1．4 Criteria in Translating翻译原则
The so-called criteria of translation are actually the two sides of the same thing．The former lays emphasis on the translator，who should follow them while translating; while the latter on the reader or critic，who may use the criteria to evaluate translation versions．In fact，the criteria of translation practically concern three fundamental aspects: firstly the nature of translation as linking together content and form; secondly，the principles for adequate and acceptable translation; and lastly the problems one translator ought to be able to recognize and resolve in order to produce a satisfactory translation．Some well-known translators or translation theorists at home and abroad have put forward criteria to judge the quality of a translation．
In Chinese history，we have got a few influential criteria during the different ages．Early in the Tang Dynasty(ca 620 A．D．)，the learned monk Xuan Zang(玄奘，602—664 A．D．)contributed his life to translation and put forth the criteria of translation“既须求真，又须喻俗” ，which placed emphasis on accuracy and general knowledge，and it is still acceptable and useful in translation today．In the Qing Dynasty(ca 1898 A．D．)，Yan Fu(严复，1853—1921 A．D．)，a famous translator，put forth the famous criteria of translation“信、达、雅”(faithfulness，communicability and elegance)when he finished translating Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays(《天演论》)．He once said ，“译事三难:信、达、雅。求其信，已大难矣!顾信矣，不达，虽译，犹不译也，则达尚焉。”(There are three difficulties in translation: faithfulness，communicability and elegance．The consideration of faithfulness to the original is so difficult;when it is got，communicability is unavailable，and if one gives a version that is faithful without being communicative at the same time，the translated work is almost tantamount to nonexistence．Hence communicability should be required too．)His criteria of translation have been generally considered as the plumb line for measuring the professional level of translation and the goal for translation to strive after in the past decades．However，people have argued about his criteria of translation because they think that there are some limitations in the application of them．
On the basis of Yan Fu＇s criteria of translation，some scholars put forward various criteria of translation．Lu Xun(鲁迅)proposed faithfulness“信”and smoothness“顺”as the criteria of translation，and talked about the relationship between them．
Qu Qiubai(瞿秋白)pointed out the principle of equivalent in A Letter to Mr Lu Xun(《给鲁迅的信》)in 1931．He said ，“我的意见是，翻译应当把原文的本意，完全正确的介绍给中国读者，使中国读者所得到的概念等同于英俄日德法读者从原文得到的概念。”(《鲁迅全集·二心集》，人民文学出版社，1981)．He thought that a translation should introduce the original meaning to Chinese readers in a completely adequate way，and enable them to get concepts equivalent to those readers of Great Britain，Russia，Japan，Germany and France extract from the original．His principle of equivalent firstly，in Chinese translation history，concentrated on the conversion of the readers of the original from the writer of the original．That is，he had already noticed that the information sender should be converted to the information receiver，and that communication or translation is always considered as the matter of both sides．
Fu Lei(傅雷)had his criteria of translation，spiritual conformity “神似” ，which emphasized the reproduction of the spirit or the flavor of the original．He once said，“以效果而论，翻译应当像临画一样，所求的不在形似而在神似。” (转引自刘季春《实用翻译教程》，中山大学出版社，1996)In other words，it is called“meaning conformity”if the translation can be conformed with the contents of the original; it is called“spiritual conformity”if the translation can be conformed with the form and spirit or flavor of the original．
Qian Zhongshu(钱钟书)advocated the criteria，sublimed adaptation“入化/化境” ，which focuses on the translator＇s smooth and idiomatic Chinese version for the sake of Chinese readers．He thought that:文学翻译的最高标准是“化” 。把作品从一国文字转变成另一国文字，既能不因语文习惯的差异而露出生硬牵强的痕迹，又能完全保存原有的风味，那就算得入于“化境” 。(《林纾的翻译》，上海古籍出版社，1979)That is to say，the so-called sublimed adaptation means that though the literal form of the original is converted into another，the thought，feeling，style and flavor of the original are formerly conveyed in the translation version so that the reader reads the translation version as reads the original．
Professor Xu Yuanchong(许渊冲)raised his own principle of translation in his book The Art of Translation(《翻译的艺术》，中国对外翻译出版公司，1985)．He thinks that a literary translator should exploit the advantage of the target language．Now let us study his words:忠实于原文内容，通顺的译文形式，发扬译文的优势，可以当作文学翻译的标准。翻译可以不发挥译文语言的优势，但发挥了译文语言的优势的是更好的翻译。是否符合必要条件是个对错问题，是否符合充分条件却是个好坏问题。(Those that are faithful to the original，smooth in form of the version，enhancing the advantages of the version，can be treated as criteria in literary works．Translation had better develop the advantages of the target language，though it may not do．Whether it conforms with indispensable conditions is a matter of something right or wrong，whereas whether it conforms with adequate conditions is a matter of something good or bad．)
Here it is worth mentioning another Chinese scholar Si Guo(思果)．He supposed that the translation principle might be changed into faithfulness，expressiveness and appropriateness “信、达、贴” on the basis of Yan Fu＇s principle．The so-called faithfulness refers to the responsibility to the writer．A translator should express the original meaning faithfully．Expressiveness means that a translator should stand beside the reader＇s side after faithfully translating the original．The reader should understand the translation．As for the third character，it wants to say that the translation should be proper or appropriate to the original style，manner，flavor，strength etc．
In the West，translation principles are also discussed in different times．In 1789，British translator and scholar George Campbell firstly put forward his translation principle．He stressed that a translator should do three things．The first thing is to give a just representation of the sense of the original．The second thing is，to convey his version，as much as possible，in a consistency with the genius of the language which he writes，the author＇s spirit and manner…．The third and last thing is，to take care，the version have at least．So far the quality of an original performance，as to appear natural and easy…．
The year after the creation of the above-mentioned principles，another British translator Alexander Fraser Tytler(1747—1814)，professor of history at Edinburgh University，published his milestone book Essay on the Principles of Translation(1790)．His theory is very similar to Campbell＇s．He wrote ，“1．The translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work．2．The style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original．3．The translation should have all the ease of original composition．”
The other famous American translator who established influential criteria of translation is Dr．Eugene A．Nida who took part in translating The Bible and devoted himself to studies of linguistics，semantics，anthropology，etc．In his book Towards a Science of Translating，which is regarded as one of his representative works，he laid down the following fundamentals:
1．True to the original(忠实原文)
2．Vivid(传神)
3．Smooth and natural(语言顺畅自然)
4．Equivalence of response(同等效应)
Of these fundamentals，the last one is the key point．The so-called equivalence of response means that a good translation can call forth the response of its readers equivalent to that of the readers of the original work．The influence of his theory was so great in China that almost every translator thought of it as true and heatedly discussed it．But after a long time discussion，they began to doubt its feasibility and to criticize it．This is because it overestimates translators，abilities in understanding cultures between both languages，neglects readers，differences in recognizing things，negates the effect of transplanting in translation，confuses direct(face-to-face)communication with indirect(written)communication，and denies the features of different styles in writing．
Eugene A．Nida puts forward his recent interpretation of functional equivalence in his Language and Culture: Context in Translating(2001: 87):(1)A minimal，realistic definition of functional equivalence: The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it．(最低限度而又切合实际的功能对等定义:译文读者对译文的理解应当达到能够想象出原文读者是怎样理解和领会原文的程度)(2)A maximal，ideal definition of functional equivalence: The readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did．(最高限度合乎理想的功能对等定义:译文读者应当能够基本上按照原文读者理解和领会原文的方式来理解和领会译文)
Peter Newmark puts forward his concepts of communicative and semantic translation in his Approaches to Translation(1982/1998∶39): Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original．(交际翻译力图对译作读者产生尽可能接近原作读者所获得的效果)Semantic translation attempts to render，as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow，the exact contextual meaning of the original．(语义翻译力图在译作语言的语义结构和句法结构允许的情况下，译出原作在上下文中的准确意义)Details about Nida and Newmark＇s translation principles will be seen in Chapter 8．
Despite the variety of opinions，the following criteria are almost unanimously accepted and followed，namely，the criteria of faithfulness，smoothness and expressiveness．