The English Translation of Confucian Classics from the Perspective of Knowledge Translation Studies: A Study of Roger T. Ames' Translation Practice

Jiaxin Liu; Runze Han; Jiaxing Tang

doi:10.54254/2753-7064/2025.22073

Research Article

Open access

Published on 18 April 2025

Download pdf

Liu,J.;Han,R.;Tang,J. (2025). The English Translation of Confucian Classics from the Perspective of Knowledge Translation Studies: A Study of Roger T. Ames' Translation Practice. Communications in Humanities Research,58,1-6.

Export citation

The English Translation of Confucian Classics from the Perspective of Knowledge Translation Studies: A Study of Roger T. Ames' Translation Practice

Jiaxin Liu *^,1, Runze Han ², Jiaxing Tang ³

¹ Guangdong University of Technology
² Guangdong University of Technology
³ Guangdong University of Technology

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7064/2025.22073

Abstract

Confucian classics embody the essence of Chinese culture and serve as a crucial medium for its transmission. With their profound ideas, these works have attracted global attention. As an emerging bridge for cross-cultural communication, Knowledge Translation Studies (KTS) focuses on the translation of key concepts, which is an essential issue for the international dissemination of Confucian classics. Roger T. Ames offers a unique and innovative perspective on Confucian studies, making significant contributions to the English translation of Confucian classics by interpreting Confucian thought from a comparative philosophy viewpoint, taking into account the historical and cultural contexts of both the East and the West. This paper uses the lens of KTS to explore Ames' English translation practice of Confucian classics, examining the overseas spread of Confucianism while providing a case reference for the practice of translation studies in China.

Keywords

Confucian classics, Roger T. Ames, Knowledge Translation Studies, English translation of key concepts

View pdf

References

[1]. Xia, Y. (2022). Research on the English translation of Confucian classics in China (2001–2021). Journal of Nanjing University of Technology (Social Science Edition), 22(1), 16.

[2]. Yang, F. (2023a). Translation between knowledge and knowledge beyond: Celebrating the second anniversary of the publication of “The Manifesto of Knowledge Translation”. Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, (5).

[3]. Lan, H. J. (2022). Knowledge translation as theory and method. Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, (2).

[4]. Yue, F., & Chen, Z. Y. (2022). On the true, good, and beautiful standards of knowledge translation and the English translation of its name. Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, (3), 65-73.

[5]. Li, R. L. (2022). The epistemological interpretation of knowledge translation. Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, (1), 47-59+161.

[6]. Yu, X. D., & Fu, J. M. (2022). A preliminary exploration of the triple forms of translation knowledge. Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, (5), 2230.

[7]. Geng, L. (2011). Confucius’s thoughts on self-cultivation and their modern significance. Journal of Yuncheng College, 29(1), 48-51. https://doi.org/10.15967/j.cnki.cn14-1316/g4.2011.01.008

[8]. Tan, X. L. (2012). The translation of Zhongyong by Ames and Hao Dawei and American pragmatism. Chinese Translation Journal, 33(4), 75-79.

[9]. Yang, W. D., & Tang, J. M. (2023). A study on the English translation of core concepts in Chinese classical texts: A case study of Ames and Hao Dawei's translation of Zhongyong. Translation Studies and Teaching, (2), 17-23.

[10]. Hou, J. (2016). Meeting on the bridge: Revisiting the English translation of Zhongyong by Ames and Hao Dawei. Foreign Languages (Shanghai International Studies University Journal), 39(1), 80-86.

Cite this article

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture Developmen

Conference website: https://www.icllcd.org/

ISBN：978-1-83558-987-8(Print) / 978-1-83558-988-5(Online)

Conference date: 12 May 2025

Editor：Rick Arrowood

Series: Communications in Humanities Research

Volume number: Vol.58

ISSN：2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).