The Confucian Culture of Rituals and Filial Piety Translated in Tujia Ethnic Ballads: The Case of “My Buddy” and “An Itching Throat for Singing”

Abstract

Ethnic ballads or folk songs as the treasure of a nation are rich in history, beliefs and humanistic spirit and play a significant role in cultural inheriting. Transmitted orally through generations, Enshi Tujia ethnic ballads with unique characteristics and styles reflect the local customs, preserve the local history and enrich cultural diversity. Since the Tujia culture is a mountainous agriculture, it is not difficult to understand why the Tujia people love singing and it is significant to explore how their ways of life are guided by Confucianism. This paper aims at interpreting the Confucian culture of rituals and filial piety behind two Tujia ballads which vividly represent the spirit and belief of the Tujia people. In the practice of translating those two ballads, the culture-loaded words are specially tended as the key factors in bettering readers’ appreciation of the original texts and further understanding of the Tujia culture. The translation strategies of domestication and foreignization are thus discussed alongside detailed interpretation of the underlying cultural connotation. As this essay concludes, these two folk songs show that the Tujia culture is greatly influenced by Confucianism which is, in particular, the ritual and filial piety culture. The Confucianism is manifested in the two ballads in terms of inquiring for shoe patterns, implication of handcrafts, the manner to respond to the parents and parental decision-making on marriage. Lastly, domestication and foreignization are considered as good translation strategies adopted to deal with Confucian culture-loaded words after meticulous investigation into the original and target cultures.