Memories of the Gate: On the Rhetoric in <i>The Pilgrim’s Progress</i> and Its Chinese Versions

<i>The Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i> was one of the most popular translated novels in China from the late 19th until the 20th century. In this paper, I argue that one of the main reasons for the book&#8217;s success in China lies in an intricate rhetoric of the original version, w...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Xiaobai Chu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/6/357
Description
Summary:<i>The Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i> was one of the most popular translated novels in China from the late 19th until the 20th century. In this paper, I argue that one of the main reasons for the book&#8217;s success in China lies in an intricate rhetoric of the original version, which focuses on the memories of the Gate, and in the skillful transformation of this rhetoric into the Chinese versions. By analyzing this rhetoric and its transformation, this paper shows how <i>The Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i> marked the cultural memories of the Gate in China&#8217;s modern period and provides a theoretical foundation on which studies on contemporary Chinese translations of this book can build.
ISSN:2077-1444