400电话开通费:A Comparative Study of the Cultural Images in Chinese and English Idioms and Idioms Translation

1.0 Introduction

Chinese and English are two of the most influential languages in the world. China, as one of the civilized ancient countries, has a long history of more than five thousand years, a large population and an immense territory. Its splendid culture not only voyaged to the south Asia with Eunuch Sanbao‘s merchant ships, but also overwhelmed part of the Europe on the horseback of Genghis Khan, and trudged westwards by way of the Silk Road. The Great Britain has held sway at sea since defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588. English was spread to the Empire‘s colonies in Africa and Asia, to its natural prison in Australia and New Zealand, to the puritan settlers‘ sanctuary in the New Continent.

Language cannot exist without culture as its component. As part of language, idioms including saying and proverbs are characterized by their concise expressions, rich and vivid, involving geography, history, religious belief and social conventions (Li Ruihua，1996). Despite those cultural differences in the two languages, they both have a rich mine of idioms. As the result of long usage, they are well refined and sanctified. Most idioms are composed of few words, but contain an extreme profound and rich meaning. They occupy an important position in any language by displaying various national characteristics. Without idioms, our language would become as dry as sawdust. However, if idioms are properly used, our language will be more expressive and impressive.

Language is a special component of culture, and idioms particularly reflect culture‘s great influences on language; language should serve man‘s social activities, and idioms nearly mirror our life from every dimension （Liu Chuandeng，1996）. There are a plethora of cultural images in the idioms, which are not only the core of the idioms‘ structure, but also that of their meaning.

In the following parts, firstly we will seek the traces of some cultural images in the Chinese and English idioms and do a certain kind of comparative research on them. Then we will analyze the translation of idioms concerning their cultural similarities, cultural differences and translation principles.

2.0 The Effect Caused by Cultural Differences on English and Chinese Idioms

Each language has its profound cultural intension relative to its own physiology, convention, religious belief and so on. English and Chinese idioms, closely related to their culture, convey different cultural features and message of their own nation, reflecting their own rich culture. Based on my study, the differences between English and Chinese idioms are presented in the following aspects.

2.1 Regional Cultural Differences

Region culture refers to the culture formed by the different region, living environment, and living condition. Different language forms, as the partial reflection of region culture, are applied by different nations to show their attitudes towards one thing or phenomenon. Therefore, regional differences have effect on the expression ways of English and Chinese idioms.

The Great Britain is an island nation with an advanced fishery. As a result, there are many English idioms about navigation, such as a drop in the ocean, plain sailing, between the devil and deep sea, steer of all doubtful questions, feel under the water, while it is fine weather mend your sail (cast an anchor to windward), hoist sail while the wind is fine, as close as an oyster, etc. And some idioms about boats or waters can not find the

corresponding ones in Chinese, such as to rest on one’s oars, all at sea, to keep one’s head above water.

But China is a typical agricultural nation with a large population of peasants, who lived on the land. As a result, many idioms relate to the earth. For example, if we want to describe someone spend money profusely, we say he spent money like soil. But in English we should say he spent money like water.

Another example, if we want to express something in large quantity, we say as many as the hairs on an ox, but in English we should say plentiful as blackberries. In addition, there are many other idioms about agriculture, such as 瑞雪兆丰年，揠苗助长，瓜熟蒂落，斩草除根，解甲归田，五谷丰登，依葫芦画瓢，捡了芝麻丢了西瓜。

In terms of geographical condition, China is on the Euro-Asian Continent, but England is on the Great Britain Island. So the two nations have a different sense of “the east wind” and “the west wind”. Actually they both refer to the natural wind, but the connotations are the contrary. In China the east wind equals to the wind in spring. It often indicates warmth, revival and vigor, just like in “东风夜放千树，更吹落、星如雨”. And Chinese always believe the east wind brings spring to the earth. On the contrary, the west wind is a symbol of desolation. There is a famous poem of Ma Zhiyuan, saying “古道西风瘦马，夕阳西下，断肠人在天涯”. So Chinese people prefer the east wind to the west wind.

But thing is quite different in Britain. The English word “daffodil”(just like the west wind), which comes from the Atlantic, is often used to mean the spring and joy, as in Shakespeare’s sonnet:

“When daffodil begin to peer/ With heigh, the doxy over the dale! / Why, then comes in the sweet all the year”.

A deeper description of daffodils as the messenger of the spring can be found in William Wordsworth’s “ The Daffodils”. Such an image of the daffodil being a symbol of the joyful spring times, however, is not popular in the Chinese literature. So British people favor “the west wind” and many British poets sang the praises of “the west wind” and repelled “the east wind”. P. B. Shelly in his “Ode to the West Wind” praised the west wind, a presage of revolution, to show his optimistic view to the bright human’s future. And in Britain “the east wind” from the north of the Continent means cold and unpleasant. We can see from Charles Dickens’s “How many winter days have I seen him, standing blue-nosed in the snow and east wind.”