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The Confucian Culture of Rituals and Filial Piety Translated in Tujia Ethnic Ballads: The Case of “My Buddy” and “An Itching Throat for Singing”

Received: 10 October 2021     Accepted: 11 November 2021     Published: 23 November 2021
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Abstract

Ethnic ballads or folk songs as the treasure of a nation are rich in history, beliefs and humanistic spirit and play a significant role in cultural inheriting. Transmitted orally through generations, Enshi Tujia ethnic ballads with unique characteristics and styles reflect the local customs, preserve the local history and enrich cultural diversity. Since the Tujia culture is a mountainous agriculture, it is not difficult to understand why the Tujia people love singing and it is significant to explore how their ways of life are guided by Confucianism. This paper aims at interpreting the Confucian culture of rituals and filial piety behind two Tujia ballads which vividly represent the spirit and belief of the Tujia people. In the practice of translating those two ballads, the culture-loaded words are specially tended as the key factors in bettering readers’ appreciation of the original texts and further understanding of the Tujia culture. The translation strategies of domestication and foreignization are thus discussed alongside detailed interpretation of the underlying cultural connotation. As this essay concludes, these two folk songs show that the Tujia culture is greatly influenced by Confucianism which is, in particular, the ritual and filial piety culture. The Confucianism is manifested in the two ballads in terms of inquiring for shoe patterns, implication of handcrafts, the manner to respond to the parents and parental decision-making on marriage. Lastly, domestication and foreignization are considered as good translation strategies adopted to deal with Confucian culture-loaded words after meticulous investigation into the original and target cultures.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Translation and Interpretation of 28 Chinese Tujia Minority Ballads

DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22
Page(s) 336-343
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Enshi Tujia Ethnic Ballads, Culture-loaded Words, Domestication and Foreignization, Confucianism

References
[1] Wu, J. J., (2015). On Translating and Dubbing of English Folk Songs: Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. M. A. Thesis. Xi’an: Xi’an Conservatory of Music, 4.
[2] Zhang, C. M., & Zhang S. Z. (2010). Research on the Cultural Value of Original Folk Songs and the Ways of Protection and Inheritance, Journal of Suzhou University. 25 (7), 77-80.
[3] Yuan, J. F., (2006). A Concise Coursebook on Traditional Chinese Music. Shanghai: Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press: 7.
[4] Lǔ, Z. X., (2014). The Cultural Value of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs and the Strategy for Its Industrialization. Cultural heritage (6), 147-150.
[5] Cappelletti, V (1971). Cultural Policy in Italy. Paris: UNESCO, 16.
[6] Wang, H. Y., (2009). Voice from the Northwest. Beijing: Culture and Art Publishing House, 173, 2.
[7] Zeng, S. J. (2004). Sociology of Music. Shanghai: Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press, 55.
[8] Guo, J. Z. (2008). Interview with Venuti. Chinese Translators Journal, (3), 43-46.
[9] Liao, Q. Y. (2002). Exploration of contemporary Western translation theories. Nanjing: Yilin Press, 232.
[10] Wu, X. Y., Chen, Y. J. & Han, L. Z. (2020). On the Translation Methods of Culturally Loaded Words—The case the works of Glen Phillips. Master Pieces Review, (9): 48-49.
[11] Veneuti, L. (1995). The Translator’s Invisibility. London and New York: Routledge, 20.
[12] Quoted from Veneuti, L. (1995). The Translator’s Invisibility. London and New York: Routledge, 15.
[13] Lǔ, S. X., & Ding, S. S., ed. (2005). Modern Chinese Dictionary (5th edition). Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1309.
[14] Wesley, A., ed. (2000). Zhu, Y. et al. trans. (2000). Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 11, 1607, 812.
[15] Lǔ, S. X., & Ding, S. S., ed. (2005). Modern Chinese Dictionary (5th edition). Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1535, 833.
[16] Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous perfection, [accessed July 20, 2021].
[17] Chen, C. H. (2012). The Interpretation of Tujia “KuJia”. Journal of Hubei University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Science edition), 30 (6), 11-14.
[18] Chen, D. (2020). Cultural Interpretation of Tujia Folk Songs. M. A. Thesis. Hubei: Hubei Minzu University.
[19] An Ivory Bed, [accessed July 20, 2021].
[20] A Shoe Pattern, [accessed July 20, 2021].
[21] Sima, G. (2016). Zizhi Tongjian. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 73.
[22] Cao, X. Q. (2019). A Dream of Red Mansions. Changchun: Literature and Art Publishing House, 129.
[23] Han, Z. N. & Qiao, F. Q. (2015). Viewing the Chinese Traditional Society and the Basic Level Society from Fei Xiaotong’ s “From the Soil”. Journal of Central University of Finance and Economics, (S2), 77-80.
[24] Fei, X. T. (2012). From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 12.
[25] Zhao, J. K. & Chen, H. W. (2014). Confucian Culture and the Ecological Ethics of Chinese Agricultural Civilization with Reference to Modern Western Culture and Industrial Civilization. Journal of Shandong Agricultural University (Social Science edition), (1), 5-8.
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  • APA Style

    Guo Jing, Xu Jingcheng. (2021). The Confucian Culture of Rituals and Filial Piety Translated in Tujia Ethnic Ballads: The Case of “My Buddy” and “An Itching Throat for Singing”. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 336-343. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22

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    ACS Style

    Guo Jing; Xu Jingcheng. The Confucian Culture of Rituals and Filial Piety Translated in Tujia Ethnic Ballads: The Case of “My Buddy” and “An Itching Throat for Singing”. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 336-343. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22

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    AMA Style

    Guo Jing, Xu Jingcheng. The Confucian Culture of Rituals and Filial Piety Translated in Tujia Ethnic Ballads: The Case of “My Buddy” and “An Itching Throat for Singing”. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):336-343. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22,
      author = {Guo Jing and Xu Jingcheng},
      title = {The Confucian Culture of Rituals and Filial Piety Translated in Tujia Ethnic Ballads: The Case of “My Buddy” and “An Itching Throat for Singing”},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {9},
      number = {6},
      pages = {336-343},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.22},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.22},
      abstract = {Ethnic ballads or folk songs as the treasure of a nation are rich in history, beliefs and humanistic spirit and play a significant role in cultural inheriting. Transmitted orally through generations, Enshi Tujia ethnic ballads with unique characteristics and styles reflect the local customs, preserve the local history and enrich cultural diversity. Since the Tujia culture is a mountainous agriculture, it is not difficult to understand why the Tujia people love singing and it is significant to explore how their ways of life are guided by Confucianism. This paper aims at interpreting the Confucian culture of rituals and filial piety behind two Tujia ballads which vividly represent the spirit and belief of the Tujia people. In the practice of translating those two ballads, the culture-loaded words are specially tended as the key factors in bettering readers’ appreciation of the original texts and further understanding of the Tujia culture. The translation strategies of domestication and foreignization are thus discussed alongside detailed interpretation of the underlying cultural connotation. As this essay concludes, these two folk songs show that the Tujia culture is greatly influenced by Confucianism which is, in particular, the ritual and filial piety culture. The Confucianism is manifested in the two ballads in terms of inquiring for shoe patterns, implication of handcrafts, the manner to respond to the parents and parental decision-making on marriage. Lastly, domestication and foreignization are considered as good translation strategies adopted to deal with Confucian culture-loaded words after meticulous investigation into the original and target cultures.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AB  - Ethnic ballads or folk songs as the treasure of a nation are rich in history, beliefs and humanistic spirit and play a significant role in cultural inheriting. Transmitted orally through generations, Enshi Tujia ethnic ballads with unique characteristics and styles reflect the local customs, preserve the local history and enrich cultural diversity. Since the Tujia culture is a mountainous agriculture, it is not difficult to understand why the Tujia people love singing and it is significant to explore how their ways of life are guided by Confucianism. This paper aims at interpreting the Confucian culture of rituals and filial piety behind two Tujia ballads which vividly represent the spirit and belief of the Tujia people. In the practice of translating those two ballads, the culture-loaded words are specially tended as the key factors in bettering readers’ appreciation of the original texts and further understanding of the Tujia culture. The translation strategies of domestication and foreignization are thus discussed alongside detailed interpretation of the underlying cultural connotation. As this essay concludes, these two folk songs show that the Tujia culture is greatly influenced by Confucianism which is, in particular, the ritual and filial piety culture. The Confucianism is manifested in the two ballads in terms of inquiring for shoe patterns, implication of handcrafts, the manner to respond to the parents and parental decision-making on marriage. Lastly, domestication and foreignization are considered as good translation strategies adopted to deal with Confucian culture-loaded words after meticulous investigation into the original and target cultures.
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Author Information
  • School of International Trade and Economics, Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics, Urumqi, China

  • Institute of Hermeneutics and Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China

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