Translation Theory Needs the Support of the Archi-Hermeneutics: The Historical Heritage and Re-translation of Yan Fu's “Three Difficulties”

This paper attempts to throw light on the plausibility of Ruist thought in laying the foundation for translation theory in terms of its "heart-orientated" doctrine, and the possibility of archi-hermeneutics as an approach to the cross-cultural interpretation of its scriptures.But as seen in Qian Zhongshu's discussion, the Ruist origin of Yan Fu's thought has not been paid attention to for a long time, with the orientation of "translation goes where the heart would go" eclipsed.As shown in the rendition of 达(da) in the Analects, "da" can find no way to represent itself in English as "the heart" remains absent.And to enhance the significance of "re-living life" of the dynamic process in ya(雅), its translation "proper" by Ames should be altered to proper-ing, modelling on "self-so-ing" for 自然(ziran), and 信(xin) be transplanted according to the structural formation of the Chinese character.Translation theory, with its Ruist direction, should beware of the threatening incorporation of the epistemology behind conceptualization.