Yan Wu (吳燕) received her PhD in comparative literary theory at Jinan University, then conducted two years of postdoctoral studies under the sponsorship of JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) at Tokyo University. She currently teaches Chinese language and culture courses at Tama University in Japan. She has translated and published several academic works from Japanese or English into Chinese. Her research interests are translation and cultural exchange between Japan and China during the late Qing period.
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History+
Published
2019-12-10
Issue Date
2025-11-27
Abstract
Wu Tao was an important and mysterious translator in the translation field during the period of the late Qing Dynasty. He only has a few works published, but his translation style is too unique to be neglected. Through chronologically arranging all his existing works, and closely comparing and analyzing them with their Japanese originals, this paper summarizes three important factors that constitute the unique style of Wu Tao’s translation: the incorporation of various elements such as Japanese original typesetting and even punctuation into the translated texts; simulating and recreating the “breathing of the text,” i.e., to imitate the breaking up of the original Japanese sentences as much as possible; maintaining the exact order of the Chinese words. This paper holds that Wu Tao’s translation strategy can be regarded as a practical form of the “translation” method of word-translating, but it does not stop there. This kind of translation method is a product stem from the unique historical situation when the literati in the late Qing Dynasty encountered the Meiji Japanese writing style. It also opens a new possibility for the modern transformation of the vernacular style.
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