Mapping the Translation and Publication of Foreign Literary Works in the 20^th Century in China: From the Perspective of Bibliometrics

According to Zipf, the principle of least effort, which is basic to all human behavior, makes both writer and reader want to save labor, and results in a certain necessary connection between the rank(r) of the word and its frequency(f), that is r×f=C, which will appear on doubly logarithmic chart as a succession of points descending in a straight line from left to right at an angle of 45⁰.The Zipf Law has been largely applied in bibliography, which has become an important part of bibliometrics.With a database of foreign literary works translated in the 20^th century in China based on Bibliography of Drama and Fiction in Late Qing Dynasty, China National Bibliography of the Republic Period, China National Bibliography and China National Bibliography of Restricted Publications: 1949-1986, the paper produces a doubly logarithmic chart of r and f, which shows the contribution of both the principle of least effort and the principle of most effort, with its Zipf curve showing the pattern of distribution of the translated foreign literature.