Lingjie Ji | The Chinese University of Hong Kong (original) (raw)
Papers by Lingjie Ji
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This article examines the Sinologists’ conceptually mediated approach in their studies and transl... more This article examines the Sinologists’ conceptually mediated approach in their studies and translations of Chinese literature in the nineteenth century. Gems of Chinese Literature (1884), compiled and translated by Herbert Allen Giles (1845–1935), contains the English translation of 110 Chinese prose extracts and eight poems from fifty-nine Chinese authors. This article historicizes the genesis and construction of this translation anthology and argues that, though most likely derived from a Chinese guwen (classical prose) collection, it was designed to provide a more systematic view of Chinese literature informed by the concept of national literature. By analysing its organizational strategies, discursive paratexts, and how it deviated from its possible Chinese source, the author demonstrates that Gems of Chinese Literature reveals more complex questions concerning the (re-)conceptualization and representation of Chinese literature at the encounter of Chinese and Western literary pa...
during the nineteenth century, in which "literature" retreated from its broad meaning of all kind... more during the nineteenth century, in which "literature" retreated from its broad meaning of all kinds of written texts to the narrower sense as the umbrella term for imaginative writings. Things become even more complicated when we try to apply "literature" to the Chinese conception of wenxue 文學 (literature) which refers to a very different scope and order of texts. The conceptual development of the English "literature," as well as the British sinologists' understanding and classification of "Chinese literature" in the nineteenth century, will be examined in Chapter 2. Suffice it to say here that this research mainly adopts the modern and narrow sense of "literature," defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the result or product of literary activity," 5 or, in the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas as "imaginative writing per se, that is, the genres of poetry, fictional narrative, and drama." 6 Therefore, by "Chinese literature," this study mainly considers the British sinologists' writings on traditional Chinese poetry, drama, and fiction, but not on philosophical or religious texts such as the Confucian or Daoist classics. This is why James Legge (1815-1897), one of the most important British sinologists in the nineteenth century, will be conspicuously absent in my study, as he mainly dedicated himself to the study and translation of the Chinese classics-even the most literary Book of Poetry was purposely translated by Legge "as a portion of the Chinese classics." 7 This study focuses on the nineteenth century because this was the foundational phase in the formation of modern knowledge about Chinese literature in the English-speaking world, in which the British sinologists played an important part. Chinese literature had been known to the English readers since the seventeenth century, particularly with the translation of two Chinese literary works in the eighteenth century-the French translation of the Chinese play Zhaoshi gu'er 趙氏孤兒 (The Orphan of the House of Zhao) and its various English adaptations, and the English translation of the Chinese novel Hao qiu zhuan 好逑傳 (The Fortunate Union). 8 While these two pieces of literary works enjoyed 5
Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies, 2020
With the development of British Sinology in the 19th century, a body of relatively comprehensive ... more With the development of British Sinology in the 19th century, a body of relatively comprehensive knowledge about Chinese literature became available to general English-language readers for the first time. How was this knowledge gradually produced and represented in the Anglophone world? This article looks at this history of knowledge production through the lens of encyclopaedias. It provides a focused study of this process by examining the writings on Chinese literature in Englishlanguage encyclopaedias. Through an analysis of their sources of information, categorisation schemes, discourses, and literary and intellectual frameworks, this article demonstrates the structural transformation of the understanding and representation of Chinese literature in Anglophone scholarship during the long 19th century.
Journal of Translation Studies , 2021
Much has been written about the prominent British sinologists in the history of English translati... more Much has been written about the prominent British sinologists in the history of English translations of Chinese literature in the nineteenth century. It should be noted that the development of British sinology, including literary translation, in the nineteenth century was also marked by the active participation of a large number of foreign residents in China. Their contributions have not yet received sufficient attention. This paper examines the life and work of Alfred Lister (1842-1890) as a translator of Chinese literature who is still largely unnoticed. Since his arrival in Hong Kong in 1865, Lister had served in several offices in the colonial government, including Postmaster General and Treasurer. He had published actively in contemporary sinological journals, with a particular interest in translating Chinese literary works into English. With archival research and textual analysis, this paper examines his selection of source texts and his concepts and translation methods. It explores how the practice of literary translation had developed in the context of his colonial experience and the Chinese research environment in Hong Kong at the time. This paper brings new perspectives to our understanding of the history of English translations of Chinese literature in the nineteenth century.
Crossing Borders: Sinology in Translation Studies, 2022
Archiv orientální
This article examines the Sinologists’ conceptually mediated approach in their studies and transl... more This article examines the Sinologists’ conceptually mediated approach in their studies and translations of Chinese literature in the nineteenth century. Gems of Chinese Literature (1884), compiled and translated by Herbert Allen Giles (1845–1935), contains the English translation of 110 Chinese prose extracts and eight poems from fifty-nine Chinese authors. This article historicizes the genesis and construction of this translation anthology and argues that, though most likely derived from a Chinese guwen (classical prose) collection, it was designed to provide a more systematic view of Chinese literature informed by the concept of national literature. By analysing its organizational strategies, discursive paratexts, and how it deviated from its possible Chinese source, the author demonstrates that Gems of Chinese Literature reveals more complex questions concerning the (re-)conceptualization and representation of Chinese literature at the encounter of Chinese and Western literary pa...
during the nineteenth century, in which "literature" retreated from its broad meaning of all kind... more during the nineteenth century, in which "literature" retreated from its broad meaning of all kinds of written texts to the narrower sense as the umbrella term for imaginative writings. Things become even more complicated when we try to apply "literature" to the Chinese conception of wenxue 文學 (literature) which refers to a very different scope and order of texts. The conceptual development of the English "literature," as well as the British sinologists' understanding and classification of "Chinese literature" in the nineteenth century, will be examined in Chapter 2. Suffice it to say here that this research mainly adopts the modern and narrow sense of "literature," defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the result or product of literary activity," 5 or, in the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas as "imaginative writing per se, that is, the genres of poetry, fictional narrative, and drama." 6 Therefore, by "Chinese literature," this study mainly considers the British sinologists' writings on traditional Chinese poetry, drama, and fiction, but not on philosophical or religious texts such as the Confucian or Daoist classics. This is why James Legge (1815-1897), one of the most important British sinologists in the nineteenth century, will be conspicuously absent in my study, as he mainly dedicated himself to the study and translation of the Chinese classics-even the most literary Book of Poetry was purposely translated by Legge "as a portion of the Chinese classics." 7 This study focuses on the nineteenth century because this was the foundational phase in the formation of modern knowledge about Chinese literature in the English-speaking world, in which the British sinologists played an important part. Chinese literature had been known to the English readers since the seventeenth century, particularly with the translation of two Chinese literary works in the eighteenth century-the French translation of the Chinese play Zhaoshi gu'er 趙氏孤兒 (The Orphan of the House of Zhao) and its various English adaptations, and the English translation of the Chinese novel Hao qiu zhuan 好逑傳 (The Fortunate Union). 8 While these two pieces of literary works enjoyed 5
Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies, 2020
With the development of British Sinology in the 19th century, a body of relatively comprehensive ... more With the development of British Sinology in the 19th century, a body of relatively comprehensive knowledge about Chinese literature became available to general English-language readers for the first time. How was this knowledge gradually produced and represented in the Anglophone world? This article looks at this history of knowledge production through the lens of encyclopaedias. It provides a focused study of this process by examining the writings on Chinese literature in Englishlanguage encyclopaedias. Through an analysis of their sources of information, categorisation schemes, discourses, and literary and intellectual frameworks, this article demonstrates the structural transformation of the understanding and representation of Chinese literature in Anglophone scholarship during the long 19th century.
Journal of Translation Studies , 2021
Much has been written about the prominent British sinologists in the history of English translati... more Much has been written about the prominent British sinologists in the history of English translations of Chinese literature in the nineteenth century. It should be noted that the development of British sinology, including literary translation, in the nineteenth century was also marked by the active participation of a large number of foreign residents in China. Their contributions have not yet received sufficient attention. This paper examines the life and work of Alfred Lister (1842-1890) as a translator of Chinese literature who is still largely unnoticed. Since his arrival in Hong Kong in 1865, Lister had served in several offices in the colonial government, including Postmaster General and Treasurer. He had published actively in contemporary sinological journals, with a particular interest in translating Chinese literary works into English. With archival research and textual analysis, this paper examines his selection of source texts and his concepts and translation methods. It explores how the practice of literary translation had developed in the context of his colonial experience and the Chinese research environment in Hong Kong at the time. This paper brings new perspectives to our understanding of the history of English translations of Chinese literature in the nineteenth century.
Crossing Borders: Sinology in Translation Studies, 2022