is God that gives bounty to the unfortunate. Seeing from the two English proverbs, we can easily know Christianity trusts bestow. Different from what Christianity said, Buddhism pays more attention to persuading people into doing goods, especially retribution. So it is easy for us to know proverbs like “善有善报，恶有恶报” (Be true in word and resolute in deed) and “勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为” (We must do good rather than evil, on however humble a scale).2.3 Influence of Humanistic Ideas Upon English and Chinese ProverbsHumanism, a system of thought that considers the settlement of human problems through reasoning more important than religious beliefs, emphasizes the fact that the basic nature of human beings is good (霍恩比, 2002: 862). It gives heed to people as well. Though attitudes towards human beings vary from person to person and questions involved in people account for too many areas, humanism develops differently in English speaking countries and China. Then this chapter uses some typical examples to compare and analyze the differences between English and Chinese proverbs from the point of humanistic ideas.First of all, “Look after number one”, “Self-preservation is the first law of nature” and “Self comes first” all these proverbs show us that the Western humanists consider self as the center. Only after taking self into consideration can they well look after their families, collectives and even countries. But in China people, influenced by Confucianism, first dont put self in the first place. They regard themselves as chessmen who must fight for collective and social interests despite of the sacrifice of themselves sometimes. That is why we can see so many proverbs revealing well-treat of others. Lets set some examples: “严于律己宽以待人”, “一人不成阵，独木不成林”, “国泰民可安，国强民也富”.Whats more, they also show different attitudes to wars. In Western countries, people always think so much about themselves that they often doubt whether the war has a good intention or not. As a result, they more often than not dissatisfy wars. For example，“War is the sport of Kings”, “Put the heads of states in a field and let them fight it out”, and “Wars bring scars”. They hate wars. Just opposite to the views of the English, the Chinese think that it is not war that is to blame. Wars have ever been considered as a justicial move. Therere some people who feel honored if satisfied for their country. They dont deny or reject but appreciate and extol wars. So it is not strange to read “枪杆子里面出政权” and “养兵千日，用在一时”.To sum up, thanks to their different cultures, we can see various proverbs in relation to humanistic ideas.2.4 Influence of Moral Views Upon English and Chinese Proverbs People living in different countries and time have different moral views. I will illustrate it in the following three aspects:First, despite they have some in common, such as glorifying diligence, honesty, fame and so on. Therere many differences reflected in traditional moral views between English and Chinese proverbs. First of all, lets start with proverbs about friendship and making friends. As we have mentioned before, individual benefit is superior to any other interest. In other words, friends are less important than self. “Friends are thieves of time.” is a case in point. The Chinese think friendship is in a higher position compared with self. So many people accept the idea “海内存知己，天涯若比邻”. In China, when we speak of making friends, were ready to help them when theyre in trouble and share the weal and woe with them. As a result of capitalism, the English are for Mammonism and Utilitarianism which induce them to pursue mutual benefit. “Hunger knows no friend” and “Never catch at a falling knife or a falling friend.” has testified it. Whats more, lets talk about their attitudes toward debt. We Chinese people attach great importance to benevolence and righteousness. Benevolence requires ones mercy; righteousness means one should be ready to help others on the grounds that he is very righteous. Here is an example, “济人之急，救人之危”. On the contrary, the English proverbs are “Lend your horse for a long journey, you may have him returned with his skin”, “Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry”, and “Better give a shilling than lend and lose half a crown”. Furthermore, proverbs on gossip are of great difference. Because the Chinese value their reputation, they are in fear of the gossip which does harm to them. Quite a number of proverbs such as “人言可畏” (Gossip is a fearful thing) suggest this point. The English treasure fame as well. As long as they no longer endanger their society and break the law, others evaluation of them is unimportant. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” and “Hard words break no bones.” are good examples.Second, giving the analysis of filial piety, women piety and love, we can definitely find they are different from each other. From the filial piety aspect, in China it means one must show filial piety to ones parents, for parents make ones body and life. There are many other facts concerning with being filial to parents, such as listening to them carefully, taking care of them here and there, showing respect, supporting them when theyre too old to earn money and so on. So the Chinese proverbs are “养儿防老，积谷防饥” and “父母教，须敬听；父母责，须顺承”. In Western countries, the children dont need to do anything as their parents tell and have their own personality even though they also respect their parents. “Children suck the mother when they are young, and the father when they are old”, which is contrary to “养儿防老”. Then lets speak of women piety, during the feudal society in old China, women bear more oppression than those of any other time. No matter where she is, she must comply with others not themselves. Their standing is low and they have no opportunity to go to school with men. “女子无才便是德” and “臣为君死,妻为夫亡”. However, in Englishspeaking countries, women do not have so low status as the Chinese women do. Lots of English proverbs emphasize the importance of women, such as “He who doesnt honor his wife, dishonors himself” and “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband”. Lastly, the distinctive contrast comes from love. In old China free love is forbidden. Many are mercenary marriages, so “父母之命，媒妁之言” comes into being. It is no doubt that in this situation theres no love between them, let alone to say the crystal of love. Therefore, “嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗” can be understood. While from the 14th century, all people have been in pursuit of freedom. So they advocate free love. For examples, “Love is free”, “Love is the touchstone of virtue” and “Love laughs at locksmiths”.Third, considering that moral views vary from time to time, proverbs are developing with the development of languages. Now Ill compare the socialist morals in China with capitalist morals in Western countries in modern times. Since the founding of the PRC, people have supported the equality between women and men, and fundamentally abolished arranged marriage. Whats more, they advocate monogamy. There are examples to support it, such as “两情相愿，结为亲眷”and “一张结婚照，百年记相好”. But “Marriage is a lottery”, “Loving comes by looking” English proverbs turn out to be a tendency of universal love. 2.5 Influence of Life and Work Upon English and Chinese Proverbs Every nation accumulates prolific life and work experiences, which are reflected on its proverbs.Speaking of life experiences, we know China is a big agricultural country with much experience of agriculture, forestry, stock raising and fishery, such as “惊蛰不浸谷, 小暑禾不熟”and “今年栽竹，明年吃笋”. However, “When the wind is in the east, its good neither for man nor for beast. When the wind is in the west, the weathers at the best”. What do these two sentences mean? So we must know the cultural background. Geographical environment has an impact on climate, and climate influences languages and connotative meaning of words. For example, “东风” in Chinese and “east wind” in English have corresponding words in Chinese and English cultures, however, they have different connotative meanings. In China, there are high mountains in western area, facing ocean in the east. In Chinese peoples mind, “东风” symbolizes “spring and warmth”. While In Britain, east wind blows from north European continent and they like west wind. Because west wind blows from Atlantic Ocean, just like “东风” in China (郭建中，1998：126). Therefore, British people dislike east wind. But they like west wind, which represents warmth and spring. There are two famous sentences from Shelleys Ode to the West Wind: O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?On the other hand, Britain is an island country, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north, the English Channel to the south and the North Sea to the east, so British culture can be regarded as sea culture. Seeing from this English proverb “If the rain comes before the wind, lower your topsails, and take them in; if the wind comes before the rain, lower your topsails, and hoist them again”, we know that it not only guides sailors when to hoist and take in topsails, but also can be served as a common climatic phenomenon, that is, if the rain comes before the wind, it will continuously rain; if the wind comes before the rain, it will stop raining sooner or later.3 Translation Strategies and Methods For the sake of using proverbs correctly and appropriately in cross-cultural communication, we must firstly be aware of the cultural differences and national characteristics of English and Chinese proverbs and then master the following three skills: 3.1 Literal Translation Literal translation refers to translate a sentence originally, keep the original message form, including construction of sentence, meaning of the original words, metaphor of the original and so on. Translation would be comprehended by target language readers. If there are many similarities between English and Chinese proverbs, we can use this method. For example:光阴似箭，稍纵即逝Time flies an arrow, and time lost never returns.做一天和尚撞一天钟Go on tolling the bell as long as one is a monk.烈火见真金，患难识真情Fire is the test of gold, adversity of friendship.城门失火，殃及池鱼A fire on city wall brings disaster to the fish in the moat出生牛犊不怕虎New-born calves make little of tigers. (冯庆华, 2001: 134)From the above examples, we are aware that due to the common parts