A Preliminary Probe into Lin Shu’s Creative Translation

Abstract—Lin Shu is a renowned translator in Chinese history for his abundant influential translating works. He plays a very important role in introducing western literature to China and is well known for his unique translating methods. Nevertheless, his creative translation approaches of omission, addition and alteration also make him target of sharp criticism. This paper, through a deliberate comparison between Lin Shu’s versions and the original works, finds that many of Lin Shu’s omission, addition and alteration of the original is out of his careful consideration rather than arbitrary behaviors. The concrete examples and full analysis revealed that Lin Shu is quite creative in the translation process. His translation can be considered as a creative rebellion against the original. A careful study shows that it is Lin Shu’s illiteracy of foreign languages and the use of classical Chinese that make his translation a big hit shortly after their publication and give Lin Shu and his translation a special status in the literary world of China. Index Terms—Lin Shu, creative translation, creative rebellion I