典籍英譯縱橫談
——林戊蓀先生訪談錄

林戊蓀 錢多秀

(中國(guó)外文局,北京,100037;北京航空航天大學(xué),北京,100191)

QIAN: Let’s begin with your personal background. When did you come back to China from the United States?

LIN: In the summer of 1950.

QIAN: Why did you decide to come back to China then?

LIN: I grew up during World War Ⅱ. My family and I were constantly fleeing from the Japanese invaders. I was born and had my early education in Tianjin, North China, which was occupied by Japan in 1937. Then I went to Shanghai to live in the French Concession. That too was occupied by Japanese forces after the Pearl Harbor. Later, I went to the interior. So, I experienced hardships and humiliation due to imperialist aggression. It was a traumatic experience I could not forget. That shaped my thinking. So when I heard that China was liberated and a new government had been set up in China, I wanted to come back to play my part and contribute what I had learned to my people. This decision changed the entire course of my life. Originally I had planned to go to Europe to do postgraduate study in philosophy, to learn more about Western culture and maybe to teach philosophy afterwards. But in the summer of 1950, that was the

錢多秀,翻譯學(xué)博士,北京航空航天大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院翻譯系副教授。主要研究方向?yàn)榉g理論與實(shí)踐、計(jì)算機(jī)輔助翻譯和英語(yǔ)教學(xué)。電子郵箱:qianduoxiu@buaa.edu.cn

last thing on my mind. I wanted to come back to help build my country so that it would never again be under foreign occupation.

QIAN: What did you gain from your stay in the United States?

LIN: I went to the US in 1946 right after WWII. Before that, I was in India with my father, who worked there as a bank manager. So I had studied English before I went to the States. I remember I could talk to the Americans on the boat without much difficulty. But my English wasn’t good enough to write or express myself fully. The first year in America was crucial for me in the study of English. I went to a prep school for a year and that taught me a great deal. First, it was a very good school. Second, no other Chinese was around so I had to express my ideas in English all the time. After a month or so, I began to dream in English. I was 18 then and I visited the homes of many of my classmates. I got on very well, culturally and intellectually, with them. I also had a chance to meet with many foreign students, European, Asian, etc. We went to several international summer conferences where I learned a lot about the ways of people from different parts of the world. I was interested in philosophy because I had always thought the reason China was backward and lagged behind the West was that our methodology was behind. Now, looking back, during my stay in the United States, I not only learned the language, but also got some ideas of the American culture as well as Western culture generally. I have a feeling that in China today we easily give people the title “master of both Chinese and Western cultures”. Actually, it is very difficult to really master Chinese culture, still less Western culture. We like to say Chinese culture is broad and profound. In fact, Western culture is also very broad and profound. Even today, I consider myself only a beginner. To really know something about the Western culture is my life-long pursuit, and that helps me in my translation work.

QIAN: How did you get started in your translation work?

LIN: Well, quite unexpectedly. In those days, as a young person, you could be drafted to do whatever the leadership wanted you to do. I had no objection to that though I would prefer writing directly in English. Many people were returning from abroad then. Off and on, we were asked to translate some government documents, statements, etc. We worked together in a group. But in 1952, when we held the first international conference in Beijing after 1949, called the Asian-Pacific Peace Conference, I was asked to do conference interpreting, that is, simultaneous interpreting, without any previous training. But we had a very experienced interpreter named Tang Sheng who had returned from the United Nations to show us how to do it. She was the only person who had previous experience. There was no time to train us. We simply sat around her, watched how she did it, then imitated what she did. Fortunately, most of the speeches were prepared and we could look at the English translation of the texts. But you know, it could be a trap because very often the speaker changed certain parts of his speech, or simply cut out certain parts, so you had to follow him very closely and make changes accordingly. Anyway, we were young and learned very fast. Later on, I was sent to North Korea to do interpretation for a Red Cross team after the Armistice. In 1956, I was an English interpreter for the 8thCommunist Party Congress. Off and on I was asked to write news scripts for the English service of Radio Peking (today’s China Radio International).

QIAN: But what was your regular job?

LIN: My regular job was writing for the journal People’s China, an English-language biweekly. From 1958 on, I worked as a columnist on international relations. That went on for 9 years until the Cultural Revolution. Those nine years provided me with much experience for later translation work because we had polishers who were veteran western journalists. They edited our writings. So I learned a lot from that experience. Journalism helps one to become observant and reader-orientated, to know where to expand and where to condense. That also helped my translation work. It was only after I got promoted after the Cultural Revolution and assumed more responsibilities that I began to be more closely associated with translation administration. Starting in the early 1980s, I began to assume leadership at various posts. I was, first, the Deputy Director of the Editorial Office ofBeijingReview, then, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and finally its Director. In 1988, I was appointed Director of the Foreign Language Publishing Bureau and concurrently President of the China International Publishing Group. I was in that post for six years and one of my responsibilities was related to translation. Sometimes, I had to edit and finalize translations of important documents. Also, as the director, I felt it was crucial to improve the training of interpreters and translators. I was on the committee for the accreditation of senior translators, first for the International Publishing Group, then the national committee.

QIAN: That’s when you became closely related to translation administration in China, right?

LIN: Yes, I really got interested in translation after I became the President of the Group. As the top man, I sometimes had to do the final editing. I didn’t translate, but I had to revise the documents and articles where necessary, whether it concerned language or policy. I was selected to be the executive vice-president of TAC, that is, The Translators Association of China. One of my responsibilities was to provide TAC with logistical support. But that started my interest in the Translators Association. After my retirement in 1994, I was asked to help improve its international liaison work. For more than six years, I was working in that field. I was also asked to lead two committees: one was a committee on translation studies and teaching, of which I knew nothing then. So I had to learn first, that was when I got interested in translation teaching and read up on translation theories; And two, the committee on media translation. Actually, this committee is devoted to issues concerning translation from Chinese into English. Finally, in 2002, I was made the editor of theChineseTranslatorsJournal. Actually, I didn’t do much in that capacity because I had so many other social responsibilities to look after. In 2004, I retired from TAC, too. I am now an advisor for TAC. Because I have more time now, I can devote more energy to writing and translation.

QIAN: In your opinion, what makes a good translator?

LIN: A good translator should, from my experience, have a macro, as well as a micro, view of the text. It doesn’t matter whether it is literature, policy statement, or any kind of article. I often say that the translator has to have an overview first, to be able to grasp the gist of the piece and its trend of thought. Then he has to carry with him a microscope, so that none of the details and nuances will be missed. He has to have intellectual curiosity so that the subject matter interests him, an awareness of cultural differences as well as a deep sense of responsibility.

QIAN: How many works have you translated? In which direction?

LIN: I don’t remember how many works I have translated. The direction is mainly from Chinese into English. In my younger days, I did some English-Chinese translation, but there was nothing important. After my retirement, I did Chinese-English translation in various areas—culture, history, philosophy and international affairs. My wife and I are fortunate in that we both enjoy translating. So we have made it a rule: I evaluate everything she translates, and vice versa. She is more inclined towards literary translation and I help her by reading her manuscripts.

QIAN: When people talk about your translations from Chinese into English, most probably they would mention Sun Zi’sTheArtofWarand Sun Bin’sTheArtofWar, two of the world’s major dissertations on strategy and the nature of war. Can you say a few words about that?

LIN: OK. That was in 1995, one year after my retirement. That was when I started on the project. I have always been interested in Sun Zi. I first read it in the 1950s. There was then a very famous scholar on strategies, a general named Guo Huaruo who wrote an explanatory book on Sun Zi. This work has to do with dialectics, strategy, and methodology. You know, I have always been interested in methodology. Before the Cultural Revolution, I studied Sun Zi many times in the Chinese original. Then during the Cultural Revolution, very few books were published. Back from the Cadre School during a vacation, I went to a bookstore and found the first published book of Sun Bin’sTheArtofWar. I grabbed a copy and went back to the countryside. With no electricity, I read it in the candlelight after a day’s work and I was so tired that I dozed off. When I woke up, I found the candle oil had burnt the book’s cover. I still have the burned copy in my study.

QIAN: Why did you translate Sun Zi and Sun Bin? Your own choice or any outside factors?

LIN: I have a friend who was then working in a publishing house. He came to see me one day. “Would you care to translate this book? This time, we want to put Sun Zi and Sun Bin together,” he said. So it’s a convergence of interest between the publisher and the translator. For me, it was a labor of love.

QIAN: What were your advantages and disadvantages in translating Sun Zi and Sun Bin?

LIN: The translation of Chinese classics is very difficult. First of all, you have to really comprehend the content. Often, because of the lack of context, a term or a passage can lend to different interpretations and you have to decide which one is appropriate on the basis of your general understanding of the socio-historical background as well as the basic ideas of the author.

QIAN: How long did it take you to translate Sun Zi and Sun Bin? Was there any deadline for your translation?

LIN: It didn’t take me long. At that time, there were several English translations of Sun Zi, but none of Sun Bin. The publisher wanted the translation to be done very quickly. They told me I could consult with a scholar named Wu Rusong, who is one of the leading specialists on Sun Zi and Sun Bin and served as the vice-president of the Association for the Study of Sun Zi. When I had difficulty, I consulted him. It took me about three months to do the initial translation of the two Sun Zis.

[In the case ofTheAnalectsby Confucius, I have worked on it, off and on, for nearly 10 years. I spent months familiarizing myself with the ideological background and studied the text over and over again. When I felt I was generally in command of the original, I started to translate. To me, the first thing was to understand the Chinese text. There was no deadline withTheAnalects.]

QIAN: What were the most difficult parts or places to translate in Sun Zi? How did you solve those problems?

LIN: There are three ways. First, the translator’s preface. Second, footnotes. In Sun Zi, there are many key words or “cultural terms” which require explanations in the English translation for the benefit of the readers. Third, sometimes, you have to rely on transliterations. For instance, in translating Sun Zi, I used the word “disposition” for 形. That’s my interpretation and I stick to it. This is understandable. Again, for 勢(shì), I used “momentum”. But for 齊 and 正, it’s almost impossible to find equivalents in English. Additionally, there are several possible interpretations. So I used the transliterationsqiandzheng, and in my foot-note, I explained what I was trying to say. Then, there are numerous allusions which are unfamiliar to present-day readers in China, not to say foreign readers. That’s another reason why it has taken me so long to translateTheAnalects. Altogether, I’ve gone over my translation five times, but I am still not satisfied with my present version. On some terms, I am still hesitating. For example, “君子” and “仁” are two basic constructs ofTheAnalects. What is the best and most accurate way to translate them into English? Usually, people translate 君子as “gentleman” . But these two terms, gentleman and 君子have quite different implications.. Aside from cultural differences, the term “君子” appeared much earlier than “gentleman” by at least 2000 years. Terms develop and language changes. The term “gentleman” has many associations in English that are quite remote from those of “君子”. Finally, I decided to use “the honorable man” for “君子”. It’s a term that can be understood. I had a very good friend, a professor at Brown University. One of his fellow professors has published a translation ofTheAnalects. He used “the ideal man” for 君子. Well, it’s a philosophical translation and is meant for scholarly readership. So, as a translator, I am constantly pushed and pulled from both sides, by the desire to be faithful and the wish to make my translation understandable. That’s why it has taken me so long to finalize the translation. In my translation, I will most probably use either the transliterationjunziwith footnotes or “the honorable man”.

QIAN: The structure of classical Chinese is sometimes very hard to analyze. When you translate, what is your unit of translation?

LIN: In classical Chinese, there were no punctuation marks; those we find today were added by editors. Even then, because of the brevity and conciseness of the language and the lack of connectives, the sentences and terms often lend to different interpretations, so you have to base your interpretation on the discourse.

QIAN: As you have just said, classical Chinese is sometimes open to several interpretations in modern Chinese, how did you make your choice?

LIN: Well, as I just mentioned, after I have grasped the original meaning, I choose one interpretation and stick to it.

QIAN: How did you bridge the gap for the target readers in view of their lack of background knowledge? Any need for notes? I see you have kept many Chinese original terms in your translation, could you explain why?

LIN: This is a very important question for translators doing Chinese to English translation. You have to assume the target readers don’t have the background knowledge—cultural and language-wise. So you have to provide the necessary information, first by writing a translator’s preface. Sometimes, you have to write a long preface. When writing for Western readers, you have to try your best to find the equivalents. For example, you can’t use the Chinese calendar or simply name a Chinese dynasty. You have to provide all the AD and BC information. That’s not enough. You have to provide the readers with the basic terminologies, which are sometimes so different from their Western counterparts. Secondly, you have to provide footnotes. In my translation of Sun Zi, there were actually more footnotes in my manuscript than in the published version. The editor took out many of them. That taught me you have to limit your notes to a minimum. If the translation is cluttered with them, it will affect smooth reading. Of course, for scholarly readers, it’s another story. It depends on whom you are writing for. So you have to do three things in addition to translating: write the preface and footnotes, and decide where to use transliteration.

QIAN: Could you please describe the process of translation, taking Sun Zi as an example?

LIN: Yes, I have my own system, which I call the “5-step method”. One, you have to comprehend the original. The more you understand the basic ideas and logic of the original, the better you are placed. Once you have mastered the logic of the author, it’s much easier to follow his reasoning. That’s very important when you are doing Chinese to English translation. Chinese is implicit, while English is explicit. So in the translation, you have to add connectives, conjunctions, etc. Two, you try your best to express the content of the original in English. What comes out, however, is often not so satisfactory because you are, consciously or unconsciously, influenced by the original constructs of the Chinese text, especially by the Chinese sentence structure. Three, you try to make the English as smooth as you can. You forget about the original. If you have time, put the translation aside for some time. A French professor named Danica Seleskovitch, a Serbian, who was the interpreter for President De Gaulle, once said that we should try to get away from the original, do away with the influence of the original (de-verbalization). The final text in the target language should read as if it were written originally in that language. We frown when we read a translation that doesn’t sound right in Chinese. The same is true when we translate from Chinese into a foreign language. Imagine how an American reader would react when he or she comes across an awkward translation from Chinese into English. Four, revise and go back to the original text. The translation should not divert from the source text. So you have to check it point by point. The fifth step is especially important for people who are in a hurry. You must check all the figures, facts, dates, etc. This may appear to be minor and insignificant, but is, in fact, very important, especially for young translators who tend to be impatient and therefore often miss out on details.

QIAN: There are already several translations ofTheAnalects. Why do you choose to translate this work again?

LIN: For me, there are two justifications for a retranslation. First, one’s understanding of the original could be different from those of previous translators. With more scholarship, one’s comprehension of the original could be more sophisticated.TheAnalectsis one of the most influential Chinese philosophical works. It is a must read for anyone who wishes to understand China. It is worth the effort to make it available to readers abroad. Second, the target language, English, also changes with time. Readers will need a more up-to-date version. That’s what I hope to achieve in the retranslation.

QIAN: When it comes to the writing style, do you think style can be translated?

LIN: Good writing always has its own style. So you try your best to maintain the original style. But because it’s a translation, you have to merge the original style with your own style. For instance, if the original language is very concise with no redundancies, you try to make your English the same in style.

QIAN: In your opinion, what is the pressure of deadlines on a professional translator?

LIN: I remember once when I was giving a lecture on my translation process, a listener came over to me and said, “We are always in a hurry. How can we carry out your five steps?” Generally speaking, if you are doing translation with a strict deadline, it’s possible that the quality might suffer. But, of course, that shouldn’t be an excuse for shoddy work on the part of the translator. As a matter of fact, heavy pressure often makes the mind function better, and with exertion the translator can speed up his work. On the one hand, as a translator, one should always try to upgrade one’s capability to meet greater challenges. On the other hand, I’ve been trying hard to draw the society’s attention to the quality, as well as the speed, of translation. I try to convince the client that the translator is not a machine and that haste makes waste. At present, we have too many poorly translated works.

QIAN: How do you get across to your English readers the Chinese figures of speech?

LIN: Well, I think you should try to retain as much as possible the content as well as the flavor of the original figure of speech. Sometimes, you can find equivalents in English. For example, in Chinese we have 一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井繩 (If one is bitten by a snake once, he will stay away from ropes for ten years). In English, there is a very good corresponding expression: “Once bitten, twice shy.” But you should be very sensitive to the differences as well as the similarities. Some are similar in meaning, while others are quite to the contrary. For instance, in Chinese we have the saying 海納百川 (The ocean receives all rivers), which means broadness of mind or open-mindedness. In English, we have “The sea refuses no river.” The two sayings look pretty similar, but the meaning is quite different because the latter signifies greed. Or take the Chinese saying 一葉知秋 (From the fall of one leaf, one knows that autumn is here). In English, there’s “A single swallow doesn’t make a spring.” Both deal with the changes of weather, but one is just the reverse of the other. So in handling this kind of figure of speech, the translator should be very careful.

QIAN: Just now, you said that in translation, first is comprehension, then expression in the target language. Is that the principle a translator should abide by?

LIN: Yes. I think so. Once you have understood the original, the next thing to do is to find the right expression to convey the original meaning and message. Here you have to bridge the language and cultural barriers. For example, while hyperboles or superlatives are used quite commonly in Chinese, in English they tend to use understatements. When we translate, we sometimes have to water down the “over-statements.”

QIAN: What is your attitude towards the target readers? Your aim in translation is to let them understand the Chinese text and have some idea of Chinese culture. Is that the case?

LIN: Yes, I should think so, because if you don’t help them understand your culture, they will either be bewildered or get bored, and finally just stop reading altogether. Then the whole purpose of translation is lost.

QIAN: Do you think China can play a more active role in FIT (International Federation of Translators)? And how?

LIN: TAC became a member association of FIT in 1987. Since then, we’ve been quite active. We joined FIT because we wanted to have proper ties with our colleagues around the world and learn from their experiences. For example, very early on, soon after I became a FIT council member, we studied all the relevant documents of FIT. We found its Translators’ Charter very relevant to our situation, so we translated it into Chinese and published it in our journal. From Australia and Britain, we learned how to conduct our translators accreditation tests. Previously, we had an evaluation system based on the translator’s work and academic background. Starting 2002, we introduced the China Aptitude Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI). This embraces separate tests for translators and interpreters and has different levels. Still in its initial stage, it has been very successful so far and thousands of translators and would-be translators are taking the tests. We give English tests twice a year, and Russian, Japanese, French and Arabic once a year. Very soon, we will introduce tests in German, Spanish, and other languages. These tests are needed to guarantee the quality of people who enter the translation market. We have learnt this practice from our colleagues in other countries. Another thing is we initiated, together with our Korean colleagues, the Asian Translators Forum. So far, the forum has been held four times. The next one will be held in Indonesia next year. I was impressed when I visited the University of Geneva, where they have the oldest training program for translators and interpreters, and when I visited Paris and Monterey in the US. Simply put, if you want to see far, you have to stand on the shoulders of the giant. You don’t have to reinvent the wheels. You need to advance from the world’s best.

QIAN: Do you think translation theories can guide practice?

LIN: Certainly. However, translation is practice-oriented, you have to do translation before you can really understand, appreciate, or apply those translation theories. I have met many students who complained to me that at college, they had to spend too much time on learning theories. However, I really have to know more about what theories they are taught in the universities before I can make any meaningful comments on this issue. One point I would like to make is that there are differences between Chinese and Western theories. I think we should try to draw on both and not counter pose one against the other. Some people hold that Chinese theories are outdated or that we didn’t have any theory at all. I beg to differ. This is not nationalism. Chinese theories came mainly from the practice of translating from foreign languages into Chinese. We don’t have many theories based on experience of translating from Chinese into other languages. Western theories are mostly based on the practice of translating among Western languages, though they sometimes also touch on other languages. Their theories are more methodological and elaborate than most classical Chinese theories. How to apply the former to our translation studies is very important. I am interested in the research done by people in Taiwan and Hong Kong, especially their descriptive translation studies. On the mainland, I think there is already too much time, energy and space devoted to theory-to-theory writings. There isn’t enough attention paid to the study of practice-to-theory, and/or theory-to-practice.

QIAN: Will there be differences in the translation when one translates the same work again at a different time?

LIN: From my own experience, I’d say yes. There are several editions of my translation ofTheArtofWar. Each time, I make some revisions. If I have more time, I will revise more; if I have less time, I will revise less. I remember reading an article by Yu Guangzhong, a famous Chinese translator in Taiwan. He said, referring to his own English-to-Chinese translations, revision is necessary. It’s not because his earlier translation was wrong, but because he found some of his previous expressions were not Chinese enough, so he made revisions in the later editions of his own translated works. In short, the translator matures as time goes by and he may have a deeper understanding of the original or better ways of expression in the target language.

QIAN: So you don’t think there could be a standard translation?

LIN: No, I don’t think so. Translation is not like a mathematical equation. But even in mathematics, there can be different solutions to the same problem. Still more the case with translation. Different translators have different approaches and different capabilities. There is no standard translation, only better or worse ones.

QIAN: Some theorists in translation are talking about whether the author of the original work should move towards the target reader or the target reader should move towards the author. What’s your view on that?

LIN: I heard about this. Basically, this is the difference between domestication and foreignization. I think, where possible, the translation should move towards the target readers. But the translator should not do so by distorting or betraying the original. I have an illustration which I used in one of my academic papers in the 1990s. I said the translator is like the Monkey King in the famous Chinese novelPilgrimagetotheWest. He is capable of flying thousands of miles by somersaulting, but when he does this in the palm of the Buddha, he finds that somehow he cannot go beyond the palm. In translation, the Buddha’s palm is the original work of the author.

You can’t jump out of the palm, but you have a lot of freedom within the limits of the palm. The rationale for translation is that you want to introduce the original work to the readers in other languages. The target readers are your “god”. But at the same time, the reason why you are translating is to help the target readers appreciate the original work and not something else. Otherwise, you might as well write your own piece. Here, the expression 一仆二主 (one servant for two masters) would fit well. You can’t serve only one master and ignore the other one.

QIAN: Do you think the direction of translation is closely related to the relative positions of the target and source cultures?

LIN: Yes. For example, Portugal is a country that gives loans and scholarships to publishers who translate and publish translations of their literary works. Spain doesn’t need that because it is a stronger culture and has wider influences worldwide. France is a big country and has great influences in many parts of the world. Yet compared to English, French is now in an inferior position as an international language. That’s why the French government makes an effort to subsidize the translation of French literary works into other languages. We cannot say that Chinese culture is becoming more popular simply because many countries have set up Chinese language studies. Well, it’s true that there are in different parts of the world millions of students studying Chinese, but comparatively speaking, we are still way behind as regards the introduction of Chinese culture abroad. So I think we should make efforts to popularize our Chinese culture through translation.

QIAN: What role should translation play today in China?

LIN: Historically, translation played a very important role in spreading religion and ideology. There have been four upsurges of translation activity in Chinese history. The first upsurge was the translation of Buddhist scriptures during the Tang Dynasty. The second upsurge was the translation into Chinese of works on Western science and technology in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. The third was during the early 1900s when works on natural and social sciences and humanities were translated into Chinese, in large numbers. In fact, modern Chinese thought was closely related to translation. All big-shots in modern Chinese thought, with the exception of Mao Zedong, were translators, such as Lu Xun, Mao Dun and Guo Moruo. Of course, Marxism was introduced into China through translation. In the 1950s, there was another upsurge of translation of Russian (Soviet) works and a widespread translation of Asian, African and Latin American literary works. There was a social need for that. So efforts were made. Nowadays, translation has become an industry. It is no longer academic work only, but covers a whole range of specialized fields. There are about 3000 translation companies in China. The annual output value of translation amounts to something like RMB 300 billion yuan, accounting for about 1/8 of the translation output value worldwide. It’s still growing fast. But the negative side of it is that the quality of translation is very low. That’s partly because we lack commonly recognized translation standards. So we have to put more efforts into work evaluation and build a standardized market. There should be adequate management of translation. Anyway, we need some sort of order, a system in the translation market. We are still progressing from a disorderly situation to an orderly one. But we are moving toward a new translation period. We need to do more to improve translation. Expansion is wonderful, but how to bring order to the industry, to do away with shoddy works is also important.

QIAN: Since you have been involved mainly in the administration of translation in China, may I have your opinion on the social status of translation and translators in China?

LIN: Unfortunately, the status is rather low. Translators worldwide complain they are not well-recognized. They are invisible men and women. By the very nature of translation, translators are behind the scenes. Because of this, people don’t know much about translation. But I think translation is getting more and more important now. We are living in a global village with so many different languages, even though the study of English has caught on, only a minority of Chinese know English, not to mention French or other languages. Therefore our society needs translation. We can try to push for the adoption of a translation law, promote translation training and push for better translation pay. There is an obvious inequality in pay. The conference interpreter gets quite a lot, while the written translator gets very little. I know because I have been in the publishing business. The publisher would say, “Look, we can’t give you more. Otherwise, that would raise our production cost.” Actually, translation fees account for only a very small portion of the publishing cost. People are just accustomed to paying translators cheap. TAC was originally an academic association, not a professional one, so it had no say on those matters. In 2004, TAC became both an academic and a professional association. That was a major change, a significant shift in policy. Since then TAC has done a lot to publicize and popularize translation, to tell the society at large what translation is. For example, through organizing open competitions among the young and would-be translators. We need to improve our training programs. We need to have established standards for translations. TAC has done much, but a lot more is needed to change the situation.

QIAN: What advice can you give, from your own experience, to those who want to devote themselves to literary translation, to science and technology translation?

LIN: I am afraid I am not qualified to give any advice on such matters as I have never done any literary or scientific translation. I shall be much honored if what I said about translation in general, especially about translation from Chinese into English, would be of any reference value to colleagues in these fields.