Intercultural Interpretation and the Impact of Two English Versions of Chinese Ancient Primer Classics Qianziwen

Bibliographic Data

ID22187608
AuthorsLihua Qing (0009-0007-4418-5050, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies), Hai Wang (0000-0002-9260-3428, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume9
Issue2
Pages170-185
Publication date2025-07-03
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative Literature East & West (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2572-3618 • E-ISSN: 2572-3618
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/25723618.2025.2556365
OpenAlexW4414362651
LanguageEN
References cited13

Qianziwen is a renowned ancient Chinese primer classic authored during the Southern Liang Dynasty (502–549 AD) by Zhou Xingsi. It consists of precisely 1,000 distinct Chinese characters organized in rhymed quatrains. Based on the self-constructed parallel corpus, this article attempts to examine the intercultural interpretation of two English translations of Qianziwen by Elijah Coleman Bridgman (1801–1861) and Ernst Johann Eitel (1838–1908). The study reveals that the translators approached the text differently, particularly in their semantic cultural explanations, historical allusion interpretation, and cultural interpretation of paratexts, reflecting their distinct understandings of the text’s cultural significance. The variances in intercultural interpretation had great impact on pedagogy, readers’ cultural perception, Sino-western cultural dialogue and the emergence of early English Sinology

Allusion · Ethnolinguistics · Intercultural communication · Metaphor · Chinese history and philosophy · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · Translation Studies and Practices