Abstract
The introduction of Shakespeare to China was through the Chinese translation of Mary and Charles Lamb’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays, Tales from Shakespeare. The Western missionaries’ Chinese translations of the Lambs’ adaptation have rarely been studied. Isaac Mason and his assistant Ha Zhidao’s 1918 translation of the Lambs’ book, entitled Haiguo Quyu (Interesting Tales from Overseas Countries), is one of the earliest Chinese versions translated by Christian missionaries. Although Mason was a Christian missionary and his translation was published by The Christian Literature Society for China, Mason adopted an indirect way to propagate Christian thoughts and rewrote some parts that are related to Christian belief. The rewriting is manifested in several aspects, including the use of four-character titles with Confucian ethical tendencies, rewriting paragraphs with hidden Christian ideas and highlighting themes closely related to Christian ethics, such as mercy, forgiveness and justice. While unique in its time, such a strategy of using the Chinese translation of Shakespeare for indirect missionary work had an impact on subsequent missionary translations.
Highlights
Western Missionaries and Shakespeare in Chinese “Will the clumsy five or seven syllables which go to make a Chinese line convey any idea of the majestic flow of Portia’s invocation of Mercy? We trow no.”1 This is a question from an anonymous author’s article, “Shakespeare in Chinese”, published in the newspaper The North China Herald in 1888.In this article, the author states that he/she has heard the news regarding the translation of Shakespeare into Chinese from an American press in Peking
While unique in its time, such a strategy of using the Chinese translation of Shakespeare for indirect missionary work had an impact on subsequent missionary translations
The author states that he/she has heard the news regarding the translation of Shakespeare into Chinese from an American press in Peking
Summary
Western Missionaries and Shakespeare in Chinese “Will the clumsy five or seven syllables which go to make a Chinese line convey any idea of the majestic flow of Portia’s invocation of Mercy? We trow no.” This is a question from an anonymous author’s article, “Shakespeare in Chinese”, published in the newspaper The North China Herald in 1888. There are at least three understudied Chinese translations of Shakespeare produced by Western missionaries in China. He moved to Shanghai in 1915 and returned to the UK in 1932 During his stay in Shanghai, he worked for a publishing house, Guangxue Hui (The Christian Literature Society for China), editing magazines and translating Western books. He published dozens of religious books and pamphlets and helped compile a Chinese dictionary of the Bible. Mason’s classical Chinese translation includes twelve stories, while Mateer’s version consists of fifteen in modern vernacular Chinese.11 These Chinese translations were produced by Christian missionaries and published by the same press in Shanghai, Guangxuehui 廣學會 (The Christian Literature Society for China).. Shakespearean stories, how did he deal with the religious information in the texts? The following discussion focuses on Mason’s Chinese translation of Lambs’ Tales and leaves out Mateer’s version because the latter is quite similar in content to Mason’s translation
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