CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING CHINESE CLASSICAL NOVEL 《魔道祖师》 (MODAOZUSHI) INTO ENGLISH

CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING CHINESE CLASSICAL
NOVEL ‘MODAOZUSHI’ INTO ENGLISH
TANG QIAO ER
MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

2021
TANG QIAO ER
Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the

Diploma in Translation and Interpretation in the School of Education and
Social Sciences
Management and Science University
JUNE 2021
i
APPROVAL SHEET
The thesis submitted to the Senate of Management and Science University has been
accepted as fulfilment of the requirement for the Diploma in Translation and
Interpretation (DTI). The members of the Supervisory Committee are as follows:
Signature :
Supervisor : Dr. Mohammed H. Al Aqad
Date : JULY 2021
Signature :
Dean : Prof. Datin Dr. Norhisham Mohamad (K.B., P.A.)
Date : JUNE 2021
ii
DECLARATION
I, hereby declare that the thesis is based on my original work except for the quotations
and citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been
previously or concurrently submitted for any other diploma in MSU or other institutions.
28 JUNE 2021
TANG QIAO ER
012019091040
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to sincere gratitude to my supervisor and lecturer, Dr.
Mohammed H. Al Aqad, for his guidance throughout the course of this study. I would
have been completely lost without his clear explanations of the guidelines and any other
questions I had about the study. His guidance, feedback, and gentle reminders kept me on
track as I finished my studies. Despite my late submissions, he encouraged me and
assisted me in finding a solution whenever I encountered difficulties. He would respond
to texts in as much detail as he could to ensure I understood everything. I'm grateful to
him for illuminating my path during this difficult but fruitful journey.
Secondly, the people I am most grateful for are my family member. They have given me
infinite moral support until I successfully completed this assignment. They knowing that
I do not have enough time, so they do not call me often because they are afraid that my
time will be delayed. I am very grateful to them for their understanding and giving me
enough space so that I can complete my thesis without worries. Lastly, this speech is also
addressed to all parties who have been involved in the success of this task either directly
or indirectly.
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ABSTRACT
Among the most challenging aspects of translation is translating culture-specific terms
(CST) or concepts. This study investigates the issue of "equivalent effects," reflecting on
its efficiency by examining its benefits and disadvantages in literary texts and
determining translation strategies. One of the examples of challenges in translating
Chinese Classic novel 《魔道祖师》（ Mo Dao Zu Shi) by 墨香铜臭
（ MoXiangTongXiu ） into English is, the main character name in this novel has four
titles/appellation which is 魏无羡（Wei WuXian）, 魏婴 (Wei Ying), 夷陵老祖（Yi
Ling Lao Zu）and 魔道祖师（Mo Dao Zu Shi）. Since it has been popular in the past
three years, the TV series "Untamed", adapted from this novel has subtitles in English,
Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. For the novel just have an English
version. Therefore, the English translation of this novel is worth exploring, in order to
allow more foreign friends to receive the correct cultural output.
Keyword：Challenges of translation. Cultural equivalent, translation strategies,
equivalent effects
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CABARAN DALAM MENTERJEMAHKANKAN NOVEL KLASIK
CINA ‘MODAOZUSHI’ KE DALAM BAHASA INGGERIS
ABSTRAK
Antara aspek terjemahan yang paling mencabar adalah menterjemahkan istilah atau
konsep khusus budaya. Kajian ini menyelidiki masalah "kesan setara" penggantian
budaya yang mencerminkan kecekapannya dengan meneliti kebaikan dan keburukannya
dalam teks sastera dan menentukan strategi terjemahan. Salah satu contoh cabaran dalam
menterjemahkan Klasik Mandarin novel《魔道祖师》（Mo Dao Zu Shi) ditulis oleh 墨
香铜臭（MoXiangTongXiu）ke dalam bahasa Inggeris ialah, nama watak utama dalam
novel ini mempunyai empat tajuk / sebutan iaitu 魏无羡（Wei WuXian）, 魏婴 ( Wei
Ying), 夷陵老祖（Yi Ling Lao Zu ） dan 魔道祖师（Mo Dao Zu Shi ）. Sejak
popular dalam tiga tahun kebelakangan ini, siri TV "Untamed" yang diadaptasi dari novel
ini mempunyai sari kata dalam bahasa Inggeris, Thai, Jepun, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia
dan sebagainya. Novel pula hanya mempunyai versi Bahasa Inggeris sahaja. Oleh itu,
terjemahan bahasa Inggeris novel ini wajar diterokai, agar lebih ramai rakan asing dapat
menerima hasil budaya yang betul.
Kata kunci: Cabaran terjemahan. Setaraf budaya, strategi terjemahan, kesan yang setara
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL SHEET......................................................................................................................
DECLARATION............................................................................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................
ABSTRAK ......................................................................................................................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................................
LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................1
1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................1
1.1Background of study..............................................................................................................2
1.2 Statement of the Problem......................................................................................................3
1.3 Purpose of the study..............................................................................................................3
1.4 Objectives.............................................................................................................................4
1.5 Research Questions...............................................................................................................4
1.6 Limitation of the Study.........................................................................................................4
1.7 Significance of the Study......................................................................................................5
1.8 Definition of Terms..............................................................................................................5
1.9 Summary...............................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................7
2.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................7
2.1 Conceptual Framework.........................................................................................................8
2.2 Review of Previous Studies................................................................................................11
First study: Treatment of Cultural Differences in Translation, YANG Lihua, 2014.............11
Second study: The Handling of Culture-Specific Terms in Translation, Sonja Kitanovska-
Kimovska, and Silvana Neshkovska, 2019...........................................................................11
Third study: Translating culture，Sonja Kitanovska-Kimovska, and Silvana Neshkovska,
2018......................................................................................................................................12
Fourth study: The Influence of Chinese and Western Culture on English-Chinese
Translation, Yingying Zhou, 2019........................................................................................12
Fifth study: Analysis of Culture-Specific Items and Translation Strategies Applied in
Translating Jalal Al-Ahmad's by the Pen, Shekoufeh Daghoughi and, Mahmood Hashemian,
2016......................................................................................................................................12
Sixth study: A study of culture-specific items and translation strategies in Bahrām Beyzā'ī's
play "Marionettes" ，Orkideh Amininadji, 2016..................................................................13
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2.3 Summary.............................................................................................................................13
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY.................................................................................14
3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14
3.1 Research Design.................................................................................................................15
3.2 Participants.........................................................................................................................15
3.3 Procedure............................................................................................................................16
3.4 Data Collection...................................................................................................................17
3.5 Data Analysis......................................................................................................................17
3.6 Summary.............................................................................................................................20
CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS & FINDINGS........................................................................21
4.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................21
4.1 Data Analysis & Findings...................................................................................................21
4.1.1 Source Texts................................................................................................................21
4.2 Analysis translation strategies used in translate the Chinese classical novel MDZS into
English......................................................................................................................................23
4.3 Translation strategy classification.......................................................................................46
4.4 Practical Solutions in Improving Precision during Translation of culturally specific terms 56
4.5 Summary.............................................................................................................................58
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION...........................................................................................59
5.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................59
5.1 Discussion of Key Findings................................................................................................59
5.2 Discussion of Findings in Relation to Research Questions.................................................60
5.2.1 Patterns of Distribution................................................................................................61
5.2.2 Question One...............................................................................................................62
5.2.3 Question Two...............................................................................................................62
5.3 Contribution........................................................................................................................63
5.4 Recommendations for Further Studies................................................................................63
5.5 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................64
REFERENCE.............................................................................................................................65
APPENDIX.................................................................................................................................67
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LIST OF TABLES
Number of Tables Page
Table 1 18
Table 2 22
Table 3 23
Table 4 23
Table 5 25
Table 6 25
Table 7 26
Table 8 27
Table 9 28
Table 10 28
Table 11 29
Table 12 30
Table 13 31
Table 14 32
Table 15 33
Table 16 34
Table 17 34
Table 18 35
Table 19 36
Table 20 37
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Table 21 37
Table 22 38
Table 23 39
Table 24 39
Table 25 40
Table 26 41
Table 27 42
Table 28 43
Table 29 43
Table 30 44
Table 31 45
Table 32 46
Table 33 47
Table 34 48
Table 35 50
Table 36 50
Table 37 52
Table 38 53
Table 39 56
Table 40 56
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
Translation is an essential subject in modern society. In ancient times, due to various
civilisations' feudal and closed nature, every country was unwilling to accept foreign
cultures and languages, and almost no bilingual was born. However, in the process of
human development, different languages have naturally formed, and communication
problems have also arisen. In this context, humankind urgently needs a new system to
overcome this obstacle, and translation and interpreting have emerged.
Since the earliest interaction between human beings, translation activities have appeared
and played a vital role in eliminating cultural barriers. Today, the globalisation of the
world has made it easier for people to accept and learn unknown languages and cultures.
Translation has penetrated into many aspects of life. For example, with the rise of China's
national style, more and more ancient style novels have been reproduced into TV dramas,
which has led to the fact that almost everyone in the world is watching Chinese antique
style dramas and novels. The foreigner cannot read Chinese, but they are fascinated and
addicted to it, so there is an English translation. But many multilingual have pointed out
that there is a big gap between the English version and the original text, and some
netizens do a back-translation of the English version into Chinese again. Still, the
meaning is also very different from the original text. Are these English versions accurate?
The study's focus will be on translation, challenges explicitly on CST translation, which
will be further expanded on in the background of the study. The study aims to show the
1
issue of "equivalent effects" in translating Chinese classical novel 《魔道祖师》（Mo
Dao Zu Shi).
1.1 Background of study
It is an especially challenging issue to translate culture. "Equivalent effect" can define as
"a similar effect on the target text receiver as the source text is deemed to have on source
text receivers" (Hatim and Mason, 1990: 240, Newmark, 1988: 48). Student like to
emphasised "Similar" because, as Nida (1964: 159) asserts, "there are no such things as
identical equivalents" between different languages.
The ultimate purpose of translation should be to achieve an "equivalent effect" (Bekku,
1975: 90; Newmark, 1988: 48). In other words, a translator should achieve a similar
effect on the target text receiver as the source text has on the source text receiver.
However, between languages with more significant cultural differences, it may not be
easy to achieve this. Even at the word level, there is rarely any one-to-one
correspondence between any two languages, as words in each language tend to have
different meaning components (Hatim & Mason, 1990: 61; Hirako, 1999: 66).
Furthermore, there are culture-specific words and concepts which have no direct
equivalents in another language, some reflect only one culture's reality and are not
available in a different culture. The difficulties in translating culturally specific words,
such as the use of local terms for foods, have changed in meaning several times when the
translator translates it.
There are obviously a wide variety of CST types. Therefore, translators are incredibly
responsible for handling CST by detecting, correctly understanding, and then passing it
2
from SL to TL. In that way, it is more convenient for translators to remain true to the
original text or to give priority to and closer to the target language and culture
localisation to the target text.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The research question for this study was to explore the challenges in translating the
Chinese classical novel MDZS from Chinese to English. By conducting this research, the
most appropriate method for translating Chinese classical novels can be determined.
Furthermore, the research was done to analyse the issue of "equivalent effects," reflecting
on its efficiency by examining its benefits and disadvantages in literary texts and
determining translation strategies. As is often said, there is no perfect translation.
Especially culture-specific words and concepts that have no direct equivalents in another
language. Its included untranslatable or sensitive contents such as names, non-
equivalence words, and cultural contexts. This kind of vocabulary must be translated in a
proper way in order to make the reader comprehend the contents without any confusion.
1.3 Purpose of the study
This research aims to investigate the issue of "equivalent effects," and determining
translation strategies. Hopefully, this research can find out the challenges brought about
by the huge differences between Chinese and Western cultures when translating Chinese
classical novel into English. When deciding whether or not to translate culture-specific
terms or concepts, the advantages and drawbacks of cultural substitution should be
considered, as it can be a useful strategy in certain situations.
3
1.5 Research Questions
1. What are the challenges in translating the Chinese classical novel "Modaozushi"
into English?
2. What are the translation strategies used in translating the Chinese classical novel
"Modaozushi" into English?
1.4 Objectives
The objectives of this study are as below:
To identify the challenges in translating the Chinese classical novel "Modaozushi"

into English.
To determine the translation strategies used in translating the Chinese classical

novel "Modaozushi".
1.6 Limitation of the Study
The first limitation of this study is knowledge restriction, as the student had not received
any feedback or information from any participants or interpreters. Furthermore, since it is
a text study of CST focused on "equivalent effects," the student's mode of data collection
was performed solely by the student and entered into a table. This would greatly decrease
the number of viewpoints offered from others to just the lecturer, potentially increasing
the student's likelihood of making mistakes.
The second limitation of this study was time constraints, as only four months were
allotted to complete it, limiting the data pool to only thirty. Because the data would be
hand-picked by the student, the student reasoned that a larger pool of data would have
added more variation to the pool as well as precision when the time came for data
analysis.
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1.7 Significance of the Study
The student found this research very significant due to inaccurate or unequal translation
will be caused confusion for the target readers who read the novel and wrong cultural
output. Inaccurate translations are very popular since some language learners who are not
skilled translators may do the translation based on their understanding of the novel. This
is to satisfy the enthusiastic demands of foreign friends and foreigners to understand the
novel they found interesting. Nonetheless, whether for the target reader or the writer, an
accurate translation is critical for avoiding misunderstandings.
The student needed to conduct this research in order to determine the equivalent impact
and translation strategies in translating a classic Chinese novel from SL to TL. When
translators do not have sufficient cultural understanding of both the SL and the TL
languages, they will use incorrect terms when translating the novel from SL to TL. As a
result, the student's comprehension of novel translation problems is significant.
1.8 Definition of Terms
 Cultural-specific terms - CST

 Source Text - ST
 Target Text - TT
 Source Language - SL
 Target Language - TL
 MODAOZUSHI - MDZS
1.9 Summary
This chapter provided an introduction to the research. This chapter also discussed the
study's background as well as the problem and aim of the study. It has been stated that the
5
questions posed will be answered at the end of this study, thus satisfying the student's
thirst for knowledge on the topic of translation challenges, cultural equivalence,
translation strategies, and effects equivalence. This study's scope, limitations, and
significance have also been discussed.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
In this chapter, the student will define what is culture, cultural equivalence,
culture-specific terms, and translation strategies, while also exploring studies that
have been done before this with regards to the issue of "equivalent effects,"
reflecting on its efficiency by examining its benefits and disadvantages in literary
texts and determining translation strategies. Translation theory will be discussed in
this chapter, as well as important facts from the literature review involved in this
study.
The translation theory will provide the standards for the student to use as a
benchmark when comparing the English translated text against original Chinese
text. Translation theory will cover previous authors' research that has become
hallmark theories that are still used today to educate aspiring translators and
interpreters. It will help the student understand why the cultural transfer is
important in text translation.
The term culture can be defined in a variety of ways. According to Larson (1984),
culture is "a complex set of beliefs, attitudes, values, and rules that a group of
people share." Newmark (1988) defines culture as "the way of life and its
manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as
its means of expression." Cultural equivalence meant to replace a cultural term in the
7
SL with a TL word that is not entirely accurate. Culture-specific terms are defined
as "elements of the text that are connected to certain concepts in the foreign
culture (e.g. history, art, literature) which might be unknown to the readers of the
TT", Aixela (1996). According to Venuti (1998:240), translation strategies
"involve the basic tasks of selecting the foreign text to be translated and
developing a method to translate it." He refers to translation strategies by using the
concepts of domesticating and foreignising.
This chapter contains and discusses the history and research results of the topics
selected by the students. The students sincerely hope that this chapter can become
a guide to lay a solid foundation for continuing the research, and to fix the
problem of pointing students in the right direction to complete the research. As the
name suggests, the review of the literature will also be carried out in this chapter,
and then move on to the next chapter, methodology.
2.1 Conceptual Framework
It is necessary to lay a solid foundation for the research to be carried out, because in this
way, the research can proceed normally, so an iron framework is needed. The framework
was designed to define the standard for a text to be deemed well translated. It would set
the tone for the rest of the report. The standard will be determined by a number of
translation hypotheses, which will be discussed later. Many elements must be considered
when translating a text to ensure a high-quality translation.
8
Equivalence was the main factor used to set the standard when analysing the collected
data in chapter four. Equivalence is important in translation because it serves as a link
between two languages and two cultures. According to Nida and Taber (1964), there are
two types of equivalence: formal and dynamic equivalence. Given that this study will
deal with CST, both forms of equivalence would be appropriate for investigating the
issue of "equivalent effects" and CST translation.
Nida is a key proponent of the "equivalence of effect" translation theory (Nord, 1994:
59). As a result, it is worthwhile to investigate his theory of "dynamic equivalence,"
which he later renamed "functional equivalence."
Nida coined the term "dynamic equivalence" to differentiate it from "formal equivalence"
(Hatim and Mason, 1990: 7). "formal equivalence" is a translation method that focuses on
the "lexical, grammatical, or structural form of a source text." In contrast, "dynamic
equivalence" focuses heavily on "the impact of the translated work on the receiver"
(Brannen, 1993: 143). In orders to achieved equivalent, Nida advises that changes in the
text, including words and metaphors and even omissions or additions, are permitted as
long as the target text is the same as the source text (Gentzler, 1993: 54). Therefore, when
translated the CST in the novel, dynamic equivalence is more suitable than formal
equivalence.
In order to achieve equivalence during CST translation, the student will pay close
attention to detail addition and deletion. The addition of details is typically cultural,
technological, or linguistic in nature, according to Newmark's theory (1988). According
9
to Baker, material is deleted or omitted due to grammatical or semantic patterns in the
receptor language (1992).
As mentioned above, according to Nida's theory of "functional equivalence" translation,
some type changes will be needed to express the intended meaning. This is particularly
true when translating languages with significant cultural differences, such as Chinese and
English. Unlike translation between Indo-European languages, as Brannen (1993: 146)
points out, changing the form between languages like English and Chinese is
unavoidable. According to Nida and Waard (1986), changes in form are required when
the original form conveys the incorrect meaning or misinterpret the intended meaning and
the culturally relevant word is utterly unknown in the target community (cited in
Brannen, 1993: 147-148).
Translation by cultural substitution is one of the techniques used in the latter situation to
achieve "equivalent effect." "Cultural equivalent" is the name given to this technique
(Newmark, 1988). It entails "replacing a culture-specific item or expression with a target
language item that does not have the same propositional value as the culture-specific item
or expression" (Baker, 1992: 30).
In addition to analysing the challenges of translating culturally specific terms, it is also
necessary to find translation strategies. Newmark (1988: 103) points out some different
translation procedures applied for CTS, and these procedures include literal translation,
transference, cultural equivalent, neutralisation, functional equivalent, descriptive
equivalent, synonymy, through translation, shift or transpositions, modulation, recognised
translation, translation label, compensation, componential analysis, reduction and
expansion, paraphrase, couplets, notes, additions, glosses" In the following chapters, the
10
norm for analysing the data will be observing equivalence, adding or deleting content,
translating CST, the translation strategies has been used. This guideline will be used to
compare and contrast the ST and TT texts to see if they were interpreted objectively and
appropriately.
2.2 Review of Previous Studies

First study: Treatment of Cultural Differences in Translation, YANG Lihua, 2014
The aim of this paper is to examine how cultural differences can be addressed during the
translation process. To deal with various types of cultural influences, three concrete
approaches are proposed. This paper help student by literal translation with cultural
explanation, loan translation, and faithful translation. This study aims to highlight to
students that translation is responsible for making the original culture understandable to
the target reader and enriching the target culture. When a student is faced with cultural
influences, she must do her utmost to resolve the untranslatability created by the
incomparability of two cultures by using appropriate translation strategies. Only in this
manner could the translators serve as a medium for disseminating information.
Second study: The Handling of Culture-Specific Terms in Translation, Sonja

Kitanovska-Kimovska, and Silvana Neshkovska, 2019
The research bears a solid resemblance to the student's thesis. First of all, it is about
translating culture-specific terms in a literary work and the translation strategies when
translating culture-specific terms. According to the research, the idea about how to
categorise the various sources of culturally specific terminology and the idea of collecting
data was given to the student
11
Third study: Translating culture，Sonja Kitanovska-Kimovska, and Silvana
Neshkovska, 2018
This study is important for the student's research because this study is do the explaination
about the cultural, culture-specific terms and lists all the translation strategies that are
suitable for overcoming translation problems related to CST. This study can let students
gain more knowledge about the chosen topic and have a general framework for the whole
topic. From this study, students know that considering the various culture-specific terms
that exist in each language, it is logical that sometimes these terms are difficult to
translate. Although it is difficult to deal with culturally specific terminology in
translation, it is not wholly impossible.
Fourth study: The Influence of Chinese and Western Culture on English-Chinese

Translation, Yingying Zhou, 2019
This paper will assist students in their studies of the translation methods and techniques
used by translators of various cultural backgrounds in their translation activities. This
article also explains the distinctions between Chinese and Western cultures to the student
and investigates the impact of cultural differences between Chinese and Western cultures
on translation.
Fifth study: Analysis of Culture-Specific Items and Translation Strategies Applied

in Translating Jalal Al-Ahmad's by the Pen, Shekoufeh Daghoughi and, Mahmood
Hashemian, 2016
This report serves as reference material for students on how to handle CST comparisons
between ST and TT. This report's flow is a good predictor of how the student's studies
will go and what to look for when comparing ST and TT. Since the subjects are similar,
12
this study educated the student and provided a look at what the student might have to do
going forward with the study.
Sixth study: A study of culture-specific items and translation strategies in Bahrām

Beyzā'ī's play "Marionettes" ，Orkideh Amininadji, 2016
This study was important to the student's research because it talked about how CST could
be translated in detail. The student realised that it would be useful to know how to
overcome the difficulty in translating CST because the student might have to analyse the
procedures and strategies the translator used to achieve a level of audience acceptance in
English culture.
2.3 Summary
This chapter dealt with the study of literature in relation to the student's chosen topic.
This chapter focuses primarily on previous research conducted by a few researchers on
the chosen subject. It also provided a glossary of terms that will be used in this research
project. Understanding those studies was necessary because it was necessary to learn
about how the equivalent effect could affect changes in the meaning and context of a text,
as well as the procedures and strategies for producing excellent translations. It has now
been discovered that a number of variables must be considered when evaluating data
collected.
13
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
The literature review is considered to be a comprehensive arrangement of the main ideas
after reading the literature on the subject, but the methodology can be considered as a
comprehensive examination of the data collection methods used in research. This chapter
carries out the heavy work of this research by covering all the necessary foundations in
order to smoothly continue the analysis of the next chapter. This chapter will introduce
some substantive details, such as the theory to be used, the research procedure, the
research design of the study, data collection information, sample data analysis and the
summary at the end of this chapter.
The significance of the process in this chapter is to help students use the correct methods
to find out the direction of development. This is to enable students to prepare for data
collection and analysis, which will eventually lead to them providing answers posed by
the student in the first chapter. This will enable students to correctly analyse the pros and
cons of equivalent effects as well as strategies utilised for translating CST in the
translation of Chinese classical novel and find a system that can conduct navigational
research smoothly. Students discovered a better and more precise way to obtain high-
quality translations and offered an equivalent approach to analyse the information after
deciding the most appropriate theory for this study.
14
3.1 Research Design
mó dào zǔ
A table was used to list out the whole CST data collected from the novel 《魔道祖
shī
师》 MDZS in the Chinese version and English version. The entire CST data collected
from the novel in both Chinese and English versions was listed in a table. This will allow
the student to see the entire data set of theories, research questions, and objectives and
goals without losing sight of the expectations defined in the previous chapter, as well as
clearer data analysis. A certain amount of data was gathered to evaluate the elements that
contribute to a more equivalent translation for a language with significant cultural
variations, the limitations of "cultural equivalence" in translation, and to lead to a better
understanding of how to address the translations' flaws.
3.2 Participants
There were no participants in this research, and the data was collected purely by the
student. This current study data comes from existing Chinese and English version of the
mó dào zǔ shī
《魔道祖师》 MDZS novel. The data, which included Chinese CST from ST and
English CST from TT, these data was randomly chosen. The details will be explained in
greater detail in the subtopics below. It was estimated that gathering all of the required
data and translating it would take about two weeks. After that, it took another two weeks
to review and table the data obtained. The information gathered was used to assess each
type of translation's quality and compare the results.
In order to provide a set quality to maintain when reviewing and addressing data in the
following chapters, this research followed the ideas of a few people. When there was no
apparent equivalence, Jakobson (1959) was used. Functional and dynamic equivalence
15
were used during the translation and analysing process, according to Nida and Taber
mó dào zǔ shī
(1964). In addition, if the student came across CST in the dialogue《魔道祖师》MDZS
novel , Harvey (2000) was used. Identify the translation strategies, Newmark (1988) was
used. These hypotheses paved the way for the student's final few moves in this research
project.
3.3 Procedure
This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental research design with a quantitative
framework that included primary data collection and observation. Since this thesis was
not an experimental study, but it did include some elements of experimentation, a quasi-
experimental approach was taken. This can be seen when the collected data are compared
and contrasted in order to findings of the cultural contrastive of Chinese to English.
Examining how the translator renders culture-specific items from Chinese to English.
The quantitative structure of this study comes from the data collected in this study. The
main source of data is the thirty CTS from the Chinese-English version of the chosen
mó dào zǔ shī
novel 《魔道祖师》 MDZS. The primary data collection meant that the student would
collect the data by herself straight from the articles instead of relying on existing data
from other research. If student use the existing data from other investigations it called
secondary data. The methodology for this study is done solely by student herself, so it
does not include other people.
The data gleaned was structured into a table to aid in the data analysis in the following
chapter. After the research was completed, the student had to observe the equivalent
between ST and TT and determine if they could accurately communicate meanings
16
through cultures. It also tries to figure out what techniques translators use to translate
terms from Chinese culture to English.
3.4 Data Collection
The data that was collected for this study were various culture-specific terms. Due to time
constraints, the pool was limited to only thirty terms. The languages that were involved in
this study were English and Chinese only. As this study was done to analyse ST and TT
comparison to find out the issue on cultural equivalence, equivalent effect and translation
strategies, more than one language was necessary to see a difference.
The data that was collected were collected from a two websites, which is for Chinese
original novel at
ZhenHunXiaoShuo （ https://www.zhenhunxiaoshuo.com/5456.html ） and English
version novel at Exiled Rebels Scanlations. The objects in the ST that were categorised as
culturally specific words will be gathered into tables to determine the frequency with
which each category occurs. CST, ST, gloss, and TT are the four columns in table. Pinyin
(the official romanisation system for Standard Mandarin Chinese) is included in the gloss
column to assist non-Chinese readers in correctly pronouncing the source term/word.
This was done so that the differences would be easily noticed.
17
3.5 Data Analysis
Culture-specific ST - Chinese Gloss- word for word TT - English

term(CST) meaning
1.The real name of wèiyīng 魏：Wei- surname WeiYing

魏婴
the protagonist in
婴：Ying- baby
the novel
2.The courtesy wèiwúxiàn 魏：Wei- surname Wei WuXian

魏无羡
name of the
无：Wu – no
protagonist in the
novel 羡：Xian - envy
3. The name of the jìngshì 静：Jing – silence Jingshi

静室
room
室：Shi - room
Table 1
Table 1 demonstrates how the student can gain access to and analyse all of the data
collected for the data analysis in the upcoming chapters. The four columns in the table are
CST, ST, gloss, and TT, as previously mentioned. Table 1 was used as an example of the
table. In the example above, the ST is in Chinese, and the TT is in English. The student
should begin analysing all CST after reviewing the source text, while also examining the
distinctions, making comparisons, and elaborating on the significance of the errors found
in both types of CST. Following the completion of the table, the texts will be thoroughly
analysed using the norm established in the literature review chapter.
18
As shown in Figure 1, the translation strategies used by the translators is transferences.
Whether the name of people or name of the object, the translators transferred the exact
word from the ST to the TT, the target reader may not have any idea what exact meaning
is.
In Chinese traditional culture, the famous person, besides his own name, he can also have
zì
a 字 (a courtesy name). 魏婴(WeiYing) is the character birth name or real name, Wei
WuXian is the courtesy name. A courtesy name, also known as a style name, is a name
bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name as a symbol of adulthood
and respect. This practice is a tradition in the Sinosphere, including China, Japan, Korea,
and Vietnam. The selection of courtesy name is generally related to the meaning of the
real name. As proof, will explain the related between 魏婴 (WeiYing) and 魏无羡 (Wei
WuXian). 魏（wei）is the surname, so it is no meaning. 婴(ying) in Mandarin means
newborns baby, the words can be related with baby is naive, simple, and beautiful. The
word 无 (wu) means no or nothing, the word 羡 (xian) means envy, when we combine
无 (wu) and 羡(xian) it means no envy. Only ingenious and simple people like a baby
can don't envy others. This is the relationship between real name and courtesy name.
When you know these hidden meanings, and then cooperate with the storyline, you will
find the author's foreshadowing and deeper meaning.
In addition, when the name of room as an example three in table 1, 静室 (JingShi) meant
'Silence Room', when the translator used the transferences method, the exact meaning fail
to transfer to TL. The second protagonist in the novel lives in this room, and the name of
this room is also a reflection of the second protagonist's character. The second
19
protagonist is a relatively cold personality, likes to be quiet. Another choice, according to
students, is to use a descriptive equivalent to describe these nouns or to use nouns from
Western culture. To translate the term from ST to TT, the translators are employing a
foreignisation strategy.
3.6 Summary
The main aim of this chapter was to provide a quick overview of the methodology that
would be used in the next chapter and show how the findings would be developed and
evaluated in the next chapter. Every detail stated in this chapter has provided a brief on
how the student can use the structure and method established in the previous chapter to
complete the next chapter successfully. The examples given during the last section would
likely have shown how the analysis would be carried out.
20
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
4.0 Introduction
This chapter is the backbone of this study's analysis. The data will be reviewed here, and
after all of the variables have been taken into account, the answers to the questions raised
in chapter 1 will be obvious. They'd be explored in greater depth in the following
sections. This chapter will include a brief introduction to the subject, tabulated data,
analysis and comparison of the data collected, practical solutions for improving the
precision of CST translation, and a detailed summary of the entire chapter at the end.
In this chapter, the data will be analysed using the standards established in previous
chapters. The data would then be analysed among one another to view the challenges in
translating and the translation strategies that have been used. In the final chapter, the
analysed data will be discussed. Hypotheses and theories will be checked and answered
in this chapter. Since all that has gone before has led to this point, the knowledge
gathered in this chapter will be crucial. After that, the tables will be placed up for more
accessible data analysis.
4.1 Data Analysis & Findings

4.1.1 Source Texts
Source texts are the original texts before they undergo translation. The ST data is for the
original Chinese novel collected from websites at
ZhenHunXiaoShuo （ https://www.zhenhunxiaoshuo.com/5456.html ） . The data
21
collected will be used as the data pool for this study and total data pool consists of 30
CST.
culture-specific terms(CST)
wèiyīng tú lù xuánwǔ
1. 魏婴 16. 屠戮玄武
wèiwúxiàn shàng yì piān

2. 魏无羡 17. 《上义篇》
jìngshì ǐ é n
3. 静室 18. 《礼则篇》
n ǐ o ì zi
4. 天子笑 19. 穗子
qínyǔ ù à
5. 琴语 20. 木榻
jīntóngyùnǚ zōngzhǔ
6. 金童玉女 21. 宗主
suǒ líng náng à ì

7. 锁灵囊 22. 发髻
géxià ì
8. 阁下 23. 祟
mǒ é yāo
9. 抹额 24. 妖
shū xiāngzhī qì ó
10. 书香之气 25. 魔
rénmúgǒuyàng guǐ
11. 人模狗样 26. 鬼
diǎn jīng zhào jiāng guài

12. 点睛召将 27. 怪
22
wèn líng qǐndiàn
13. 问灵 28. 寝殿
bùmíng wáng zhě nuòmǐzhōu

14. 不明亡者 29. 糯米粥
yěhuǒ shāobújìn chūn fēng chuī zhàng

15. 野火烧不尽，春风吹 30. 丈
yòu shēng
又生
Table 2
4.2 Analysis translation strategies used in translate the Chinese classical novel
MDZS into English
term(CST) meaning
1. 1.The real name wèiyīng 魏：Wei- surname WeiYing

魏婴
of the
婴：Ying- baby
protagonist in
the
novel(Chap.1)
Table 3
Transference:
As showed in Table 3, the CST is the protagonist real name. The translation strategies
used by the translators is transferences. The name of people, the translators transferred
23
the exact word from the ST to the TT, there is and only this method can translate the
person name, but the target reader may not have any idea what exact meaning is. Almost
all Chinese name have meanings. 魏（wei）is the surname, so it is no meaning. 婴(ying)
in Chinese means newborns baby, the words can relate with baby is naive, simple, and
beautiful.
term(CST) meaning
2. The courtesy wèiwúxiàn 魏：Wei- surname Wei WuXian

魏无羡
name of the
无：Wu - no
protagonist in
the 羡：Xian - envy
novel(Chap.1)
Table 4
Transference:
Here, the translators transference the courtesy name of the protagonist 魏(wèi)无(wú)羡
(xiàn). In Chinese traditional culture, the famous person, besides his own name, he can
zì
also have a 字 (a courtesy name).Wei Wu Xian is courtesy name. A courtesy name is a
24
name bestowed upon one at adulthood as a symbol of adulthood and respect. This
practice is a tradition in the Sinosphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The
selection of courtesy name is generally related to the meaning of the real name. The word
无 (wu) means no or nothing, the word 羡 (xian) means envy, when we combine 无
(wu) and 羡(xian) it means no envy. Go back to Table 3, think about the explanation of
魏婴 (WeiYing), only ingenious and straightforward people like a baby can don't envy
others. This is the relationship between real name and courtesy name. When target reader
knows these hidden meanings, and then cooperate with the storyline, they will find the
novel foreshadowing and deeper meaning.
term(CST) meaning
3. The name of the jìngshì 静：Jing - silence Jingshi

静室
room(Chap.1)
室：Shi - room
Table 5
Transference:
When the name of room as an example three in Table 5, 静室 (JingShi) means 'Silence
Room', when the translator used the transferences method, the exact meaning fail to
transfer to TL. The second protagonist in the novel lives in this room, and the name of
this room is also a reflection of the second protagonist's character. The second
protagonist is a relatively cold personality, likes to be quiet. Another choice, according to
students, is to use a descriptive equivalent to describe these nouns or to use nouns from
25
Western culture. To translate the term from ST to TT, the translators are employing a
foreignisation strategy.
term(CST) meaning
4. The name of the tiān zǐ xiào 天子：TianZi - Emperor Emperor's Smile

天子笑
food(Chap.13)
笑：xiao – laugh
A popular alcohol in
novel
Table 6
Literal translation:
天 (tiān) 子 (zǐ) 笑 (xiào), Emperor's Smile is a kind of popular alcohol in novel. The
translators used the literal meaning of 天 (tiān) 子 (zǐ) 笑 (xiào) to translate it, which 天
(tiān) 子 (zǐ) mean son of god or Emperor, 笑 (xiào) mean laugh or smile. In this case,
literal translation is conveying the right meaning. The reason translator not using
transference strategies is to express the notable and interesting of this alcohol name to the
target readers. Emperor's Smile is a prop for the two protagonists to start socialising.
Culture-specific ST - Chinese Gloss- word for TT - English
term(CST) word meaning
5. One kind of qínyǔ 琴：Qin-is a Qin language (with

琴语
26
language in plucked seven- footnote: this refer to the
novel (Chap.37) string Chinese language of the guqin, each
musical note combine with different
instrument timbre volume tonality,
means a different Chinese

语：Yu-
character, of course this is
language
mostly fictional.)
Table 7
Transference + literal translation + explanation as footnote:
琴(qín) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. The translator translated 琴
(qín) as Qin used transference, and for 语 (yǔ) translator used literal translation as
language, at the end of the chapter, the translator also added the footnote for further
knowledge.
Culture-specific ST - Gloss- word for word meaning TT - English
term(CST) Chinese
6. Proverb(Chap.37) jīntóngyùnǚ 金：Jin- gold A golden boy

金童玉女
and jade girl
童：Tong- child\boy
—a pair of
玉：Yu- jade servants child
(with
女：Nv- girl
footnote: this
27
Models of boys and girls are is the proverb
made of paper and bamboo, and in China
they are called "Golden Boys referring to
and Jade Girls" as attendants of the heavenly
the dead in the underworld. place
Table 8
Descriptive Equivalent:
One of the procedures to translate cultural terms is descriptive equivalent, which explains
the cultural term using several words so the target reader can better understand the text.
In this example, the translators explained 金 (jīn) 童 (tóng) 玉 (yù) 女 (nǚ) by providing
additional information after literally translate it, which TT is A golden boy and jade girl
—a pair of servants child. The attentive translator also added a footnote. Basically, A
golden boy and jade girl are the models of boys and girls are made of paper and
bamboo, and they are called "Golden Boys and Jade Girls" as attendants of the dead in
the underworld.
term(CST) meaning
7. Material culture suǒ líng náng 锁：Suo- lock Spirit-trapping

锁灵囊
(Chap.37) pouch
灵：Ling- spirit
囊：Nang- pouch\
28
purse
Table 9
As literally described. This is a bag used to store the spirit of a dead person who has left
the body. The function of this bag in the novel is to preserve the spirit and prevent it from
dissipating. The translator chooses the right way to translate 锁(suǒ)灵( líng)囊( náng) to
Spirit-trapping pouch with literal translation. The target reader can understand the
meaning of Spirit-trapping pouch and target reader who have some knowledge of
Chinese culture can even imagine its shape.
term(CST) meaning
8. Address géxià 阁下：Ge xia – Your Your

阁下 Mightiness /Your
(Chap.37)
Excellency
Table 10
Functional equivalent:
阁(gé)下(xià), Your Excellency is a respectful name for others, but in Chinese it can also
be used to mock others. " 阁 (gé) 下 (xià)" in ST brings the meaning of sarcastic, it is
difficult to translate this meaning into TT, so the translator chose functional equivalent,
and use ordinary "your" to translate 阁(gé)下(xià).
29
term(CST) meaning
9. Material mǒ é 抹：mo-girdle\ribbon Forehead ribbon

抹额
culture(Chap.44
额：e-forehead
)
The ribbon thickness of a
finger, used to tie on the
forehead
Table 11
抹(mǒ)额(é) is translated literally by the translator, which is Forehead ribbon. 抹(mǒ)
额(é) also the important thing in the novel. It is a symbol of the protagonist's clan in the
novel. As long as it is a member of this clan, they must wear the Forehead
ribbon，cannot be touched by another person except parents, husband and wife(setting
in the novel). Not only in the novel, the Forehead ribbon is also a significant costume in
ancient China. Now enter the Forehead ribbon in the website search bar, and all the
information that appears is related to the MDZS protagonist. Therefore, the Forehead
ribbon is likely to become the default translation of 抹(mǒ)额(é) in the future.
term(CST) meaning
10. Culture shū xiāngzhī qì 书：Shu- Book Energy of book

书香之气
word(Chap.13)
30
香：Xiang- Perfume
之：Zhi- Of
气：Qi-Energy\Gas\Air
shū xiāng
书香：Refers to the
reading morale,
originally refers to the
fragrance of the pages of
book
Table 12
The translator applied literal translation on 书 (shū) 香 ( xiāng) 之 (zhī) 气 (qì) , then
translate in Energy of book. The literal translation of this phrase is not that accurate.
Target reader will confuse what is energy of book. In the novel, this phrase is used in
this sentence: "A living tree, tainted with the 书 (shū) 香 ( xiāng) 之 (zhī) 气 (qì) for a
hundred years, cultivated into a monster". Translator could use the descriptive equivalent
to translate this phrase. For example, "a living tree, tainted with the spirit of learning for
a hundred years, cultivated into a monster". Always reading is mean always learning
something. In this way, the target reader can know how the non-human living thing
influences by so-called energy and become a monster.
31
term(CST) meaning
11. Idiom rénmúgǒuyàng 人:Ren- human decent

人模狗样
(Chap.13)
模:Mo- mold
狗:Gou- dog
样:Yang-
manner/pattern/type
Describe a person who
behaves badly but
pretends to be serious
and look decent
Table 13
Neutralisation:
人 (rén) 模 (mú) 狗 (gǒu) 样 (yàng). This is a Chinese idiom, literally translated, human
appearance manner of a dog. Describe a person who behaves badly but pretends to be
serious and look decent. In TT, translator neutralisation the sentence have this idiom. Do
I not seem decent enough as of right now? Although this sentence does not contain
idiom in ST but it does not lose its meaning. The translator just translated the meaning
because it too hard to translate the idiom in this example. If use this idiom, the TT will
became Don't I have enough human appearance manner of dog now? Its looks funny
and weird.
32
term(CST) meaning
12. The name of the diǎn jīng zhào 点：Dian- Point Summoning of
点睛召
character skill painted eyes
jiāng 睛：Jing- eye
in the 将
novel(Chap.37) 召：Zhao- call/summon
将：Jiang- General
Table 14
Descriptive equivalent:
点(diǎn)睛( jīng)召( zhào)将( jiāng) is the exclusive skill of the first protagonist in the
novel, Wei WuXian ( refer Table 4). This skill is used on paper men like golden boy and
jade girl (refer Table 8), with blood, pointed on a pair of eyes, to summon them, it can
also be said that they are hired as a brawler. The translator used descriptive equivalent to
deliver the hidden meaning of this skill name. Summoning of painted eyes roughly able
to convey that meaning.
term(CST) meaning
13. The skill name wèn líng 问： Wen- Asking Inquiry

问灵
of the character
灵： Ling- Spirit
in the
33
novel(Chap.22) Gain the information
from spirit by asking
them use Qin and
assistant by Qin
language(see Table 7)
Table 15
The translator uses the functional equivalent to translate 问(wèn)灵( líng) into Inquiry.
If based on gloss, Inquiry has huge differences with 问(wèn)灵( líng) . 问(wèn)灵
( líng). The translator can translate like this in this case because in the novel, the author
already described the skill and explained its function when the skill first appeared in the
plot. Therefore, translators don't need to worry that using functional equivalent will cause
the target readers to fail to understand it.
term(CST) meaning
14. Leisure bùmíng wáng 不明： BuMing- Victim

不明亡
word(Chap.22) Unknown
zhě
者
34
亡者：WangZhe- dead
person
Table 16
The strategies translator used is the literal translation, but the translation is not accurate.
不(bù)明(míng)亡( wáng)者( zhě) mean unknown dead person, the translator replaces
it with the victim. The meaning between dead person and victims have enormous
differences; one is dead, one is still alive. It will lead the target reader to misunderstand
some storyline until they go through the whole book.
term(CST) meaning
15. Proverb yěhuǒ shāobú 野火：wildfire With prairie fires

野火烧不
(Chap.37) 烧：burn it fails to die,
jìn chūn fēng
尽，春风不尽：endless when spring
chuī yòu shēng 春风：spring breeze winds blow it

吹又生
吹：blow regains life
又：again
生: grow up
This is the famous proverb

from poem Grass by Bai
JuYi.
No prairie fire can destroy

the grass, it shoots up
again with the spring
35
breeze blows.
Table 17
The translator applies the literal translation for this famous proverb. No prairie fire can
destroy the grass, it shoots up again with the spring breeze blows .It is a metaphor for
things that are full of vitality. No any method or power can kill them. The literal
translation is nothing wrong but not enough to express the real meaning and concept of
this proverb to the target reader. The translator could use the descriptive equivalence to
translate the proverb.
term(CST) meaning
16. Historical Term tú lù xuánwǔ 屠戮：TuLu- Slaughter Xuan wu of

屠戮玄武
(Chap.55) slaughter
玄武：Xuanwu, one of
the auspicious beasts in
ancient Chinese
mythology
Table 18
Transference + literal translation：
In this example, involved two strategies to translate this historical term. Transference for
玄(xuán)武(wǔ)-Xuan wu and literal translation for 屠(tú)戮(lù)-Slaughter. Xuan wu
is the auspicious beasts in ancient Chinese mythology, a translator loan word from ST,
36
but Xuan wu have an established translation called Black Tortoise. The translator does
not use it. Perhaps is afraid that the foreigner unfamiliar with it or want to keep the charm
of the original text. In the novel appeared a beast that looks a lot like "Xuan wu" but has
a tyrannical temperament which calls Xuan wu of slaughter. Target reader can directly
understand that is not a positive word from the translation. If translated into Black
Tortoise of slaughter, it looks strange in TT.
term(CST) meaning
17. Book name shàng yì 上义：ShangYi- Virtue

《上义
(Chap.14) Righteousness
piān
篇》
篇：Pian-Chapter
Table 19
《上(shàng)义(yì)篇(piān)》is the name of book in the novel. 上(shàng)义(yì) actually
already have an established translation as shown in gloss, Righteousness. But the Virtue
in the TT is the synonyms of Righteousness. The translator used a functional equivalent
so choose the word that more appropriate to the target culture.
term(CST) meaning
18. Book name lǐ zé piān 礼则：LiZe-Ceremonial Conduct

《礼则篇》
37
(Chap.14) rites and regulations
篇： Pian-Chapter
Table 20
The translators applied a functional equivalent for the cultural terms 礼(lǐ)则(zé)， this
is a classical Chinese phrase. The established translation of 礼(lǐ)则(zé) is Ceremonial
rites and regulations. Same as the example in Table 18 & Table 19, the translator does
not use the existed translation but choose another word. Although these CST have the
established translation but they are unfamiliar with target reader. If use the descriptive
equivalent to translate this word, it will become Rules of etiquette, can see it is quite
long the use as the book name and will look abrupt in the TT. Thus, the translator
translate 礼(lǐ)则(zé) into Conduct.
term(CST) meaning
19. Material culture suì zi tassel String

穗子
(Chap.42)
Table 21
In this case, the real meaning of 穗(suì)子(zi) is tassel but if according to the context in
the novel, it is a thin strap of pouch. The translator replace 穗(suì)子(zi) with string that
38
can express what 穗(suì)子(zi) means in the text although string is not the exact meaning
of 穗(suì)子(zi). The functional equivalent can let target reader more comfortable when
reading the novel.
term(CST) meaning
20. Material culture mù tà 木：Mu-wood Bed

木榻
(Chap.42) 榻：Ta- couch, long and
narrow bed
Table 22
Functional equivalent is a standard procedure to transpose a cultural word to a culture
free word. (Newmark 1988:83) Since, 木(mù)榻(tà) doesn't exist in TL the translators
applied functional equivalent and used a cultural neutral word "bed" as the translation of
the source term. The original meaning of 木 (mù) 榻 (tà) refers to the narrow and short
bed-shaped seat, and also refers to the "bed" in ancient China, ancient bed are very
different from a modern bed.
term(CST) meaning
21. Religious zōngzhǔ 宗: Zong- sect/clan Sect leader

宗主
39
term(Chap.117) 主:Zhu- leader
head of a clan, natural
leader, person of prestige
and authority in a domain
Table 23
Descriptive Equivalent:
Although the translators equate 宗(zōng)主(zhǔ)with "Sect leader" in China there is a
specific term for this occupation, can refer to the gloss. Since there is no equivalent word
in the TT, the translators tried to explain 宗 (zōng) 主 (zhǔ) in a way that was more
understandable to the target audience. The translators used foreignisation here to keep the
SL values and make them more important in the TL.
term(CST) meaning
22. Material culture fà jì 发：Fa - hair Hair

发髻
(Chap.124)
髻：Ji- Bun- bun is a
type of hairstyle in which
the hair is pulled back
from the face, twisted or
plaited, and wrapped in a
circular coil around
itself, typically on top or

40
back of the head or just
above the neck. （from
Wikipedia）
Table 24
发(fà)髻(jì) is one of hairstyle just exist in Chinese culture, bun (refer gloss) is fixed with
a hair accessory like chopsticks, no rubber bands. This hairstyle is not an important thing
in the novel, so that it can be translated like this, and translated into hair is also more
appropriate for TT，because it is unsuitable to do long explanation in TT. It's just that
the target reader might imagine the bundled up bun as fluttering long hair.
term(CST) meaning
23. Religious term suì 祟：Sui- vengeful spirit Ghost

(Chap.124) 祟 or refers to the disasters
caused by ghosts and
gods, by referring to
improper actions.
Table 25
Cultural words are translated into cultural free languages by means of a functional
equivalent. The translators here used a term that was culturally neutral. Ghost in the TT
used by the translator is an equivalent word for 鬼 (guǐ)(refer Table 28) in Chinese.
41
Although 祟 (suì) and 鬼 (guǐ) have similar meanings in Chinese culture, but still
different, the translators, because of the lack of precise equivalents in the TL, the
translator used the ghost for both. By domesticating 祟 (suì) and 鬼 (guǐ) as ghost, the
translators are seeking to make the target reader understandable. To be more precise, 祟
(suì) is Vengeful spirit.
term(CST) meaning
24. Religious term yāo Yao

妖妖：Yao- formed from
(Chap.13)
living thing, non-human
being (Description in the
novel)
Table 26
Transference:
Here, the translator used transference strategy. Translator transfer directly 妖(yāo) from
ST into TT. In Eastern mythology, 妖(yāo) refer to things that are different from usual
and harmful by superstitious people. As in the gloss, Yao formed from living thing, non-
human being. There is no vocabulary corresponding to Yao in European languages, only
vocabulary with similar meanings, such as monster, ghost, spook, giant, undead, devil,
demon, Fiend, evil spirit, elf, goblin, bogy and fairy in English. The translator actually
can use the functional equivalent or synonyms strategy to translate this CST. The
translator does not use these similar words to translate 妖(yāo), the purpose is to make the
42
target readers genuinely aware of the difference of Yao from Demons, Ghost, and
Monster in Chinese culture
term(CST) meaning
25. Religious term mó 魔：Mo- formed from Demons

魔
(Chap.13) living
humans(Description in
the novel）
Table 27
Cultural equivalent:
This example can also be regarded as culture equivalent, the original meaning of 魔
(mó)is the abbreviation of Mara (Demons) in Sanskrit. The translator is right to translate
魔 (mó) into demons, because demons is the most similar word to 魔 (mó), they are
indeed related. But meaning of demons in the book are not the same, the sense in the text
refer to gloss, this is the setting in the novel.
term(CST) meaning
26. Religious term guǐ 鬼：Gui- forms from Ghost

鬼
(Chap.13) dead human (Description
43
in the novel）
Table 28
鬼(guǐ) and ghost have an identical meaning and same concept on cultural level in both
Chinese and English language. The chance of encountering this situation is tiny in
translation of CST. The definitions of ghost in oxford dictionary are the spirit of a dead
person that a living person believes they can see or hear and can say it same of the
description in the gloss.
term(CST) meaning
27. Religious term guài 怪：Guai- formed from Monster

怪
(Chap.13) dead, non-human
being(Description in the
novel）
Table 29
Definition of 怪 (guài) in Chinese is an unnatural, strange, hideous thing, animal, or
person. The definition of monster in English also same with 怪(guài). Undoubtedly said
that 怪(guài) and monster are cultural equivalent word.
44
term(CST) meaning
28. Material culture qǐndiàn 寝： Qin-sleep/bedroom Bedchamber

寝殿
(Chap.50)
殿：Dian-
palace/temple/hall
Emperor's palace
In the novel is the

bedroom of the superior
Table 30
寝(qǐn)殿(diàn) is translate into bedchamber in TT. Because there is a big gap in the
architectural design of palaces in western countries and palaces in eastern countries.
Therefore, if the target reader does not understand Chinese culture, it is difficult to
imagine the full view of the 寝 (qǐn) 殿 (diàn) when reading the novel. However,
bedchamber is already the most like the so-called 寝(qǐn)殿(diàn), so this translation is
considered the best choice. After all, such huge cultural differences are difficult to
achieve the equivalent effect.
term(CST) meaning
29. Food nuòmǐzhōu 糯米：Nuomi-Glutinous congee

糯米粥
name(Chap.37)
45
rice
粥：Zhou-
porridge/congee
Congee cooked with
glutinous rice
Table 31
The translators used less expressive neutral word "congee" to translate 糯(nuò)米(mǐ)粥
(zhōu). 糯(nuò)米(mǐ)粥(zhōu) based on gloss is a congee cooked with glutinous rice.
Whether the audience fully understands this term is not very important and does not
affect the plot. Both glutinous rice congee and congee are pretty similar, so the translator
didn't describe it too much.
term(CST) meaning
30. Units of zhàng 丈：Zhang- Zhang is a Zhang( with

丈
measurement traditional unit of length footnote: One
(Chap.9) in East Asia. The modern zhang is around
system is equal to 3.33 3.3 meters)
meters.
Table 32
46
Transference + explanation as footnote:
The translator transfer 丈 (Zhàng) from ST to TT and give the footnote. As shown in
gloss, the meaning of Zhang is a traditional unit of length in East Asia. Ten feet equals
one Zhang. The length of Zhang and feet in different dynasties is different. In the Shang
Dynasty, one feet was about 16.95 centimetres. One Zhang of the modern system is
equal to about 3.33 meters. In this CST translation, the translator could also use the
functional equivalent since this CST is not that important and functional equivalent can
let the target reader get the distance or size of something convey by Zhang.
4.3 Translation strategy classification

Transference: it is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text. It includes
transliteration and is the same as what Harvey (2000:5) named "transcription."
term(CST) meaning
1. 1.The real name of wèiyīng 魏：Wei- surname WeiYing

魏婴
the protagonist in the
婴：Ying- baby
novel(Chap.1)
2. 1.The real name of wèiyīng 魏：Wei- surname WeiYing

魏婴
the protagonist in the
婴：Ying- baby
novel(Chap.1)
3. The name of the jìngshì 静：Jing - silence Jingshi

静室
room(Chap.1)
47
室：Shi - room
4. Units of zhàng
丈：Zhang- Zhang is a Zhang( with
丈
measurement traditional unit of length footnote: One
(Chap.9) in East Asia. The modern zhang is around

system is equal to 3.33
3.3 meters)
meters.
5. Religious term yāo

Yao
妖妖：Yao- formed from
(Chap.13)
living thing, non-human
being (Description in
the novel）
Table 33
Literal translation: The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest
TL equivalents, but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context.
term(CST) meaning
6. The name of the n ǐ o 天子：TianZi - Emperor Emperor's Smile

天子笑
food(Chap.13)
笑：xiao – laugh
Popular alcohol in novel
48
7. Material culture suǒ líng náng 锁：Suo- lock Spirit-trapping
锁灵囊
(Chap.37) pouch
灵：Ling- spirit
囊：Nang- pouch\
purse
8. Material mǒ é 抹：mo-girdle\ribbon Forehead ribbon

抹额
culture(Chap.44)
额：e-forehead
The ribbon thickness of a
finger, used to tie on the
forehead
9. Leisure shū xiāngzhī qì 书：Shu- Book Energy of book

书香之气
word(Chap.13)
香：Xiang- Perfume
之：Zhi- Of
气：Qi-Energy\Gas\Air
shū xiāng
书香：Refers to the
reading morale,
originally refers to the
fragrance of the pages of
49
book
10. Proverb yě huǒ shāobú 野火：wildfire With prairie fires

野火烧不
(Chap.37) it fails to die,
jìn chūn fēng 烧：burn
尽，春风 when spring winds
chuī yòu shēng 不尽：endless blow it regains life

吹又生
春风：spring breeze
吹：blow
又：again
生: grow up
This is the famous
proverb from poem
Grass by Bai JuYi.
No prairie fire can
destroy the grass, and it
shoots up again with the
spring breeze blows.
11. Leisure bùmíng wáng 不明： BuMing- Victim

不明亡
word(Chap.22) Unknown
zhě
者
50
亡者：WangZhe- dead
person
Table 34
Culture equivalent: it means replacing a cultural word in the SL with a TL one.
However, "they are not accurate" (Newmark, 1988b:83)
term(CST) meaning
12. Religious term ó

魔：Mo- formed from Demons
魔
(Chap.13) living
humans(Description in
the novel）
13. Religious term guǐ

鬼：Gui- forms from Ghost
鬼
(Chap.13) dead human(Description
in the novel）
14. Religious term guài

怪：Guai- formed from Monster
怪
(Chap.13) dead, non-human
being(Description in the
novel）
Table 35
51
Descriptive equivalent: n this procedure the meaning of the CBT is explained in
several words. (Newmark, 1988b:83)
term(CST) meaning
15. Proverb(Chap.37) jīntóngyùnǚ 金：Jin- gold A golden boy and

金童玉女
jade girl (with
童：Tong- child\boy
footnote: this is
玉：Yu- jade the proverb in
China referring to
女：Nv- girl
the heavenly place
16. The skill name of diǎn jīng zhào 点：Dian- Point Summoning of
点睛召
the character in painted eyes
jiāng 睛：Jing- eye
the 将
novel(Chap.37) 召：Zhao- call/summon
将：Jiang- General
17. Religious zōngzhǔ 宗: Zong- sect/clan Sect leader

宗主
term(Chap.117
主:Zhu- leader
head of a clan, natural
leader, person of
prestige and authority in
52
a domain
Table 36
Neutralisation: neutralisation is a kind of paraphrase at the level of a word. If it is at
a higher level, it would be a paraphrase. When the SL item is generalised
(neutralised), it is paraphrased with some culture-free word
term(CST) meaning
18. Idiom rénmúgǒuyàng 人:Ren- human decent

人模狗样
(Chap.13)
模:Mo- mould
狗:Gou- dog
样:Yang-
manner/pattern/type
Describe a person who
behaves badly but
pretends to be serious
and look decent.
Table 37
53
Functional equivalent: it requires the use of a culture-neutral word. (Newmark,
1988b:83)
term(CST) meaning
19. Address géxià 阁下：Ge Xia – Your Your

阁下
(Chap.37) Mightiness
20. The skill name wèn líng 问： Wen- Asking Inquiry

问灵
of the character
灵： Ling- Spirit
in the
novel(Chap.22)
21. Book name shàng yì 上义：ShangYi- Virtue

《上义
(Chap.14) Righteousness
piān
篇》
篇：Pian-Chapter
22. Book name ǐ é n 礼则：LiZe-Ceremonial Conduct

《礼则篇》
(Chap.14) rites and regulations
23. Material culture ì zi tassel String

穗子
(Chap.42)
24. Material culture ù à 木：Mu-wood Bed

木榻
54
(Chap.42) 榻：Ta- couch, long and
narrow bed
25. Material culture à ì

发：Fa - hair Hair
发髻
(Chap.124)
髻：Ji- Bun- bun is a
type of hairstyle in which
the hair is pulled back
from the face, twisted or
plaited, and wrapped in a
circular coil around
itself, typically on top or
back of the head or just
above the neck. （from
Wikipedia）
26. Religious term ì

祟：Sui- Refers to the Ghost
祟
(Chap.124) disasters caused by
ghosts and gods, by
referring to improper
actions or vengeful spirit
27. Material culture qǐn diàn

寝： Qin-sleep/bedroom Bedchamber
寝殿
(Chap.50)
殿：Dian-
55
palace/temple/hall
Emperor's palace
In the novel is the
bedroom of the superior
28. Food nuò mǐ zhōu

糯米：Nuomi-Glutinous congee
糯米粥
name(Chap.37) rice
粥：Zhou-
porridge/congee
Congee cooked with
glutinous rice
Table 38
Couplets: Transference + literal translation：
term(CST) meaning
29. Historical Term tú lù xuánwǔ 屠戮：TuLu- Slaughter Xuan wu of

屠戮玄武
(Chap.55) slaughter
玄武：Xuanwu, one of
the auspicious beasts in
ancient Chinese
56
mythology
Table 39
Triplets: Transference + literal translation + explanation as footnote:
term(CST) meaning
30. One kind of qín yǔ

琴：Qin-is a plucked Qin language
琴语
language in seven-string Chinese
novel (Chap.37) musical instrument
语：Yu- language
Table 40
4.4 Practical Solutions in Improving Precision during Translation of culturally

specific terms
The student can do many things to improve accuracy when translating culturally specific
terms in a novel. In the process of writing Chinese novels, many of the stories and
languages in the novels have significant historical and cultural backgrounds. If the
background knowledge is inaccurate, only the literal meaning will appear in the specific
translation process. Ignoring the author's unique intentions, resulting in readers unable to
understand the novel's content truly. Therefore, to have a better cultural output, culture-
specific terms cannot be simply translated.
57
The first supported approach is used transference strategies mentioned by Newmark,
which is transferring the original terms from the ST into TT. This strategy is more
appropriate for proper nouns. Do not translate but loan word from ST, unless there is an
established translation. After that, assist with the meaning, provide a glossary or explain
in parenthesis, adjectival clauses or footnotes. Compared with long-winded translations,
such a glossary allows the target readers to understand the meaning and concepts of the
culturally specific terms, especially the culturally specific term is totally unknown in the
target culture. It can also make the translation look neater and more comfortable.
Secondly, in translating idioms, proverb and phrases, the translator could use a similar
idiom that exists in the target culture that gives the same idea. If the TL lacks a similar
idiom at all, the translator could explain it without using any idioms.
Thirdly, all wording should be simplified without too much modification. When
translating CST in novel, the words chosen need to be as accurate as possible. This could
affect the addition or deletion of words in a text if there is no equivalence in the TL. If the
terms used are too deep to be understood, the target reader will lose the "equivalent
effect" at the "psychological" level, such as with connotation and emotional tone. This is
a situation that should be avoided at all cost.
Fourthly, use the existed theories when translating a text. Applying the theories learned is
a feasible and realistic solution. Theories left by predecessors can assist translators in
navigating blind spots in translation. If the right strategies used in a suitable case, these
strategies can help increase the accuracy of CST translation. All of the above suggestions
are undoubtedly used by translators before; however, the author would like to emphasise
58
the importance of using these solutions because they are the foundation upon which any
translator can create to achieve consistency and precision in CST translation.
Finally, must be well-versed in both the source and target languages' literature and
traditions. Evidence shows that differences in religion, culture, and literature make it
difficult to achieve verbatim parity. CST does not have a specific equivalence
relationship at the word level, especially when the concept does not exist in the target
language. The best solution is usually for the translator to use her creativity and
familiarity with the two cultures to find the best connotation match.
4.5 Summary
This chapter covers what knowledge can be gathered from the research and provides
practical solutions to enhance the accuracy of CST translation. The majority of the work
required to complete this study has been completed in this chapter. The next chapter is
the final chapter of this study, which answers all the questions that have been asked at the
beginning. As the approach to the end approaches, the author gains greater understanding
and awareness that emphasises the importance of the subject of the research.
59
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
5.0 Introduction
This is the end of this study part. The foundation has already been laid, the methodology
have functioned and supported as they should, the backbone has fulfilled its purpose.
Therefore, the last thing that sums up the whole analysis is this part. In this chapter, the
information collected from the study of the data in the previous chapter is presented and
analysed. The findings would also be discussed with regards to the questions posed in
chapter one of this study. The contributions of the research and suggestions for future
studies are discussed in this chapter. At the end of this study, a conclusion will be drawn.
5.1 Discussion of Key Findings
As the study analyses strategies used when the translator translates the Chinese classical
novel and the challenges encountered when the translating process, the main finding is
that the translator used chiefly and mostly is the functional equivalent, followed by literal
translation. This based on the data that was collected and then analysed. Out of the thirty
data collected, a large majority of CST had been translated using this strategy.
Functional equivalent is so favor by translators because it can convey the content and be
simple and clear. Readers of the source culture may not particularly understand some
vocabularies. If there is an explanation or description of the CST in the original novel,
then the translation will be much more convenient; if it does not exist, the translator must
work harder to make the target readers understand. It can be seen from the analysis that
although there are some discrepancies between the CST translated using functional
60
equivalent and the image in the ST culture, but it can well allow target readers to receive
the content of the novel.
The use of functional translation and literal translation for CST instead of sentences does
not affect the content and plot of the novel too much. Some CST does not necessarily
have to translate it completely. Conversely, if the translator is too obsessed with details
and cultural differences, adding too much explanations or footnotes of CST will affect the
quality of translation. Because adding too many explanations that are not in the novel will
cause readers to read the novel not so smoothly, and their concentration will be disrupted
inadvertently and forget the plot.
Nevertheless, not all CST can be translated using functional translation and literal
translation methods, and there is no method that can be applied to all CST. Some CST are
suitable for adding annotations, and some are not suitable. Therefore, translators are
required to use different methods when translating different CST. All the strategies
analysed in Chapter 4 have different effects after using them. In this study, it is
impossible to judge which strategy is the best and which strategy is bad. There are only
more suitable strategies and inappropriate strategies.
5.2 Discussion of Findings in Relation to Research Questions
In the following three subtopics, the information obtained from the data analysis will be
further addressed in relation to the research questions raised in chapter one of the study
and patterns of distribution found in the data.
61
5.3 Patterns of Distribution
The translators used eight different strategies for translating the CST. The most obvious
pattern indicated that the strategy used most frequently by the translators was functional
equivalent. This could be seen when looking at the data pool and classification of
translation strategies at chapter 4. Among the thirty data, ten CSTs were translated using
functional equivalent, accounting for 33.33%. Although the CTS translated using this
strategy cannot achieve cultural equivalence and cannot allow readers to receive the
specific image of these CSTs, it cannot be regarded as a translation without quality
because it does not lead to the content of TT deviated and omitted. For a term that does
not exist in the target culture, using culture-neutral words to replace it can give target
readers a better reading experience.
The next pattern is literal translation, the number of times translators use literal
translation is second only to the functional equivalent, the total number of CST translate
by this strategies was 6 out of thirty which is 20%. The research results show that three of
the six CTSs translated using literal translation are not appropriate. The translator brings
culturally specific concepts into the translation, but fails to explain and convey the
original meaning, which has no meaning in the target culture.
The following pattern that could be seen was that transference was also often used by
translators. 5 out of thirty in the collected data. CSTs translated using this strategy are all
nouns. The next pattern of distribution showing that the used of cultural equivalent and
descriptive equivalent is same, both are 3 out of thirty, equivalent of 10% for each. The
lowest distribution pattern shown in the analysis occupies 3.33%. They are neutralisation,
62
couplet and triplet, each has only one CST that translated used them. The strategies
mentionaed can be useful in achieving equivalence, but it is difficult to determine which
one is the most beneficial.
5.2.2 Question One
Question one was 'What are the challenges in translating the Chinese classical novel
"Modaozushi" into English?' From this research, the most challenging is the translation of
culturally specific terms and the achievement of cultural equivalence. Because the culture
of each country is different and unique. Not to mention that neighboring countries may
have similar cultural concepts, even people of different races and religions in the same
country will have cultural differences. Therefore, when translating Chinese novels into
English, the biggest challenge is to allow target readers who have huge cultural
differences with the ST to receive the same messages as the ST readers.
5.2.3 Question Two
Question two was 'What are the translation strategies used in translating the Chinese
classical novel "Modaozushi" into English?' From the data analysis, there are a total of
eight strategies of Newmark used. By observation from the tables in Chapter 4, it can be
concluded that the translators of the novel applied the following strategies . First,
functional equivalent, 11 terms. Second, literal translation, 6 terms. Third, transference, 5
terms. The fourth cultural equivalent, 3 terms. Fifth, descriptive equivalent, three terms.
Sixth, neutralisation, 1 term. Seventh, couplet, 1 term. Eighth, triplet, 1 term.
In addition to Newmark's strategies, the author also discovered two translation concepts
during the research period: foreignisation and domestication. Domestication is the
process of adapting a ST to the target language's culture, which may result in the loss of
63
information from the ST. Foreignization is an approach for keeping information from a
ST that entails breaking the target language's rules to preserve meaning. One of the
example for domestication is 祟 (suì)(Table 25), domesticating 祟 (suì) and 鬼 (guǐ) as
ghost; example for foreignisation is 金 (jīn) 童 (tóng) 玉 (yù) 女 (nǚ)(Table 8), literally
translate and provide footnote.
5.3 Contribution
The contribution of this research is to list and explain some of the difficulties encountered
when translating Chinese classical novel. Furthermore, it shows what skills translators
use to face these difficulties. Besides that, this study highlighted the pros and cons of
applying these techniques, which provides certain reference material for future translation
work. Finally, this study has contributed knowledge to the author the translation method
that is more catering to the current era.
5.4 Recommendations for Further Studies
The objective of this study was to identify issues relating to cultural translation between
Chinese and English to closely examine how translators can resolve these challenges
through known translation strategies. In addition, further investigation should be carried
out on the translation of metaphors, idioms and proverbs which often have cultural
connotations and thus cannot be translate simply.
Since Newmark lists are not the whole linguistic or historical patrimony of any
community, this study cannot expect to explore every aspect of translation. Moreover,
due to the changes of the times, in this era, there is no need to translate all CSTs for
today's readers, because Chinese culture has now been introduced overseas and has
become more and more popular in other countries. In view of the difficulty of translating
64
cultural items and terms, it is essential to investigate how the translator can transmit in
the target language not only the context but also the ethos of a sources document, if at all.
5.5 Conclusion
In concluded, this article explores the concept of "equivalence effect" in translation.
Although the data pool of the study is limited, the study shows that all Newmark
strategies can be effective as long as they are applied properly. In any translation, it is
impossible to completely convey all the associations of all CST in ST to the target
language audience. Therefore, whether to retain the ST content in the target language
translation needs to be decided according to the case. For example, some CSTs are
presented in literal translation, and important connotations will be lost in the translation.
But when the appearance and connotation of CST are important, it should be translated
literally.
This research was conducted in 2021, and it was mentioned before that, in the future,
under the trend of globalisation, many CSTs can be understood by most readers only by
transference. CST can have accepted translations, but whether to use them depends on the
translator and readers. Some readers want the original taste of ST, and some readers want
the CST to be translated. Therefore, translation strategies should keep pace with the
times. The existing translation strategies cannot be changed and fixed, but the translator's
brain should apply these strategies flexibly to make them "live".
65
REFERENCE
1. Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London:
Routledge.
2. Brannen, N. S. (1993). Translating Style.
3. Gentzler, E. (1993). Contemporary Translation Theories. London: Routledge.
4. Hatim, B. and Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the Translator. New York:
Longman Inc.
5. Larson, M.L. (1984). Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-language
Equivalence. New York: University Press of America.
6. Newmark, P. (1988a). A textbook of Translation. London: Prentice-Hall
International.
7. Newmark, P. (1988b). Approaches to Translation. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall.
8. Nida, E. A. & Taber, C. R. (1964). Towards a Science of Translating.
9. Nord, C. (1994). Translation as a process of linguistic and cultural adaptation. In
Dollerup, E. and Lindegaard, A. (Eds.), Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2:
Insight, Aims, Visions. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamns Publishing
Company.
10. Orkideh Amininadji. (2016). A study of culture-specific items and translation
strategies in Bahrām Beyzā'ī's play "Marionettes".
https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/16183/
Amininadji_Orkideh_2016_memoire.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
11. Shekoufeh Daghoughi & Mahmood Hashemian. (2016, March). Analysis of
Culture-Specific Items and Translation Strategies Applied in Translating Jalal Al-
66
Ahmad's by the
Pen.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299343248_Analysis_of_Culture-
Specific_Items_and_Translation_Strategies_Applied_in_Translating_Jalal_Al-
Ahmad's_by_the_Pen
12. Sonja Kitanovska-Kimovska, & Silvana Neshkovska. (2018). Translating culture.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329213656_Translating_culture
13. Sonja Kitanovska-Kimovska, & Silvana Neshkovska. (2019, September). The
Handling of Culture-Specific Terms in Translation.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336104183_The_Handling_of_Culture-
Specific_Terms_in_Translation
14. YANG Lihua. (2014, February). Treatment of Cultural Differences in Translation.
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/236302711.pdf
15. Yingying Zhou. (2019). The Influence of Chinese and Western Culture on
English-Chinese Translation. https://ijlass.org/the-influence-of-chinese-and-
western-culture-on-english-chinese-translation/
16. Yumi Higashino. (2001). Cultural equivalence: its effectiveness and
complications -- Has "white gloves" achieved the equivalent effect of "shiro
tabi"? http://jaits.jpn.org/home/kaishi2001/pdf/06-higashinofinal.pdf
17. 墨香铜臭（ 2016 ）《魔道祖师》平心工作室出版。 https://
www.zhenhunxiaoshuo.com/5446.html
18. 墨香铜臭（2018）.Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. (K & Addis, Trans.).
(Original work published 2016)
https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/novels/grandmaster-of-demonic-cultivation/
67
APPENDIX
Pictures for the CSTs obtained and used.
Chinese website: https://www.zhenhunxiaoshuo.com/5446.html
English website: https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/novels/grandmaster-of-demonic-
cultivation/
68
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CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING CHINESE CLASSICAL NOVEL 《魔道祖师》 (MODAOZUSHI) INTO ENGLISH

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CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING CHINESE CLASSICAL

NOVEL ‘MODAOZUSHI’ INTO ENGLISH

MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the

accepted as fulfilment of the requirement for the Diploma in Translation and

Interpretation (DTI). The members of the Supervisory Committee are as follows:

Supervisor : Dr. Mohammed H. Al Aqad

Date : JULY 2021

Dean : Prof. Datin Dr. Norhisham Mohamad (K.B., P.A.)

Date : JUNE 2021

track as I finished my studies. Despite my late submissions, he encouraged me and

assisted me in finding a solution whenever I encountered difficulties. He would respond

to texts in as much detail as he could to ensure I understood everything. I'm grateful to

determining translation strategies. One of the examples of challenges in translating

Chinese Classic novel 《 魔 道 祖 师 》 （ Mo Dao Zu Shi) by 墨 香 铜 臭

titles/appellation which is 魏无羡（Wei WuXian）, 魏婴 (Wei Ying), 夷陵老祖（Yi

allow more foreign friends to receive the correct cultural output.

Keyword：Challenges of translation. Cultural equivalent, translation strategies,

budaya yang mencerminkan kecekapannya dengan meneliti kebaikan dan keburukannya

menterjemahkan Klasik Mandarin novel《魔道祖师》（Mo Dao Zu Shi) ditulis oleh 墨

menerima hasil budaya yang betul.

Translation is an essential subject in modern society. In ancient times, due to various

human development, different languages have naturally formed, and communication

overcome this obstacle, and translation and interpreting have emerged.

1.1 Background of study

It is an especially challenging issue to translate culture. "Equivalent effect" can define as

identical equivalents" between different languages.

The ultimate purpose of translation should be to achieve an "equivalent effect" (Bekku,

available in a different culture. The difficulties in translating culturally specific words,

translator translates it.

localisation to the target text.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

determining translation strategies. As is often said, there is no perfect translation.

language. Its included untranslatable or sensitive contents such as names, non-

1.3 Purpose of the study

terms or concepts, the advantages and drawbacks of cultural substitution should be

considered, as it can be a useful strategy in certain situations.

The objectives of this study are as below:

To identify the challenges in translating the Chinese classical novel "Modaozushi"

To determine the translation strategies used in translating the Chinese classical

1.6 Limitation of the Study

any feedback or information from any participants or interpreters. Furthermore, since it is

the student's likelihood of making mistakes.

accurate translation is critical for avoiding misunderstandings.

result, the student's comprehension of novel translation problems is significant.

1.8 Definition of Terms

 Cultural-specific terms - CST

thirst for knowledge on the topic of translation challenges, cultural equivalence,

significance have also been discussed.

reflecting on its efficiency by examining its benefits and disadvantages in literary

texts and determining translation strategies. Translation theory will be discussed in

benchmark when comparing the English translated text against original Chinese

important in text translation.

manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as

TT", Aixela (1996). According to Venuti (1998:240), translation strategies

developing a method to translate it." He refers to translation strategies by using the

concepts of domesticating and foreignising.

and then move on to the next chapter, methodology.

2.1 Conceptual Framework

when translating a text to ensure a high-quality translation.

data in chapter four. Equivalence is important in translation because it serves as a link

issue of "equivalent effects" and CST translation.

59). As a result, it is worthwhile to investigate his theory of "dynamic equivalence,"

Chinese Classic novel 《魔道祖师》（ Mo Dao Zu Shi) by 墨香铜臭