How Symbol Matters

【Abstract】Translation is a manner of inter-cultural communication， it works as the bridge connecting different nations. As for China， the translation of its ancient cultural classics provides a platform for spreading Chinese culture and thoughts to the westerners. The Analects is one of the classical literature by Chinese Confucianism and was a great representative to the traditional Chinese culture. Since the ancient times， translators， both inland and abroad， have been trying to translate The Analects. But the translation of such classical literature works like The Analects was often hindered by different obstacles. Symbol， according to semiotics， signifies the conventional link between the sign and its signified. So， under such classification， words would seem to be examples of verbal symbols and can be used to signifies different meanings. Under such distinction， every word is a symbol， signifying a specific meaning. This leads to a problem： like The Analects， the words kept unchanged for thousands of years， symbol does not change， but its meaning， due to different context， historical background， and thoughts， will change. This leads to not only problems of understanding， but also to the appropriate translation of literature works. Its of no exaggeration to say， most of the translation mistakes were caused by the inappropriate understanding to words， or symbols. By taking the whole text as a language system and each of its words as a language symbol， the process of translation will be more systematic， providing the translator a clear framework and orientation when searching for the absolute meaning of the source-language text.

【Key words】Symbol; Language; Translation; Concept

【摘要】翻译是一种文化交流的方式，是不同民族之间相互沟通的桥梁。而对于中国而言，古代文学典籍的英译向西方世界传播和弘扬东方文化和思想提供了一个载体。《论语》是中国儒家学派的经典著作之一，对传统的中华文化极具代表性，故历来有大量中外翻译家尝试其翻译工作。但由于其历史跨度之大，它的翻译面临历史和文化差异带来的双重挑战。符号学中的“符号”二字象征着实体与其概念之间的常規联系。那么在这一定义下，所谓字词便成为了代表既定概念的语言符号，即字词皆符号。但在《论语》这样的文化典籍中，历经几千年的时间跨度，作为符号的文字本身并未发生改变。但这些字词的意义却因语言环境，历史背景，思想意识的改变而改变。这无疑对典籍的理解乃至翻译带来了诸多挑战，可以毫不夸张地说，许多对典籍文本的误译源于对其字词（或符号）的误解。因此如何准确理解源语言文本中字符的含义将有助于使翻译的过程更具系统性，为译者提供清晰的翻译框架，在分析文本的真实含义过程更具目的性。

【关键词】符号;语言;翻译;概念

【作者简介】陈振（2000.01-），男，汉族，浙江金华人，广西大学外国语学院外国语文学专业翻译学方向研究生，中国翻译协会会员。

1. Introduction

The translation career in China starts early and Chinese translators always take the translation and spreading of its classical literature as their duty. Translation is a process of expressing the original meaning honestly to listeners through the targeted language. Many translators also take it as the key in translation. For example， Yan Fu， in his translation work Evolution and Ethics， pointed out the translation theory of “信，达，雅”， or （faithfulness， expressiveness， elegance ）， was taken as the highest standard of translation yet it was quite difficult to realize， especially for the translation of classical literature and poetry. With its unique style and different， unknown cultural and social background， the translation of classical literature and poetry can hardly express the original articles meaning while preserving its original style at the same time. So translators may sacrifice original style in order to preserve its meaning. As Ezra Pound， who is the father of the English free style poems， does not focus on keeping the original style and rhythm but pay more attention to the meaning of the literature works. This principle helped him gain huge achievement and finally become the speak person in the field of free style poetry.

But no matter in what language， literature style， or time background. One rule never changes： all literature requires words to symbolize their thoughts. As long as written language still exists， translation process will have to pursue an inevitable process of analyzing and comprehending symbols.

2. Why Symbol Matters

“Language is a kind of symbols”， such proposition seems easy to understand， but when we take a deep look at it， it trigger out a rather complex problem in discipline classification. As we all know， language is the research object of linguistic， but as one of the symbolic appearances， language is also the research object of semiotics. So what is the relationship between linguistics and semiotics？

2.1 Language is Symbol

Saussure first mentioned in his book Cours de linguistique generale that  language is a semiotic system which expresses thoughts， therefore， language was similar to words; alphabets; ceremony; social etiquette; military signals; etc.， only to say that language is the most important one among all these systems. Saussure was the first person whom take language into the aspect of semiotics research， he clearly pointed out that linguistics is part of semiotics.

Saussure categorized the two components of language symbol into ‘designation and ‘signification and take the combination of both as symbols. Generally saying， there is no necessary relation between signification and designation， which can be exemplified with one simple example： ‘the top of human body can not only be nominated by the English voice /head/， but can also be nominated by the Chinese voice /tou/. Only if the social members using a specific language can accept such sound patterns， there will be no good and bad between different sound patterns. That is to say， there is no inner reason for connecting the concept ‘head with the sound /head/， this is the arbitrariness of language symbols since the relationship between designation and signification is random.When mentioned about this problem， Saussure claimed that： The connection between designation and signification is random. Or to say， since the so called symbol is the combination of designation and signification， I can say language symbols are random.

2.2 Systematic symbols

As mentioned above， Saussure accepted part of traditional linguistics views and take symbol as ‘the opposite of vocal image， but he take the combination of voice pattern and conception simply as part of what symbol really means. As long as the language system exists. Saussure object to the simple idea of taking symbol as the combination of conception and voice pattern， since both of them are of complex relationship with other components in the language system.

Saussure take such kind of relationship as ‘value， in his own words， value can be regarded as：

A word can exchange itself with something different， like ideas. It can also be exchanged with something of the same property， like another word. So when we see a word can be exchange with a conception， which means that we saw it has a certain meaning， we still cant define its value， we still need to compare it with other words which have the similar value. We can only define a words value with the help of something beside the word itself. Since word is a part of system， it owns a meaning as well as a value， its completely another story.

Saussure separates the systematic relation of language symbols into two categories： syntagmatic relation and paradigmatic relation. Syntagmatic relation refers to the relationship a symbol can form with other surrounding symbols in the referring process， this kind of relation can only be reached in actual utterances， its main expression is the connection and coordination among verbal components. While paradigmatic relation rely on the similarities between symbols in aspects of form or sense under the level of signification and designation. In the aspect of signification， similarities among language symbols can be concluded as below： same prefix or suffix; words which rhyme with each other and homo-phony. In the aspect of designation， phenomenons like synonym and antonym etc can all constitute similarities among symbols. Besides， some symbols may be similar in both two aspects， like the word /éducation/ and /instruction/ in French， both of them are of the meaning ‘education， and both with the same suffix.

All symbols are in such two types of relations， part of their meaning was defined by other components in the same system， another part by the surrounding symbols in specific utterances.

3. Where Question Exists

Numerous inland scholars and translators are now working on and initiating the translation of classic literature into foreign languages. After generations of efforts， we  have achieved significant achievements， it is understated to say that we have walked out our step on the road of translating and introducing Chinese cultural relics which is long and hard and had already gained respectful achievements.

But obstacles exists， under the perspective of semiotics， the translation of classical Chinese literature was mostly hindered by the misunderstanding of language symbols. Such misunderstandings were mostly due to historical; cultural; verbal and ideological differences. To provide a clear view， here provides an example.

Mistakes caused by the misunderstanding of word usages in translation are of nothing new. So while translating， make sure you understand the cultural and social background of the article and consider the logical availability of your translation before translating. Thinking twice is the method to avoid mistakes of misunderstanding.

4. Culture and History  

Chinese ancient culture is unique and of different social background caused by historical reasons. As a result， it is impossible to understand completely of the meaning of a passage， and therefore to clearly definite the conception of certain language symbols.

4.1 The different ancient cultural and social background

Chinese classical literature usually is of long history so some of the sentence or words may be hard to be understood correctly due to the inappropriate knowledge of its cultural and social background.

Example：

子曰：“自行束脩以上，吾未嘗无悔焉。”

（Original Version：96）

Confucius remarked： “In teaching man， I make no difference between rich and the poor. I have taught men who could just afford to bring me the barest presentation gift in the same way as I have taught others.”（Translated Version：97）

In this translation， we could make a look at the word“束脩”. according to the dictionary，“束脩”means jerky（or preserved meat）. This will make the sentence translated as： I will always make teaching on those whom hand in ten jerky self-consciously， yet it indeed sound illogical. About this sentence， there exist two types of understanding. First is to take“束脩” as the represent of tuition fees and take the sentence as： As long as you paid tuition fees， there is no anyone whom I will not taught. This type of translation is translate according to the pattern of“自行.....以上”. But in recent researches， there could not find any record of using “自行....以上” in classical literature and works but found two times for the use of the pattern“自......以上”. This will make the sentence turn into /自/行束脩/以上/. In ancient times， Boys up to the age of fifteen can start schooling. So“行束脩”， which could be regarded as reaching the age of schooling， from this point， the sentence could be translated as： I wont refuse to teach a person up to the age of schooling.

Ku take“束脩”as its original meaning as ten jerky （in represent of tuition fee） and take the number “ten” as a medium level of gift while entering school. So instead of translating the word， Ku take “the barest presentation gift” as a represent， that Confucius will make teaching whatever the student is rich or poor.

4.2 Different Morality and Cultural Views

In the ancient times， because of historical and social restrictions， the morality principle and philosophical thoughts is also different. So some remarks made by Confucius may sound illogical which caused the misunderstanding of its meaning.

Example：

子曰：“民可使由之，不可使知之。”

（Original Version：118）

Confucius remarked， “The common people should be educated in what they ought to do; not to ask why they should do it.”

（Translated Version：119）

From the above sentences， it seems that Confucius supported the policy of running a country by keeping its people in ignorance （愚民政策）. It sounds a bit of derogatory and was in contrast to todays thoughts. In the below， Ku makes annotations that “not let common people know” does not means “shouldnt let them know” but means “common people is difficult to understand your thoughts”. Such type of explain， though not of very much comprehensive， but was acceptable.

4.3 Lack of enough historical information

The Analects was originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Waring State Period. A work recording remarks of Confucius which is created at the time between 540B.C. and 400B.C. It was a history of chaos. This makes us unable to collect enough related information to make understanding thoroughly. This is one of the obstacles encountered by the translators while translating The Analects.

There exists many remarks from Confucius in The Analects which is incomplete and was unable to confirm the missing information causing by the lack of relating historical materials. This requires translators to make use of their imagination and make adventurous explanation.

Example：

子曰：“作者七人矣。”（Original Version：242）

Confucius went on to say， “I know of seven men who have written books.”（Translated Version：243）

It could be seen from the original version that Confucius simply said that there have been seven people whom had already done this， but he does not explain what they have done and there have been no related historical literature or recordings for explaining this. It surely brings obstacles for translators while translating the version. Ku takes a historical recording as an example and make up a venture translation of taking“作”as ‘to write books and profound theories.

5. Symbol and Verbal Issues

The Analects is a classical work of rich cultural value， and has great impact on Chinese traditional literature. Many words and expressions are of wide meaning and of enormous information content. Specific words such as words that now does not exist or use and names of country or dynasty may also be problems and require translator to translate according to their imagination.

5.1 Specific Vocabularies

Specific vocabularies are like unique symbols， as long as symbols exists in language system， we always need to understand the role of a language symbol in the system and seek for a symbol in object language that designate the similar meaning. But some words representes enormous conception， like the Chinese word ‘礼 can be taken as the best example among words with enormous implications used in The Analects. “礼”， firstly used in The Analects is in the twelfth section of Chapter 1. Caused by the enormous implications and broad coverage of meaning， Hong-Ming Ku pay a great effort in order to explain “礼” completely.

Example：

有子曰：“礼之用，和为贵。先王之道，斯为美，小大由之。有所不行，知和而和，不以礼节之，亦不可行也。”

（Original Version：8）

A disciple of Confucius remarked， “In the practice of art[]， what is valuable is natural spontaneity. According to the rules of art held by the ancient kings it was this quality in a work of art which constituted its excellence; in great as well as in small things they were guided by this principle. But in being natural there is something not permitted. To know that it is necessary to be natural without restraining the impulse to be natural by the strict principle of art， ——that is something not permitted.

（Translated version：9）

We could see that Hong-Ming Ku translated“禮”as “art”， but it is sure that art is not representing the broad containment of ‘礼， so in order to explain it to prevent confusion. Ku make a long sheet of annotation below his translation. In Chinese classical literature it is normal to see such type of words， they contained broad range of meaning and is almost impossible to find genuine native expressions to substitute. Such condition requires the translators to translate properly or to make annotations in order to explain the word in a comprehensible way.

In Hong-Ming Kus explain of“礼”， as he translates it as “art”， he gradually make explanation of both ‘礼 and “art”， and show the similarities and differences between the two words. But the insufficiency exists in the lack of explain of the original and derivative meaning of“礼”.

Some words are of strong historical characteristics， and as a classical literature， The Analects contained many specific vocabularies which cannot be translate according to its meaning since the conception it represents cannot be symbolized in the object language.

Specific vocabularies， mainly can be divided into two types. First are the names of specific nouns. Methods of translating such words may also differ.

Example：

子曰：“不有祝鮀之佞，而有宋朝之美，難乎免于今之世矣。”（Original Version：84）

Confucius， referring to two noted characters of his time， remarked， “A man who has not the wit of that person （the Sydhey Smith of the time） and the fine appearance of that noble lord （the Lord Chesterfield of the time）， will never get on in society now. （Translated Version：85）

“祝鮀” is a senior official in feudal China， “佞” meaning the talent of speech. According to the recording of ‘The Commentary of Zuo， Zhu Tuo is skilled in diplomatic speech， argument and flattering so he was very much appreciated by Duke Spirit of Wei （卫灵公）. “宋朝”is a gentlemen of Song whom is famous for his good looks. For this two important figures in the original version， simply translate in accent will surely fail to express the character of the figure and influence readers understanding of the original version. And if translate it directly or by adding connotations， since it relate to complex historical backgrounds， will bring too much burdens for readers. So in order to face the problem properly， Ku make use of foreign celebrities with the similar character to replace these figures， like taking Sydhey Smith （Famous English writer of the 19th century） in place of “祝鮀”and Lord Chesterfield （Reputed English politician， diplomatist， litterateur whom is casual and of elegant bearing） in place of “宋朝”. This makes readers able to catch the quintessence of the article in short time.

6.Conclusion

Translation， as a process of transmitting information; thoughts and even culture， a translator always risks inadvertently introducing source-language words， grammar， or syntax into the target-language rendering. This leads to the laboriousness of the translation process， but however the style changes. The principle of translation： veracity， never changes， so making a clear understanding of the value of each symbols in the text will be especially crucial. By taking the whole text as a language system and each word as a language symbol， the process of translation will be more systematic， providing the translator a clear framework and orientation when searching for the absolute meaning of the source-language text.

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