On the C—E Tourism Translation of Wudang Mountains in light of “read，translate and write”

葉涵宇

【Abstract】The paper makes an analysis of the C-E tourism translation of Wudang Mountains from the perspective of the principle of“read，translate and write”and puts forward suggestions.

【Key words】C-E； tourism translation； Wudang Mountains； “read，translate and write”

Ⅰ. Relevant theories on the principle of “read， translate and write”

The principle of “read， translate and write” was put forward by Professor LIN Ke-nan in International Seminar on Applied Translation in Shanghai in 2003. The principle of “read， translate and write” consists of “Read”， “Translate” and “Write”. “Read” means getting in touch with a large number of authentic materials of practical English from English-speaking countries before doing general language translation，thus accumulating perceptual knowledge of practical English in various occasions， contexts and functions. “Read” is the basis and core of general language translation， laying a foundation for “translate” and “write”. “Read” not only makes general language translation accurate and idiomatic， but also makes it easy to do translation.

“Translate” refers to translating which apparently differs from the traditional translation. “Translate” requires the translators to model on the characteristics， format and even expressions of similar English texts or “parallel texts” which have been read and accumulated， but not to translate word by word. The translated practical English texts should look very much like the English texts in the same contexts.

“Write” is the highest level in the development of general language translation， or the inevitable way. “Write” means translators directly write practical English texts in English with the materials provided by the initiator of translation. The texts written should follow the format of “parallel texts” in English. The perfect way is the initiator of translation tells the main contents to the translator， and then the translator writes by himself with the format he has mastered， which is better than “translate”. In this way， the translators have more opportunities to give full play to translation which will be more in line with the habits of the target language readers.

Ⅱ. The analysis of the C-E tourism translation of Wudang Mountains

On the whole， the tourism translation of Wudang Mountains does not yield satisfactory results. Spelling and grammatical mistakes do exist in both public signs and introductions of scenic spots. Most tourism translation is translated word by word which does not conform to the reading habits of the target readers.

Here is a public sign from Wudang Mountains：

入山不帶火，在外不吸煙。

Never take a lighter or match， and never smoke when doing Mt. Wudang.

The English version is right in grammar， but “when doing Mt. Wudang” is obviously a semantic mistake. The Chinese “火” is rendered into “lighter or match”. Although there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes， it fails to appeal to the target readers because it is not idiomatic. According to “read， translate and write”， authentic materials of practical English from English-speaking countries should be read. As two notes from the book Self-surviving in America by LIN Ke-nan and Ji Mingwen say， “carrying matches and the like prohibited” and “smoking prohibited”， the above public sign can be rendered into “Smoking， carrying matches and the like prohibited.”

Take an introduction of scenic spots for example：

Taoism has a long history with tea. Its said that during the Prince cultivated himself， the wudang regimen tea contribute a lot to his success of becoming the immortal. Wudang Moutain is the home of Chinese Taoist Tea. In the hall， you can taste Taoist tea.

道家與茶結緣由來已久。相傳太子修煉期間即以武當養生茶助其功力和道行，后世不少高道仙真均將其視為瓊漿仙露，借其修真養性。武當山是“中國道茶文化之鄉”。仙山圣水育道茶，茶香禪意品人生。自然之景、自然之茶、自然之人、自然之道—悟道堂里品人生。

The Chinese version is abundant with four-word-character phrases“瓊漿仙露”“修真養性”“ 自然之景、自然之茶、自然之人、自然之道”and even alive with an antithetical sentence “仙山圣水育道茶，茶香禪意品人生”. The English translation is concise and informative， but has several grammatical mistakes， which provides inaccurate traveling information， thus preventing foreign visitors from understanding Chinese culture in a right way. “Has a long history with tea” in the first sentence should be “has a long history of tea”. The second sentence should be changed into “Its said that during the Princes cultivation， the wudang regimen tea contributes a lot to his success of becoming the immortal.”

Ⅲ. Conclusion

Tourism， as an important industry in service trade， plays an important role in developing national economy and improving international status，which calls for well-translated tourist texts to provide accurate traveling information and to attract more oversea sightseers.

References：

[1]Snell-hornby M.Translation Studies：An Integrated Approach [M].Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press，2001.