I just bought three volumes of James Legge’s translations last night. I’m a little ashamed to say I never had a really good look at them before, but was absolutely astounded at the amount of effort and scholarship that went into them, especially considering that they were done in the mid-1800s. Not only are his translations very accurate, the painstaking work he went through to translate nearly untranslatable names of animals, plants, etc. from ancient China is amazing, as well as the EXTENSIVE footnoting and exegesis. I have seen no modern translation of anything that has come close to being as thorough as his. The only complaint is that his romanization is REALLY bizarre, but thankfully he includes Chinese characters for most everything.
I still need to get his volume on the Analects and Mencius, however, as someone at PageOne Bookstore already bought that, as well as the John Minford anthology (damn!!! :fume: )
Anyway, any other thoughts on Jame Legge, his work, and/or his legacy in the field of Sinology?
[quote=“Dave’s girl”]Interesting. Never heard of him. where’d buy em? The books I mean. Where can I find em? Which bookstore I mean. TIA.
P.S. Are you a translator? if you don’t mind me asking.[/quote]
They have them at PageOne Bookstore in Taipei 101, or you can order them from Amazon.com. There are five volumes (1 & 2 are together), and each one is only NT$500.
Yes, I do some translation, but not that kind. I’m a student in NTU’s Graduate Institute of Chinese Literature.
By the way, the new translation of the “Records of the Grand Scribe” by Sima Qian published by Indiana University Press does come closer in the number of footnotes and explanations. But out of seven planned volumes, there are only two or three currently available.
[quote=“LittleBuddhaTW”]
They have them at PageOne Bookstore in Taipei 101, or you can order them from Amazon.com. There are five volumes (1 & 2 are together), and each one is only NT$500. [/quote]
Cool, thanks for the info. :bouncy:
Not what kind?
And how’d you get into NTU as a foreigner? Did you have to take any tests or something?
P.S. You look so much like Prince William. And those naked pix…
I do translation for a English language learning publishing company, Chinese-English. I may do so classical translations in the future, but at the moment I’m too busy with my schoolwork, starting on my thesis, and trying to get my presentations together for this summer in Thailand and China.
Yeah, I had to take an entrance exam. The exam included English, Guowen (Chinese composition), Chinese proficiency test (lots of advanced vocab, idioms, question & answer, and translation of a piece of classical Chinese into modern Chinese), and then the other half was on the history of Chinese literature. They accept a maximum of three foreigners into the M.A. program every year, and a maximum of two foreigners into the Ph.D. program.
Haha … thanks! blushing But what naked pics? I don’t remember putting anything like that on my web page …
I do translation for a English language learning publishing company, Chinese-English. I may do so classical translations in the future, but at the moment I’m too busy with my schoolwork, starting on my thesis, and trying to get my presentations together for this summer in Thailand and China.[/quote]
以一個以中文為母語的人來說 你的中文好到甚至可以用恐怖形容 我自嘆不如 請您多多指教
Yeah, I had to take an entrance exam. The exam included English, Guowen (Chinese composition), Chinese proficiency test (lots of advanced vocab, idioms, question & answer, and translation of a piece of classical Chinese into modern Chinese), and then the other half was on the history of Chinese literature. They accept a maximum of three foreigners into the M.A. program every year, and a maximum of two foreigners into the Ph.D. program.[/quote]
Just curious. How’d you prepare for the entrance exam? You didn’t take it as soon as you got here, dicha? But then again, given the fact you majored in Asian Studies in college and that you seem to have a real talent for languages, maybe you did. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.
Haha … thanks! blushing But what naked pics? I don’t remember putting anything like that on my web page … [/quote]
I prepared for a year … basically memorized a bunch of books on the history of Chinese literature. The year before that I just worked to save up money for tuition.
And as for the 性向, I’ll take compliments wherever I can get them!
Ah yes. As I recall, there is no lack of praise for Legge’s hard work and dedication. Afterall, when Giles translated things, he’d just leave parts out that were “too hard,” and he would often use Victorian idioms to substitute Chinese for Chinese ones.
I have an Analects translation by Roger T. Ames who writes in the acknowledgments, “Finally and filially, our work derives from the scholar/translators of the Analects who have preceded us, especiall those three who first acquainted us with Confucius, from whom we have learned much, and with whom we have ventured to disagree only with trepidation: James Legge, Arther Waley, and D.C. Lau.”
I can’t find 性向 in the dictionary, nor can I view Buddha’s web page from China. I can guess what it means, but I prefer knowing to guessing. Would someone kindly enlighten me? Thanks.
That doesn’t really have anything to do with James Legge’s translations of the Chinese classics … And that’s really sad that your government decides what web pages you are allowed and not allowed to see … maybe you should do something about that …
And getting back on topic, I managed to pick up the rest of Legge’s translations, the Analects, Doctrine of the Mean, Great Learning, Mencius, and Book of Rites. However, I was disappointed with the lack of annotations and Chinese characters in the Book of Rites. I guess the printer thought that wasn’t necessary when they reprinted it. :fume:
Half the posts on this thread have nothing to do with Legge, including some by you. I asked someone. Now I know. Instead of being angry at me, maybe you could take your off topic ‘chat’ somewhere else
[quote=“yonglan”]Half the posts on this thread have nothing to do with Legge, including some by you. I asked someone. Now I know. Instead of being angry at me, maybe you could take your off topic ‘chat’ somewhere else
It’s not my government; I’m just a guest.[/quote]
I apologize. I thought you were just another troll from the mainland … there are quite a few here …
And that’s really sad that your government decides what web pages you are allowed and not allowed to see … maybe you should do something about that …
