A Contrastive Study of Two English Versions of Tao De Ching from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

Abstract

This study, under the guidance of Skopos theory, the translation strategies of cultural loaded words in the two translations are compared and analyzed to explore the impact on the target language readers, and in an attempt to summarize what measures should be adopted to minimize or avoid the translation errors of culture-loaded words. This study adopts the quantitative analysis method to compare and analyze the English translations of the Tao Te Ching by Waley and Zhao Yanchun, taking the three principles of Skopos theory as the guide, and selecting the cultural loaded words in the original language culture and the corresponding translations in the target language text as the objects of study. Through the analysis, the paper finds that from the perspective of Skopos theory, the two translators, although translating the same text, have different personal backgrounds, and their translation strategies are very different. Therefore, when translating Chinese cultural classics, translators should be clear about the goal of spreading Chinese culture and choose strategies, techniques, and methods that the reader will accept, which will tell a good Chinese story and spread Chinese culture better.