(Source: Guangming.com 2024-05-27)
Author: Feng Jieyun (Professor of the w88 casino of English, w88 casino, doctoral supervisor of "Cross-Cultural Studies", Director of the Institute of Business English)
In August 2022, the English translation of The Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression 1931-1945: A World History Perspective (hereinafter referred to as the "English translation") translated by the team of Professor Feng Jieyun of the w88 casino was officially published by the British academic publishing company Paths International Ltd. The translation is divided into two volumes, with a total of 480,000 words. This translation project was supported by the Chinese Academic Foreign Translation Project of the National Social Science Foundation.
The original book "The Historical Position of China's Anti-Fascist War in the World Anti-Fascist War" was written by a team led by Professor Hu Dekun, a historian and former president of the Chinese Society for the History of World War II. It is an academic monograph that systematically studies the relationship between China and the world during the Anti-Fascist War. The original work is condensed on the basis of the nine-volume work "Research on China and the World during the Anti-Fascist War" with 3.27 million words.
People of insight at home and abroad emphasize the need to more fully understand China’s significant contribution in World War II. Professor Hu Dekun, the original author, pointed out that after World War II, China became the main target of the West’s Cold War against the East. Therefore, the West deliberately ignored, belittled, and belittled China’s role in the world’s anti-fascist war. The Western historical narrative of World War II has always been one-sided and failed to truthfully reflect China's contribution in World War II. This is extremely unfair. In addition, Professor Rana Mitte, former director of the China Studies Center at Oxford University, wrote in "China, the Forgotten Ally" that China fought hard in World War II not only for national dignity and survival, but also for the victory of all Allied Powers. It was during World War II that East and West came together to fight against the darkest forces of evil in history. Professor Mitt also pointed out that many Westerners, including many Westerners who are familiar with the history of World War II, know very little about China’s War of Resistance. They often feel that China was not an important participant in World War II; China's role was negligible; China's Anti-Japanese War was only a small event and had little impact on the overall war situation. But in fact, China’s contribution to World War II during the Anti-Japanese War was extremely important, and the Western world should know more about this period of history.
The English translation team adheres to the purpose of showing the lofty historical status of China's Anti-Japanese War to the West, and translates it with a true and pragmatic attitude, effectively conveying the position of the original work. In order to improve the acceptance of the translated work by Western readers, the translation team fully considered the cultural background of Western readers, the differences between Chinese and English language conversion, and the stylistic characteristics of historical treatises when translating. The original work is rich in historical documents and has many direct quotations, making translation extremely difficult. The translation team worked tirelessly to verify the quotations and proper nouns in the book one by one, such as names of people, military ranks, places, institutions, conferences, treaties, etc., in order to restore the true face of history. When translating vocabulary about major events, battles, and tactics during the Anti-Japanese War in the book, the translation team referred to the "A Concise Reader on the History of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War" published by the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, discussed translation methods in different contexts, and finally determined the translation method of relevant vocabulary to make the translation accurate, unified, and flexible.
It needs special emphasis that the translation team titled the English version of the book "The Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression 1931-1945: A World History Perspective". Compared with the original English translation of the Chinese original book “The Historic Position of China’s Anti-Japanese Aggressive War in the World’s Anti-Fascist War”, the new English title has major changes and adjustments in two aspects.
First of all, the title of the translated book adds the time expression "1931-1945", which highlights the important historical fact of China's "Fourteen Years of Anti-Japanese War". In their speeches at many conferences commemorating the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, party and state leaders regarded the War of Resistance after the September 18th Incident as the starting point of China’s War of Resistance against Japan and the fourteen-year War of Resistance as a whole. The "Fourteen Years of Anti-Fascist War" examines China's Anti-Japanese War in the context of the world's anti-fascist war and emphasizes the fact that China was the country that started the earliest and longest-lasting anti-fascist war in the world. For a long time, most Western scholars believed that the World Anti-Fascist War began with Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, but ignored that China had already begun its long-term Anti-Japanese War and the World Anti-Fascist War since 1931. The English translation of the book's title highlights the time span of "Fourteen Years of Anti-Japanese War" and emphasizes that China was the first country in the world to open an anti-fascist battlefield in World War II, which helps correct the vague and inaccurate understanding of this in the Western world.
Secondly, the expression "China's Resistance War" in the English translation of the book's title is defined as "the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression". This statement is based on the terminology guidelines established by the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau and aims to correct the West's vague understanding of the justice of China's war of resistance. Western countries generally refer to "China's Anti-Japanese War" as "the Second Sino-Japanese War". This statement obscures the basic historical fact that Japan is the aggressor and China is the just party, and obliterates the justice of China's War of Resistance and the huge sacrifices made by the Chinese people in the War of Resistance. It should be noted that the Anti-Japanese War should not be literally translated as "the Anti-Japanese War" (meaning "the war against Japan"). This expression is ambiguous and may cause Western readers to understand the Anti-Japanese War as a war between China and Japan, rather than a just "resistance to aggression." "Resistance" clearly indicates the positive connotation of "resistance to aggression." Therefore, the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is translated as "the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" to emphasize that China is waging a just war. This is not only a matter of accuracy of translation, but also a matter of stance and attitude.
In a word, China should not become a forgotten anti-fascist ally. The publication of the English translation is committed to reducing the one-sided understanding of China's Anti-Japanese War by the international community, especially Western countries, and deepening their understanding of China's status and role in the anti-fascist war. Although history is long, contributions and meritorious deeds should always be remembered. Only by correctly understanding history can we cherish world peace and create a better future together. (Tang Jielin, a graduate student at the w88 casino of English at the w88 casino, also contributed to this article)
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