A Study on Lin Yutang’s Cultural Identity Through His Translation Work: The Wisdom of Laotse

Abstract

The translation of Chinese classics has a history of more than a century, and Lin Yutang was a model of translating and introducing Chinese classics to the world in English. Lin Yutang translated Tao Te Ching as The Wisdom of Laotse by means of reconstructing, rewriting and interpreting, which has caused widespread concern and far-reaching influence in the world, and many Westerners began to learn about Chinese Taoist culture from The Wisdom of Laotse. By comparing the translated version with the original one, this paper attempts to study Lin Yutang’s cultural identity through The Wisdom of Laotse from a macro perspective. As a famous Chinese writer, linguist and essayist, Lin Yutang not only switched the linguistic code and adjusted the structure of Tao Te Ching, but also explained its contents and interpreted its thoughts in details with his own understanding, removing the strangeness of the original text, adding the logic and systematization of the Tao Te Ching. Lin introduced the indigenous Chinese Taoist culture to the English world with his insights, which has shaped his own cultural identity as a cultural interpreter, communicator and philosopher.