Abstract:

Tao Te Ching, also called Lao Zi, is an important philosophical work in pre-Qin times in China. Composed of only less than 5,000 Chinese characters in the Spring and Autumn period, Tao Te Ching is praised for its profoundness as a represent action of the Chinese culture. It advocates such a philosophical thinking, "inactivity", which has a great and long-term influence not only on the philosophy, and is quite beneficial and instructive for the current blundering society. The paper takes Lao Zi and his Tao Te Ching as a beginning to give a brief introduction about the work and analyzes the features of the versions of Tao Te Ching in each period. Then it gives an introduction to the hermeneutics, and the author attempts to interpret the crucial point of Tao Te Ching, namely "Tian Xia" and its related meaning, to unveil the nature of "Tian Xia" through the hermeneutics perspective and gives a profound analysis on the different translations of "Tian Xia" in different versions of Tao Te Ching. At last, the author summarizes the reasons why there have been so many different translations. Different understandings have led to different translations. These concepts can be applied to the analysis of the translation of Tao Te Ching. From the horizon of version, Tao Te Ching is a typical example demonstrating the openness of the text because of its sophisticated language and profound meaning, while the translators of the book have different horizons. The fusion of the two different horizons gives rise to diversified translations. In addition, historical interpretation causes the source text's uncertainty which makes the translation of Tao Te Ching a difficult job.
 
Key words: Tao Te Ching; "Tian Xia"; Hermeneutics; Subjectivity

摘要:

《道德经》，又称《老子》，是中国先秦时代重要的哲学著作，也是道家学派的奠基之作。成书于春秋战国时代的《道德经》，虽只有区区五千余字，却让古往今来的中外读者慨叹中华文化的博大精深，它所提倡的“无为”等的哲学思想，不仅对哲学界影响深远，在现代日趋浮躁的今天也有很深的指导意义。作者从老子及《道德经》入手，扼要地对作品进行介绍，并对各个时期《道德经》译本的特点进行简要分析；接着是对阐释学进行介绍；作者从阐释学的视角，对《道德经》中的解读之要—“天下”字所蕴含的深意及其翻译进行解读，对“天下”-词在译本中的不同翻译进行深度分析。最后对造成不同翻译的原因总结归纳。不同的译者的主观理解不同，就会存在不同的翻译。《道德经》的翻译史其实就是-部阐释的历史，每位译者都试图把他所理解的《道德经》用另外-种语言传达给读者。从视域的角度看，《道德经》用语玄妙，意义深奥，充分体现了文本视域开放性的特点，而不同译者因背景不同而拥有不同的视域。理解的历史性造成原文本的不确定性，译者在此基础上的理解难免不同。

关键词：道德经；天下；阐释学；译者主体性