A Comparative Study of the Translation Activities in the Western Renaissance Period and the Scientific and Technological Translation in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties

Abstract

In the history of the development of Europe, the Renaissance is a key stage of development of the awakening of humanism spirit. During it, national languages were widely promoted, and in the hope of promoting social change, the key proponents of the Renaissance carried out a large number of literary translation activities, forming a climax in the history of western translation. In China, the translation history has been recorded since the Zhou Dynasty, and the translation activities have been developing continuously since then. This paper compares the translation activities of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties with the Renaissance period. By means of comparative research, the author discovers the differences in translation background, purpose, essence and content of the two translation upsurge of the Western Renaissance and the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which will not only help to sort out and study the history of translation and the history of translation studies, but also help to promote the emergence of new translation thoughts and theories.