Title: A Study of the Translation Strategies and Readers’ Reception of Four English Translations of Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen

Abstract: Huang Di Nei Jing has value for a range of qualities, e.g. as classic literature, ancient philosophy, technology, and science, etc. Translators of the different English translations of Huang Di Nei Jing usually had their particular focuses (such as the book’s medical instruction, or original linguistic patterns, etc.) in their translating tasks, because it would be difficult to convey the comprehensive contents through translating. Thus, translations of Su Wen, the first part of Huang Di Nei Jing, varied in typographical design, the form of the translated texts and so on, because different translating purposes dominated. In this paper, using descriptive and comparative research methods, my focus lies in the description and analysis of the different translation strategies and translation formats of the four representative translations. Furthermore, combined with online translation reception investigation and readers’ reaction analysis from the academic world, I found that translations with preliminarily targeted reader groups and special translating strategies have better reader reception than translations which mainly value fidelity. Through my research, I try to explore the most effective ways to translate and introduce traditional Chinese culture to the West.

Keywords: Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, English translation, translation strategy, readers’ reception

Authors: Bing Xu, Ph. D. candidate, Department of Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Ying Zhang, Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.