Representing Ethics in P.P.Thoms’s English Translation of The Hwa-tsëen

Yanhua WANG

Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics and Information

Abstract The Hwa-tsëen 花笺记,a classic Chinese novel,was first rendered into English by Peter Perring Thoms in 1824 as Chinese Courtship in Verse,and his version has been reprinted many times ever since.This study analyzes the factors that influence the translator’s representation ethics and his distinctive translation strategies.It finds that representation ethics in Thoms’s rendition is largely demonstrated by such methods as literal translation and transliteration as well as by paratexts.It further explores the uses of paratexts and points out that paratexts help demonstrate the translator’s representation ethics but in turn keep the translator’s translation work from diverging from the original text.

Keywords:translation,ethics,The Hwa-tsëen,Chinese Courtship in Verse

1.Introduction to The Hwa-tsëen and its English editions

The Hwa-tsëen花笺记,traditionally known as “The Flower’s Leaf,the Eighth’s Chinese Literary Work”,made its first appearance in southern China in the 17th century.It was said to be compiled and edited by Zhong Yingxue 钟映雪.It centers on a romance of a talented scholar,Liang Fang-chow,and two pretty ladies,Yang Yaou-sëen and Lew Yǔh-king.Liang accidentally met Yang and fell madly in love with her.Yet as fate would have it,when they were happily in love,Liang found that his father had engaged him to a stranger,Lew.The two young lovers were desperately stricken by their predestined separation,with Liang heartbroken to the point that he even thought of giving up his life.Thankfully,the tragedy did not happen,and they were fortunately blessed.Later,the novel was adapted into a Cantonese drama,Mŭh-yu,and it became very popular in the Cantonese-speaking community,home and abroad,especially among female audiences.

Its first journey westward was attributed to Peter Perring Thoms (1790-1855),an English printer and later sinologist.Thoms was sent to Macao,China,in 1814 to assist in printing Robert Morrison’s monumental workA Dictionary of the Chinese Language华英字典.His bilingual work impelled him to learn Chinese and he gradually took a keen interest in the Chinese language and studied Chinese diligently by himself.He was believed to be the first to render the first nine chapters ofThe Romance of Three Kingdoms三国演义 into English,entitledThe Death of the Celebrated Minister Tung-cho(名丞相董卓之死),which was published in three instalments inAsiatic Journalin 1820-1821 (Zheng,2015,p.135).He selected one chapter fromAncient and Modern Wonderful Tales(古今奇观) and translated it into English with the title ofThe Affectionate Pair of the History of Sung-kin:A Chinese Tale(宋金郎团圆破毡笠).To his surprise,his rendition was lauded by Sir Charles Wilkins from the Honorable East India Company,which partly led to its publication by Parbury,Allen and Kingsbury Press in 1820 (Yi,2016,p.101).

Thrilled and encouraged by these successful attempts in Chinese-English translation,he cast his eyes onThe Hwa-tsëen.Since the book is written in verse form with regular rhymes,he not only found poems in the original to be “interesting” and “poetical”,but also “the distress and reciprocal feelings of the lovers,the pleasing and artful address of the servants,the virtue and constancy of the young ladies” to be “entertaining” and “calculated” (Thoms,1824,p.vi).He managed to render it into English in a verse form and put it to print,believing that “those who are fond of rural poetry cannot but be pleased with the Chinese description of a garden and their frequent allusion to the flowers” (ibid.).Later,when Sir John Bowring read its Dutch version and was enchanted by the story,he translated this Dutch edition into English in 1868,entitledHwa Tsien Ki:The Flowery Scroll,a Chinese Novel.

2.Representation ethics

Chesterman (2001,pp.139-141) proposed four models of translation ethics,ethics of representation,ethics of service,ethics of communication,and norm-based ethics.He stated that representation ethics roots out of “the ideal of the faithful interpreter and to the translation of sacred texts” (Chesterman,2001,p.139); and that translation ethics requires the accurate representation of the source text,or the source author’s intention without addition,omission or change.In Chesterman’s viewpoint,the nature of translation is to deal with the otherness,i.e.the relation with alterity.An Ethics of representation requires the faithful conveyance of the Other in translation.When the translator interprets a text,there is a great necessity to be most faithful and true to the source culture and the source author’s intention,since “if a translation misrepresents the Other,the result may be a prejudiced,biased,ideologically suspect version,which has unethical consequences for intercultural perceptions and relations” (ibid.,pp.139-140).It can be seen that representation ethics in translation are mainly the translator’s moral beliefs and principles towards the source culture,requiring the translator’s faithful interpretation of the otherness in the source culture,without any changing,distorting,adding,or omitting so that the version can be as faithful to the original as what it is.

Chesterman’s ethical representation demands equality of all cultures,an echo of Berman’s idea that the strangeness of the foreign is negated when translators try to make translations readable and communicable,which is called bad translation.Yet,translation exists in a much more complicated environment,determined by many factors such as social context,economy,politics,literary prestige,discourse power.Even-Zohar’s theory of polysystem clearly illustrates that cultures have different strata in a larger social background,some of which are dominant and situated in the center of literary polysystem,while others are weak and excluded from the center.Those strong ones in the center enjoy the privileges,meaning they have more discourse power and tend to be much respected,valued and modelled while those in the periphery of the polysystem neglected and repressed.In translation,those cultures in the center are usually treated faithfully and truly while those in the periphery are abusively and casually adapted,leading to misinterpretation,distortion or manipulation in translation (Even-Zohar,1990).

Though “good translation is not a matter of reproducing meaning but rather of locating echoes”(Sciortino,2015,p.109),which means a high demand for the invisibility of the translator but an impossible thing in practice since translation cannot be done in a vacuum,it is determined by many complex factors and accomplished by the mediator,that is,the translator,who,in reality,plays a visible and sometimes predominant role in translation (Lefevere,2004).The translator has always been there and wields the discourse power in their job,in which the translator’s ethics poses an undeniable power in translating.The translator’s social identity,translational purposes,ideology,or even patronage determine their ethics in translation.Chesterman’s four models of translation ethics interlink but diverge,with ethics of representation as the first concern.

3.Representing the otherness in Chinese Courtship in Verse

The Hwa-tsëen,first written as a literary work and then adapted into a Cantonese opera,was set in feudal China.So for English readers,its language,social customs,people’s way of thinking are all part of the Other.The greatest feature of Thoms’s rendition is the way he treats the Other in his translation,which is also the best embodiment of his ethics of representation.The otherness in this work can be roughly divided into three categories:zero otherness,partial otherness,and total otherness,represented differently in Thoms’s translation.

3.1 Zero otherness

Zero otherness means that the source culture and the target culture share the sameness and communicability,which guarantees the translatability and reception of the translated work.The two cultures share the same things to express and communicate so the translator need not run a risk of misinterpreting the original text,which exempts him/her from any criticism for disloyalty or unfaithfulness.

The story of the original is a primary reason for the translator’s work.The genuine and eternal love is one of the common pursuits of all cultures,never failing to arouse readers’ interest,sympathy,and admiration.How passionate lovers overcome all the obstacles ahead and achieve a happy ending in a romance has always been a common concern worldwide.Chinese Courtshipin Versehappens to be such a story,centering on a universally fascinating topic:The romances between beautiful ladies and a talented gentleman with a happy ending.The prerequisite of translating this romance is that Easterners and Westerners share the same dream of pursuing happiness and romanticism.

In translating the text,zero otherness also means both languages have the same images,expressions or figures of speech,which conveniently serves the translator’s ethics of representation in translation.In Chapter Seven,two lines “东方捧出红轮现，含愁抱闷挨到天光” describe Liang’s subtle longing for a beautiful lady whose beauty and elegance carried him away.The image “红轮” is metaphorically employed to refer to the sun and English happens to have such an equivalent “orb” which refers to an object that has a perfectly round shape,specifically,the sun or the moon.Accordingly,it is convenient for the translator to render it into “When the red orb made its appearance in the east,/The distressed knew no relief to his sorrow,though the day had began (begun) to dawn” (Thoms,1824,p.27).Sure enough,the translator cannot possibly reveal all the connotations in the lines,such as Buddhist implications in “红轮” and “愁”,“闷”.A Buddhist-derived image “红轮” implies that some god is lifting up the glowing wheel to make its appearance.The young man swallows sorrow,nurses depression,and begins to struggle in the mire of misery (Ku Hai).Nevertheless,when the word is rendered into English,readers in the target language can get the same impression,which keeps the closest meaning to the original.

Zero otherness satisfies the translator’s fulfillment of representation ethics for faithfulness and truth.Without any adaptation in translation,it is safe for the translator to code and decode between languages and cultures.

3.2 Partial otherness

Partial otherness primarily involves adaptable cultural dissimilarities,which implies that the translator needs to put into consideration differences between the original text and the target text.It greatly depends on the translator’s intentions of translation and attitudes towards the source language and culture.In translation,“either the translator leaves the author in peace,as much as possible,and moves the reader towards him; or he leaves the reader in peace,as much as possible,and moves the author towards him”(Venuti,1991,p.129).For the second method,translation is implied “suffering” — “the suffering of what one thinks of as one’s own—the suffering of the original language” (Eaglestone,2005,p.135).

We think we are at ease in our own language,we feel a coziness,a familiarity,a shelter in the language we call our own,in which we think that we are not alienated.What translation reveals is that this alienation is at its strongest in our relation to our own language.(ibid.)

To relieve readers’ alienation and regain their coziness,the translator needs to adapt the original and remove parts that cause unfamiliarity and uneasiness for the readership.However,in this process,the translator may take the risk of breaking the rules of faithfulness to the original and the author’s intention in representation ethics.On the contrary,source-culture-oriented translation highlights the alienation or foreignization in the source language and culture,registering “the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text,[thus] sending the reader abroad” (Venuti,2004,p.20).Normally,this will lead to uncoziness and unfamiliarity with the reader,but it facilitates the dissemination of the original.The translator’s representation ethics demands that the translator represent the original faithfully,without distortion,addition,or deletion.Since there is no need for adapting the differences of the original,the translator can transfer the original as what it is to best observe the ethics of representation.

Despite the shared romanticism,the source text ofChinese Courtship in Verseexemplifies the difference between Eastern and Western cultures.The love story between a genteel gentleman and a lovely lady remains universally popular,but their expression differs greatly.The young people’s piety and obedience to their parents and family,their deep-rooted conformity to ethics and rites—the core of Chinese family discipline,are the most valued morality in the novel.Stories of Mǔh-yu are traditional Cantonese local opera that mostly revolve around the romance between young adults.They often feature central themes like absolute obedience to parents’ orders,abstention from personal lust and love,inferiority of females,the superiority of males,and polygamy.These traditional Chinese ethics and social conventions are often contradictory to Western ideologies.Liang and Yang’s romance is familiar,but their passivity is quite incomprehensible.When the obstacles of their love appeared,their ingrained morality prevented them from any trial or struggle.The plot that Liang would rather put an end to his life than disclose his true feelings to his parents is not so admirable compared with daring,undefeated Romeo and Juliet and their happy ending not so convincing and touching in the eyes of Western readers.

Partial otherness in translation mainly tackles different images and expressions between languages and cultures.Representation ethics prioritizes the original and requires the translator’s faithful transference of the original.However,Chesterman (2001,p.141) points out that translation should also observe service ethics and communication ethics,which stresses the reception of the readership.The difficulty in understanding compels the translator to make necessary adaptations to guarantee both faithfulness and communication.

In the first chapter,the time of the story is illustrated in two familiar images of popular folklore,“天孙今夜会牛郎”,the Cowboy and the Weavermaid,who meet once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month on the lunar calendar.The translator rendered it into “For tonight,it is said,heaven’s bride and bridegroom unite” (Thoms,1824,p.1).The rendition of “heaven’s bride and bridegroom unite” does not readily suggest the time to Westerners.The author used a footnote to explain that the constellations Chǐh-new or Këen-new and New-lang in Chinese culture are the equivalents of Lyra and Capricornus in Western culture,which helps Western readers understand the two stars while accepting Chinese images.Yet,they tell different stories,so the translator continued to depict the Chinese story to target readers.Thus,representation and communication ethics are both achieved.

Another problem comes from similar images with different associations in terms of both language and culture.Translating also calls for some necessary annotations of different implications.In the lines “见姐此来却有意，为雨为云学楚王”,the two images “雨” (rain) and “云” (cloud) are shared in English,but different in meanings in the two cultures.The image “云雨” derives from the romance between King Chu and the goddess in Mount Wu,who came to meet her lover in the form of rain or cloud.This Chinese sexual connotation does not share the same “romantic” connotation in English.The translation is as follows:

On seeing you advance,Miss,I know you are disposed,

To aid me,in imitating the conduct of the sovereign of Tsoo.(Thoms,1824,p.22)

It is the same as “风月” (wind and moon) repeated inChinese Courtshipin Versewhich is even called“风月书” (a book of wind and moon).The image is seen in many places such as “会闻一段奇风月”，“二生抱膝谈风月”，“人世得逢风月景”，“少年都系风月性”.The faithful translation of this image into “wind and moon” does not make any sense in English,although it has erotic connotation in Chinese culture,meaning amorous affair or passion.That’s why images “风月” in the lines above are respectively translated into “the amorous affair”,“instance of love”,“pleasure”,and “the flower and shadow”.These adaptations are necessary for the benefit of Western readers.

Approaches to this kind of otherness often arouse debates,since the translator tackles partial otherness from different perspectives:domestication or foreignization,which may lead to distinctive productions,a target-culture-oriented version or a source-culture-oriented version.The latter tends to be more concordant with the requirements of the translator’s representation ethics,but the translator represents either denotations or connotations of the original in different ways.When denotations confuse target readers,connotations come to take the place,so translation basically remains faithful to the original text and representation ethics.

3.3 Total otherness

Generally called untranslatability,total otherness means that there is no equivalent between the target and source texts when it comes to language and culture.Roughly speaking,there are two types of untranslatability:linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability.This is where difficulties arise and translation strategies differ.Diverse factors may distract the translator from faithful transference,so the translator’s representation ethics diverge most.

Firstly,phonology is untranslatable since Chinese and English do not share the same phonology.Chinese Courtship in Verseis an exceptionally rhymed novel in Chinese literary history.Most lines rhymed in -ang,-an,-uan,etc.These Chinese vowels belong to sonorous sounds,which usually express poetic feelings of passion,liveliness,or cheerfulness (Xie & Cao,1984,p.270).As a result,the lyrics sound sweet and poetic to listeners.Since there is no equivalent of such phonology in English,Thoms kept the poetic form in translation as a compensation.

Secondly,as far as this novel is concerned,culture-bound allusions are one of the most unsurpassable obstacles in translation for their lack of equivalents in the target language and culture.Arthur Waley(1918,p.21) expressed his disfavor of exorbitant allusions in Chinese poetry.He took them as a literary vice in China and blamed them for ruining Chinese poetry.Chinese Courtship in Verse,one of the classical literary works,is full of allusions.Schleiermacher’s two proposals may lead to different representation ethics in translation:faithful or unfaithful to the original.Thoms decided to retain the spirit of the original through the use of paratexts and transliteration.

3.3.1 Paratexts

Paratext was first introduced by French literary theorist Gerald Genette in the 1990s,who defined it as those things in a published work that accompany the text,such as author’s name,title,preface or introduction,or illustrations (Genette,1997,pp.1-2).Allen (2000,p.103) expanded this to include peritext,such as titles,chapter titles,prefaces,and notes,and epitext elements,such as interviews,publicity announcements,reviews,private letters,and other authorial and editorial discussions in the category of paratext,namely elements outside of the text.Paratext is a threshold through which the original can be accessed by foreign readers.

Paratexts are also taken “as any material additional to,appended to or external to the core text which has functions of explaining,defining,instructing,or supporting,adding background information”(Batchelor,2018,p.27).These explanatory,instructive,or supportive functions of paratexts are instrumental for Western readers to follow Thoms’s rendition ofChinese Courtship in Verse.Miss Yang was hesitant to Mr.Liang’s proposal,worrying that private betrothal was not acceptable by rites and might ruin her parents’ reputation and bring shame on her family and possibly herself since Chinese young people’s marriage has traditionally been arranged by their parents and matchmakers.Her maid tried to relieve her worries and persuade her to accept Liang’s love.The maid praised Liang’s great talent and noble-mindedness and related many famous beauties’ suffering in marriage to imply Liang was her Mr.Right.The original reads:

纵然好极为皇后，多少冷宫愁挨怨身单。

重有昭君出塞归何处？杨妃饮恨马嵬山。

乌江自刎虞姬死，西施沉落五湖间，

千金难买相如赋，六宫当会减朱颜。（Thoms,1824,pp.97-98）

The maid used six allusions to suggest that many beauties seemingly married well but lived a tragic life.Married into a royal family,a beauty might suffer more than in an ordinary family.None of the Four Beauties in Chinese history enjoyed longevity.The translator put these lines as follows:

Though in this life to become queen is what is most desired among women,

Still there are many,repining,left alone in the Lang-kwan apartments.

Recollect the unfortunate Chaou-keun,who left the frontiers,where is she gone?

And Yang-fe,who being indignant,repaired to the hill Ma-kwei.

The beautiful Yu-ke,on her arrival at Woo-keang,cut her throat;

And the lovely Se-she,terminated her existence in the five streams.

Do you imagine that a thousand pieces of gold will purchase Seang-joo,

For the six private apartments of the palace are constantly loosing the fair.(Thoms,1824,pp.98-99)

These five historical characters,“Chaou-keun” (昭君),“Yang-fe”(杨妃),“Yu-ke” (虞姬),“Se-she”(西施),“Seang-joo”(相如),are all familiar to Chinese people but totally strange to Westerners.Thus,the translator is faced with a dilemma:to translate or not to translate.To translate,as it is totally beyond Westerners’ reach; not to translate,since it needs great adaptation.Thoms chose to transfer all the allusions faithfully.To compensate the incomprehensibility,he resorted to paratexts,using footnotes to introduce those historical personalities.For example,Yang-fe was annotated this way:

Yang-fe,was concubine to Ming-wang,of the Tang Dynasty.After having illicit intercourse with a revolting minister,she with the emperor repaired to the hill Ma-kwei,where from the consciousness of guilt,she put an end to her existence,by hanging herself.She was considered very beautiful,and was greatly beloved by the emperor.(Thoms,1824,p.98)

Here,the translator made mistakes in Yang’s life story.She was hanged by the angry troops in a rebellion for being too indulgent in pleasure and indifferent to the common people’s misery.Yet,the above annotation gave a general idea of the allusion and made it easier for readers to understand the original.

With the help of forty-four footnotes,the translator was able to introduce to Western readers many characters from Chinese folk tales like the Cowboy and the Weavermaid (牛郎织女),the fisherman in Tao Yuan (桃源渔郎),King Chu (楚襄王),Nongyu and Xiaolang (萧郎弄玉),the King in the Hades (阎王),Chang’e (嫦娥),and Boya (伯牙).The same is also true for historical characters such as the Talent,Cao Zijian (才高八斗曹子建),Ban Jieyu (班婕妤),Sima Xiangru (司马相如),and the Four Beauties (四大美人).Chinese historical stories such asThe Story of Red Leaf(红叶传情) andSu Wu(苏武牧羊),Chinese literary works likeThe West Chamber(西厢记),and famous Chinese-culture-bound images like golden lily (金莲),yuan-yang(鸳鸯),qiang-wei (蔷薇),fu-rong(芙蓉) andfenghuang(凤凰) were also conveyed this way.The version is not only a love story but also a small history book of Chinese society.

The translator did not avoid cultural alterity but tried to convey faithfully source-culturebound images instead.The cultural otherness is represented in paratexts,which best conforms to the requirements of representation ethics.

3.3.2 Transliteration

Another strategy Thoms employed to resolve issues with total otherness is to transliterate the sourceculture-bound images and point out the connotations.Consequently,the original images were able to be transferred in the translation.For example,in the lines “细想仙源如有路，小生宁愿做渔郎”,there is an allusion to “渔郎” which comes from famous prose by Tao Yuanming.The story is about a fisherman in Wuling who ran into an immortal place.The two lines are rendered as follows in English:From hence a road he imagined must lead to the immortal springs,/If so,how desirable for him to become the fisherman Yu-leang (Thoms,1824,p.16).渔郎 is mistakenly taken as a name,so his identity—the fisherman—is added for readers’ convenience.Transliteration helps expand the surviving scope of some original cultural images in translation to keep the translated text close to the original.

In dealing with total otherness in translation,paratexts help realize the translator’s ethics of representation.When the original is full of alien images and expressions incomprehensible to target readers and the translator feels obliged to transfer it faithfully,paratexts bridge the gap between the foreignized translation and the original.The translator’s faithful transference of the original best embodies ethics of representation in translation while paratexts solve target readers’ problems in comprehending the alienated text.Unfamiliar source-culture-bound images are potential unsurmountable reading obstacles for target readers and greatly impede their reading experience.Besides,they separate readers and the translation further apart,making interesting stories in the source culture awkward and boring in the target culture.Paratexts,however,compensate for this defect by providing necessary background information of the source culture.They encourage readers to explore more in the source culture,so the original seems to be an open-ended text ready for further research.

4.Influential factors in Thoms’s representation ethics

Thoms intended to represent the original as faithfully as possible,but his representation ethics are also influenced by some other factors,the first one being his choice of bilingual version and the second dualistic paratexts—biography and appendix.

4.1 Bilingual version

Translation serves different purposes,sometimes for entertaining and communicating,while other times for informing and enlightening.Accordingly,the translator may adopt various translation strategies:adding,abridging,adapting,or rewriting.In many cases,the translated text somewhat differs from the original,and translated publications appear more often in monolingual editions than bilingual editions.

Thoms was conscious enough to know this.

From the extracts given,however correctly rendered,not retaining the form of the original,can give the European reader but an imperfect idea of the structure of Chinese poetry,having adopted much more freedom,than the translator of the following work could,from the plan he has adopted,and which seems best calculated to give the sense and meaning of his author.(Thoms,1824,p.xii)

If readers do not read the original,the translator will enjoy relatively more freedom in translation and be able to make addition,abridgment,adaptation without running the risk of being blamed for unfaithfulness.Yet Thoms preferred a bilingual version,aligning his translation side by side with the original so that readers could easily acquaint the structure and style of Chinese poetry and make a good study of both the original and his version.By so doing,Thoms bound himself closely to the original by following the original line by line.Sometimes,Thoms’s excessive attention to the original distracted him from the English grammatical rules,leading to some ungrammatical mistakes.He was criticized by an unsigned critic “to be unacquainted with the grammar,no less than with the beauties and delicacies,of the English language” (Anonymous,1826,p.25).The critic harshly commented that:

He employs the most barbarous phraseology; and,while he very often tries to convey a common fact in unwieldy pomp of words,his expression where beauty and tenderness of language are requisite,descend perpetually to coarseness and vulgarity.(ibid.)

He was believed to “woefully misrepresents his original in many places,either through an imperfect knowledge of the Chinese,or a still more imperfect knowledge of English” (ibid.).Take the first lines(Thoms,1824,p.1) for example:

起凭危栏纳晚凉，秋风吹送白莲香。

只见一钩新月光如水，人话天孙今夜会牛郎。

细想天上佳期还有会，人生何时捱凄凉。

As the evening advances,rise,lean on the railing,and imbibe the cool air,

For the autumnal breeze is imbued with the fragrance of the white water lily.

A single horn of the bright moon,resembling clear water,can only be seen,

For tonight,it is said,heaven’s bride and bridegroom unite.

Since love exists among the stars,and they have conjugal intercourse,

Why should living man endure distress,and be benumbed by the cold?

The first few sentences introduce the author’s writing background,an autumnal evening on the eve of the 7th of the 7th lunar month with bright moon and cool breeze with a spell of lotus fragrance.The first line omits the subject “I” —the author himself—who leans on the railing and breathes the cool air in an autumnal evening.The translator followed Chinese sentential pattern closely and adopted wordfor-word translation,making his sentences broken and suspended,deviant from standard English.This kind of beginning is obviously not appealing to Westerners who “could not but be considerably annoyed,while perusing his work,by the grotesqueness of his phraseology” (Anonymous,1826,p.26).Imperfect as Thoms’s translation was,the critic might have taken a more tolerant attitude if he had compared sentential patterns in the Chinese original with the English translation.Thoms’s choice of bilingual version kept him from moving away from the original,contributing to his representation of ethics with faithfulness as the first concern.

4.2 Employment of paratext

As bilingual version greatly checks the translator’s freedom in translation,so is paratext.The translator stated that he “submits it to the reader,and hopes,together with the notes,that while it holds forth the spirit of the original,it will be found no small acquisition to that branch of Eastern literature to which it particularly belongs” (Thoms,1824,p.xiii).Paratexts include many notes,footnotes,and appendixes on the government revenue,land tax,etc.,which shows the translator’s rigorous scholarship in his study of Chinese society.Thoms was originally an ordinary printer sent to Macao to assist Robert Morrison in printing a dictionary,whose work turned him into “Composer,Pressman,Reader,Corrector […] aided only by Natives who understood not the English language” (Morrison,1815,p.ii).During this time,he,following the example of Robert Morrison and John Francis Davis,self-taught Chinese and ended up becoming a translator and sinologist.In his first attempt at translatingThe Affectionate Pair,or the History of Sung-Kin,A Chinese Tale,Translated from the Chinese,Thoms adopted the same strategy of literal translation,and transliterated places,persons’ names and Chinese objects,thus creating a sense of alienation.Footnotes and annotations are exploited to reveal the true picture of Chinese society,from which Thoms concluded “Chinese are not destitute of the finer feelings of benevolence,sympathy and love” (Thoms,1820,p.iv).

Paratexts in a translated work while providing the basic information for target readers to appreciate a book from an exotic culture,also pose a challenge for the translator.The first paratext the translator chooses may set the basic tone of the translator’s representation ethics,translation philosophy and strategies.To keep the unity and coherence of the whole book,the translator needs to follow the same paradigm all the way,which prevents him/her from deviating.

Thoms,however,gave up such a privilege and tried to reveal the spirit of the original with the help of paratexts,which in turn limited his freedom in translation and confined him to his representation ethics.Following the text,Thoms extracted several female Chinese biographies from the bookThe Songs of a Hundred Beautiful Women(百美新咏图传),with introductory notes for some famous women in Chinese history,and with special interest in Soo-Hwuy (苏惠) and Queen Tang (邓太后).Those pretty women mentioned in the book are famous in history for one reason or another.Soo was famous for her intriguing palindrome ode (璇玑图).The ode,which could be read in any order,was said to contain 7,958 poems altogether and helped her win her husband back.Queen Tang was an extraordinarily capable stateswoman who ruled the imperial court when the emperor was too young to administer.With her powerful administration,the state was able to regain its prosperity.Besides these two,the translator also gave a brief introduction to Lady Pan-Tse-Yu (班婕妤),Queen Yin (阴皇后),Lady Shang-Kwan (上官婉儿),Lady Mang (孟才人),Lady Hwa-Juy (花蕊夫人),Lady Hea (萧后),Muh-lan (木兰) and so on.These women are representative of incomparable looks,great scholarship,steadfast love,or great ability.The qualities they possess are much alike to those of the main female characters,Yang Yaou-sëen and Lew Yŭh-king in the novel.These biographies enable readers to better understand unusual acts of Lew,who would rather drown herself for an engaged fiancé she never met to fulfill her feudal rites of female loyalty than get married to another man.But,on the other hand,with such fetters as the biography and the original version in hand,the author could not make target-oriented alterations in his translation.Though Lew’s behavior is beyond Westerners’ comprehension,the translator honestly portrayed her as what she was in the original.She was typical of women in feudal Chinese society.

The last part of Thoms’s rendition is an appendix which contained documents detailing Chinese society:Chinese revenue,annual revenue,land tax,manners of people,natural productions of each province,amount of annual revenue of China,income of the higher officers of the provincial government,the annual disbursements of civil government,ministers of state,and number of officers in the government,members of the Han-lin College,and income of officers attendant on the palace,the income of military officers,the number of troops in each province,amount of sums annually paid into the National and Provincial Treasuries,and total amount of Civil and Army List for each province,etc.All these documents were totally irrelevant to the story in hand,but Thoms stated the reasons for inserting this revenue part as follows:

I am inclined to think,that while the Missionaries demonstrated to the Chinese the superior genius of the Western nations as to Arts and Sciences,that the Chinese were not wanting in duplicity to impress them with an imaginary idea of the wealth and resources of the Celestial Empire.(Thoms,1824,p.284)

On the surface,he was conveying his admiration for the Chinese Empire,which was not inferior to Western countries at all for her affluence and resources.Yet,as an employee of the Honorable East India Company (BEIC),the patron of his book and his work,Thoms knew what his boss wanted.As a financial and trading representative for Great Britain,all the activities of BEIC centered on the interests and profit of its country.In 1814,the Macao Branch of China was established to help print publications on Chinese language,culture,history in order to increase trade and commercial interest (Tan,2008,pp.211-212).BEIC urged its Canton Branch of China to print more useful publications on language,history,customs,science,etc.to promote Europeans’ understanding of China (Su,2000,p.89).The early publications the BEIC Press in Macao,China were either religious,mainly the Bible,or those about Chinese language,history,society,politics,or economy.BEIC sponsored the publishing of Chinese literary works not because of their charm and glamor,but for their potential utilitarian value in Britain’s political and commercial benefit (Tan,2008,p.210).When getting sponsored,Thoms repaid his patron by offering the authentic information of China,especially on Chinese economy,government,troops,and resources,to the East India Company which was ambitiously marching eastward in the early 19th century.The information of Chinese revenue and government would become instrumental in making a breakthrough in Sino-British trade.The last part of the appendix is an address from the ministers to Emperor Dao-guang concerning the annual expenses of the palace and the emperor’s approbation.The cultural and societal information revealed in the paratexts of the text together with the economic and political,military data in the appendix formed a complete panorama of China at the beginning of the 19th century.

Paratexts are beneficial to translation studies,but we need to know paratexts are partly subject to patrons of translation work,who can influence the selection of the text,the translator’s decision,publishing,spread of the rendition,and the reception of readership (Qi,2018,p.21).Invisible as they are,they “delegate authority” to the professional (Lefevere,2004,p.15).The work of the professional or the translator is sometimes manipulated by the patrons.This consciousness impelled Thoms to explore what his patron wanted from his translation and how he could accomplish his mission.He knew clearly his patron wanted a good knowledge of China,so he dug into Chinese culture and society revealed in the original.The preface,footnotes,and annotations,covering Chinese history,culture,and social life,served such purposes,which he could not afford to abridge or adapt,thus accomplishing his faithful transference.On the other hand,paratexts can have an influence on the translator to decide on the translator’s translation concepts,his/her choice of the text and his/her translation strategies.Thoms’s use of paratexts revealed his appreciation of his patron for the support of his work but at the same time helped shape his representation ethics in translation.

5.Conclusion

Thoms began his work at the turn of the 19th century,when European countries made explorations abroad,especially eastward,and at that time,culture served for the expansion purposes.His faithful translation was partly owing to his own representation ethics and partly to the needs of his patrons.His representation ethics proposed that translation should hold forth the spirit of the original,i.e.the otherness or alterity of Chinese culture,for which he employed translation strategies such as paratexts or transliteration.However,his patron,BEIC,to some extent,played a part in his representation ethics and translation strategies.The translator was sponsored because his translation was in line with the practical and benefit-driven pursuits of his patron.Good knowledge of his patron’s needs drove Thoms to interpret the original faithfully and offer as much information as he could to repay his patron,with the appendix on the revenue of China being the best manifestation.Other paratexts,i.e.preface,notes,footnotes,offered much cultural,societal,geographical,historic information as well,which not only helped target readers comprehend the rendition but also allowed the translator to observe his representation ethics at the same time.