Applying Yu Kwang-chung’s Translation Theories to an Examination on the English Translation of Richard Wilhelm’s German Rendering of The I Ching, with Two Gua—“Chi Chi” and “Wei Chi” as Examples

[[abstract]]余光中說：「譯者日與偉大的心靈為伍，見賢思齊，當其意會筆到，每能超凡入聖，成為神之巫師，天才之代言人。」認為譯者是不寫論文的學者，沒有創作的作家，卻擅於運用語文，出入作品，盡窺其妙而運用自如，影響力未必小於作者。本文以余光中的翻譯理論(一)施語與受語之間的語法差異 (二)最佳字句、最佳次序(三)直譯與意譯(四)自揚漢聲等面向，印證中國古典經學《易經》之英譯，揀擇衛禮賢的德譯《易經》而由貝內斯英譯的版本，並以其中〈既濟〉、〈未濟〉兩卦為探討中心。此《易經》英譯本的譯文是譯句還是譯字？能否保留漢文的對稱與平衡？是死的譯法還是具生命力的譯法？《易經》的古典原意是否仍然存在？英譯文在讀者心中喚起的反應，與原文所喚起者是否相同？均在本文中逐一援例剖析。務期在《易經》英譯這一方園地，貢獻足資參考借鏡的示範，以建立國人自譯古典經學的品牌並開枝散葉。[[abstract]]Yu Kwang-chung states: “The translator keeps the grand souls company, trying to emulate them day by day. The moment he/ she senses what the great authors intend in their original texts, he/ she translates them with his/ her pen, as if having transformed himself/ herself to be a shaman of God and a spokesperson for the genius.” Yu holds that the translator is a scholar without academic papers and an author without his/ her own works; yet,the influence the translator exerts is no less than that of the author himself.Four aspects of Yu Kwang-chung’s translation theories are employed to examine the 1949 Cary Baynes’s English Translation of Richard Wilhelm’s German Rendering of the Chinese classic The I Ching, also known as The Book of Changes, with two gua—“Chi Chi”, “Wei Chi” as examples. They are: (a) the syntactic differences between the source and the target languages, (b) the best words in the best order, (c) literal versus free, and (d) Chinese Classics to be translated by Chinese persons. Also explored here are cultural essentials and stylistic effect for Chinese-English translation. It is hoped that the cases presented can serve as a modest mode for the future translators of The I Ching at home and abroad as well