The Present Situation of Chinese Cuisine and Problems in the C-E Translation of Chinese Dish Names

河南師范大學新聯學院　衛娜韓山師范學院　張子順

The Present Situation of Chinese Cuisine and Problems in the C-E Translation of Chinese Dish Names

河南師范大學新聯學院衛娜
韓山師范學院張子順

Abstract：The translation of Chinese dish names，which is closely related to everyday life and has received extensive attention from worldwide. As a branch of tourism translation，it simultaneously has the status of special English translation for the catering industry with some characteristics of signs. Although Chinese and English dish names can be found everywhere in Chinese catering，most of these translations are far from being satisfactory. And the studies on translations of dish names are mainly limited to methods and strategies based on personal experience without comprehensive theoretical framework to serve as a guideline. In view of the contrastive study between Chinese and English dish names，the author tries to probe into the C-E translation of Chinese dish names from a new perspective.

Keywords：Present Situation，Chinese dish names, C-E translation，problems

中圖分類號：H315.9

文獻標識碼：A

文章編號：1671-864X（2015）03-0116-02

The Present Situation of Chinese Cuisine

The Characteristics and Some Typical C-E Translations of the Chinese Cuisine

Chinese cuisine includes a variety of different flavors due to China's vast geography and diverse nationalities. Local dishes with their own distinctiveness can be roughly divided into eight regional cuisines, based on the localities of their origin. The eight major groups are∶Su (Suzhou, Yangzhou and Hangzhou) group, Yue (Guangdong) group, Chuan (Sichuan), Lu (Shangdong) group, Min (Fujian ) group, Zhe (Zhejiang) group, Xiang (Hunan ) group, and Hui (Anhui ) group. The following is a brief introduction to the main features of Chinese cuisine.

Yue (Guangdong Cuisine)∶Guangdong Cuisine, namely, Yue Cuisine, made its debut in Canton. Cuangdong cuisine is creative with an emphasis on artistic presentation. The cuisine is considered light, crisp, and fresh. It is characterized firstly by its wide and strict selection of ingredients. Seafood and game food are the first-rate courses. Besides chicken, duck and goose, pigeon, partridge and quail also make delectable dishes. For seafood, the Cantonese take to group, pomfret, hairtail, conger eel, turtle, prawn and crab. Their favorite game foods include reptiles and amphibians∶terrapin, pangolin, tortoise and snake. Yue Cuisine holds fastidious norms in selecting ingredients. Flor instance,“白切雞”(white cut chicken), they require Qingyuan (County) chicken and Wenchang (County) chicken. For other dishes, they select mouse-speckled garoupa, silver pomfret, off-shore prawn, gold-stained tortoise and blackmane goose as superior ingredients.

Secondly, Guangdong people favor light, delicious, refreshing and slippery tastes. Their cooking methods are mostly steaming, sauté and stir-frying with thick gravy. Due to the long duration of summer in Guangdong Province, they favor light refreshing foods and aquatic food. They like to taste the original flavor of sea foods and fresh foods. Only in winter do they eat fatty foods and strongly flavored foods, such as“開煲狗肉”(Dog’s Meat),“燉扣肉”(Stewed Pork Chunks) etc.

The third characteristic of Guangdong cuisine is plenty of supportive vegetables, due to the substantial scope of local produce. In the north of Guangdong grow plenty of“草菇”(Mushrooms) and“竹筍”(Bamboo Shoots). With the favorable climate, the province abounds also in rich varieties of fruits, such as“菠蘿”( Pineapple),“荔枝”(Litchi)etc. All these can make hygienic dishes.

The fourth characteristic is the many kinds of porridges and refreshments. Porridge shops (including some canteens affiliated to“five or four-star”hotels) prepare a stock of base porridge (called“taste porridge”) with ingredients of hens, pig’s bones, dried scallops and soybean rolls. When a customer asks for a certain kind of porridge, the cook adds to the base porridge some other suitable, ready-made ingredients such as fish, shrimp, crab, frog, meat ball, pig’s giblets, beef, chicken, duckling, etc., as well as ginger, Chinese onion and pepper powder. Guangzhou has amalgamated both the overseas and domestic merits in preparing refreshments. Every teahouse or hotel provides hundreds of cakes and refreshments. (Sun Weixin, 2004∶224)

Chuan (Sichuan) Cuisine∶Sichuan Cuisine∶Sichuan, both spicy and pungent, is one of the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world. Chuan cuisine can trace back to the ancient Ba Kingdom (modern Chongqing) and Shu Kingdom (modern Chengdu). Owing to the foggy, cloudy and damp climate in the Sichuan Basin, the oily and hot taste is peculiar to Chuan dish. Hot food is useful for dispersing dampness. Sichuan folks are keen on“毛肚”(Hot Oxen’s Giblet Pot),“麻辣豆腐”(Hot Beancurd )and other hot foods. For example,“重慶火鍋”should be translated into Hot Pot in Chongqing style. Besides,“火鍋雞”should be translated into Chicken in Chafing Dish,“火鍋羊肉”into Sliced Lamb cooked in Hot Pot, etc.

The third characteristic of the Sichuan is the tasty snacks, including麻辣牛頭肉Hot Ox-Head Meat,怪味雞Spiced Chicken,漳茶鴨子Tea-Stewed Ducking,醬兔肉Marinated Rabbit Meat,

泡菜Pickled Vegetables,湯圓Dumplings,八寶糯米飯Eight-Treasure Rice Puddings.

Therefore, there are other C-E translation methods according to these characteristics of Chuan cuisine. For example,燒椒皮蛋Preserved Eggs with Chili,酸辣瓜條Cucumber with Hot and Sour,燒椒皮蛋Preserved Eggs with Chili,etc.

Lu (Shandong) Cuisine∶Lu Cuisine is also called Qi and Lu Cuisine which stands for Shandong Cuisine∶a combination of Jinan and Jiaodong,

Shandong cuisine originated from Linzi and Qufu, respectively the capitals of ancient Qi State and Lu State. It has traces of palatial cuisine. Its first characteristic is its strongly flavored dishes made of costly ingredients, such as petrel nest, shark fin, abalone, fish tripe, sea cucumber, deer meat, mushroom, white fungus, clam, etc. Therefore, it is characterized by an emphasis on freshness, aroma, and crispness. Owing to the long duration of the cold weather in north China and shortage of vegetables, the cooks in Shangdong are skilled in making high-heat and high-protein dishes. It is the second characteristic of the Lu cuisine. For example,四喜丸子Four-Joy Meatballs (Meat Balls Braised with Brown Sauce),清炸里脊Deep-Fried Pork Filet,泡蘿卜炒肉絲Sautéed Pork Slices with Pickled Turnip,米粉排骨Steamed Spare Ribs with Rice Flour,芽菜扣肉Braised Pork Slices with Bean Sprouts, etc.

Su Cuisine (Jiangsu Cuisine) Jiangsu Cuisine∶It is also called Huaiyang cuisine；Jiangsu uses seafood as its main ingredient and is famous for carving techniques and a light, fresh and sweet flavor. Su Cuisine originated from Suzhou, and later from Yangzhou and Hangzhou too. Its first characteristic is the combination of relishes of both the Southerners and the Northerners. The Su cuisine chefs, on the one hand, are dexterous in cooking southern style dishes, which are tasty and refreshing, and on the other hand, are dexterous in cooking high-heat and high-protein dishes, such as火腿燉肘子Stewed Pig Knuckles with Ham,獅子頭Braised“Lion’s Head”(pork balls),炒膳糊Stir-fried Eel Pastry. In the menu of the Su cuisine, we can find a long list of dishes suiting both the Southerners and the Northerners. Plenty of lake produce and seafood constitute the second characteristic of the Su cuisine. Such dishes include as follows∶蟹黃獅子頭Crab-yellow Lion’s Head,蟹黃燕窩Crab-yellow Petrel Nest, etc. These dishes are famed throughout China；therefore, when we translate these dish names into English, we should pay much attention to the characteristics of China’s eight major cuisines and the local cultures.

Problems in the C-E Translation of Chinese Dish Names

Chinese cuisine is popular with the people all over the world in terms of its color, aroma and taste. Every friend who travels to China wants to taste and learn about Chinese cuisine. It is a part of our cross-cultural communication to introduce Chinese cuisine to the foreign friends. In particular, with China’s entry to WTO as well as the frequent international exchange activities, Chinese catering industry is also oriented to the world. Therefore, it is very necessary that a precise and idiomatic C-E translation of Chinese dish names should be presented to them. Taking the menu of the three-star hotel in Shanghai for example, we can see that many translations of dish names do not convey true ideas and are more difficult to understand. Here are a few cases to illustrate it as follows.

Stir-Fried Beef Tenderloin with Sweet and Sour Sauce（糖醋牛柳）∶Stir-Fried Beef Tenderloin with Sweet and Sour Sauce is a creative Shanghai cuisine. Stir-Fried Tenderloin is tender beautifully served with innovative haw sauce. The fusion food in sweet and sour flavor is born of the marriage of Cantonese and Shanghai influences. This item is also distinguished for its high nutrition. Beef Tenderloin refers to the fillet of cattle instead of the willow. But someone often translates it into“Cow Willow”. Apparently, it is a literal translation.“Stir-Fried”is a way of cooking, so it should be translated to reflect its cooking way and its materials. In fact, its exact translation is Stir-fried Beef Tenderloin with Sweet and Sour Sauce. For another instance, Fried Rice-Noodle with Beef（干炒牛河）is cooked with beef and rice-noodle. However, it is translated into“Cow River”, which is also word-for-word translation. The translator doesn’t understand what the dish is at all, let alone the foreigners. When we translate it, we must consider the method of cooking and its materials. It should be translated into Fried Rice-Noodle with Beef. Therefore, there are still many problems in the C-E translations of Chinese dish names.

WonTon(上湯云吞) is a kind of dumpling soup which is named by Cantonese. Its correct translation should be WonTon, which has been widely accepted. However, we can read (上湯云吞)Top Soup Cloud Swallows in a menu. Obviously, it belongs to literal translation or word-for-word translation. As a matter of fact, the dish should also be translated into Won Ton Soup. Similarly,“上湯水餃”can be translated into Dumpling Soup. Therefore,“上”should be omitted when we translate the dishes.“上湯”should be translated into “soup”in literal way. In addition,“羅宋湯”is a kind of Russian thick soup which is made from the thick beef soup with tomato, cabbage, tomato. Because the English translation of“俄羅斯”is“Russia”, someone translates the Chinese name of this soup into“羅宋”in transliteration. In fact,“羅宋湯”has nothing to do with Song Dynasty and surname Song. However, it is translated into“The Soup of Sung”. On the contrary, its correct translation should be Russian Soup, which the soup originated in Russia. It is obvious that translators take it for granted owing to the ignorance of the dish’s origination.

As to these errors, some effective measures must be taken to solve the problems in the C-E translation of Chinese dish names. For example, we should pay much attention to the methods of translation, to the background of cultures from different countries, to the customary usage of different languages.

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衛娜（1984-）河南濟源人,河南師范大學新聯學院（鄭州校區）公共教學部教師；

張子順（1975-）,男,河南沈丘人,韓山師范學院外國語言學系教師。

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