A Study of English Translation of Culturally Loaded Words in LAOZI from the Perspective of Skopos Theory
Abstract
Against the backdrop of globalization, China is committed to constructing a culturally distinctive discourse system and enhancing its influence in international communication. As one of the most eternal classics in the history of Chinese philosophy, Laozi’s translation plays a crucial role in promoting Chinese culture’s global dissemination. Based on the three principles of Skopos Theory, and combined with the five cultural classification systems of material, social, ecological, religious, and language, this paper studies the translation of the Chinese-English version of Laozi’s Chinese version of the Library of Chinese Classics. Through the analysis of specific translation examples, this paper concludes that this translation starts from the cultural cognition of the target reader, gives priority to the use of free translation to ensure the accurate transmission of the original connotation, and reconstructs the word order with foreignization, domestication, and literal translation to adapt to the target language’s idiom. It also proves that Skopos Theory has a high applicability in the study of culturally loaded words.
References
- Laozi. (1999) Laozi (Waley, A. Trans.). Hunan People’s Publishing House. Foreign Languages Press. (Original work published ca. 4th century BCE)
- Cui, Y. H. (2012) A Study of the English Renditions of Laozi [Doctoral dissertation, Shandong University].
- He, H. Q. (2022) Research on English Translation of Dao De Jing from the Perspective of Communication [Doctoral dissertation, Northeast Normal University].
- Liu, B., & Zhang, J. (2025) Books’ Physiognomic Appeal and the Overseas Dissemination of Chinese Dianji (classics): A Focus On the Library of Chinese Classics. International Communication of Chinese Culture, 12(1), 37-59.
- Yao, D. (2022) Qian Xuexi and William Empson’s Discussion of Arthur Waley’s English Translation of the Daodejing. Religions, 13(8), 751.
- Bhandari, S. R. (2022) The Journey from Essence to Existence in Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. Literary Studies, 35(01), 99-108.
- Sankheangaew, P. (2023) Tao Te Ching: The Unity of Moral and Social Action for Peaceful Life. Journal of Namibian Studies: History Politics Culture, 34(S2), 23–36.
- Vermeer, H. J. (1978) A Framework for a General Theory of Translation. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University, 67(2), 34-45.
- Tian, H. (2006) Skopos Commission Translation Action: On Reading of Has, J. Vermeer’s Skopos and Commission in Translation Action. Journal of Shenyang University, (01), 102-104.
- Ali, N. (2023) Translating Cultural Identity: Skopos Theory in the Translation of Abdullah Al Faisal’s “Revolution of Doubts”. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 8(5), 155-163.
- An, J., & Sun, J. (2022) Translation strategy of Legal Terms with Chinese Characteristics in Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China Based on Skopos Theory. Plos one, 17(9), e0273944.
- Jiang, X., & Zhao, S. (2019) A Study on Translation Methods of Institutional Culture-loaded Expressions from the Perspective of Skopos Theory in Goldblatt’s Wolf Totem. Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 7(1), 102–113.
- VanDemark, C. N. (2022) An Application of Skopos Theory to German Literary Translation. Linguistics Senior Research Projects, 27.
- Sun, H. X., & Tian, C. M.(2025) Types and Connotations of Culture-loaded Words in the “Jiu Ge” of the Chu Ci. Education Journal, 8(6).
- Xu, G. Z. (1980) Culturally Loaded Words and English Language Teaching. Modern Foreign Languages, 4(1), 925.
- Nida, E. (1945) Linguistics and Ethnology in Translation-problems. Word, 1(2), 194-208.
- Lai, J. (2025) A Study of the English Translation of Culture-loaded Words in The Field of Life and Death from the Perspective of Relevance Theory. [Master dissertation, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics].
- Dyson, E. (2024) Socrates and the Seven Sages. The Classical Quarterly, 74(2), 469-484.