Abstract:Hong Lou Meng is acknowledged as the encyclopedia of Chinese feudal society because of its abundant description of traditional Chinese culture in ancient China. In the novel there are more than four hundred characters and their names only are worth studying. For a translator the translation of names in the novel is a challenge as they often have important implication. In this thesis, the author focuses on name translation in the two English versions of Hong Lou Meng respectively by Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes. The thesis is intended to find out some general rules of name translation and differences of the two versions. In the first part, there is a brief introduction to the original text and the two versions. In the second part, the author will analyze the similarities in translation methods. In the third part, differences will be explored. Finally there is a conclusion. The author hopes that further researchers can gain some inspiration through this thesis and more researches will be conducted on the field of name translation. 

Key words: name translation; similarities; differences; transliteration; free translation 

CONTENTS

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction  1

2. Similarities of Name Translation  2

2.1 Transliteration for the Main Characters’ Names

2.2 Free Translation for the Secondary Characters’ Names

3. Differences of Name Translation. 4

3.1 Translation of Servants’ Names

3.1.1 Translation Showing Masters' Status

  3.1.2 Translation Showing Masters' Interests

  3.1.3 Translation Showing Masters' aspirations

  3.1.4 Translation Showing Masters' morality

3.1.5 Translation Implying Masters' Fates

3.2 Translation of Religious Names

3.3 Compensation

4. Conclusion. 9

Bibliography 10

Acknowledgements. 11