The-Translation-of-Chinese-and-English-Idioms-Containing-Figures-英语专业毕业论文

PAGE27-TheTranslationofChineseandEnglishIdiomsContainingFigures1.IntroductionItiswellrecognizedthatlanguageandcultureareinseparable.Ontheonehand,languageplaysaveryimportantroleinreflectingandexpressingculture.Alanguageisanessentialpartofthecultureofapeopleandthroughittheotherpartsofcultureareexpressed.Sotospeak,withoutlanguagetherewouldbenoculturedescendingfromancienttimes.Ontheotherhand,sincecultureisdefinedsuccinctlyas“thetotalityofbeliefsandpracticesofasociety”EugeneA.Nida,EugeneA.Nida,LanguageandCulture-ContextsinTranslating(Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2001),78.BothEnglishandChinesearethelanguagesintheworldenjoyingthelongesthistory.Duringthelong-termdevelopment,theyhaveaccumulatedalargenumberofidioms,includingtheidiomscontainingfigures,whichrefertotheidiomscontainingcardinalnumbersandordinalnumbers.Asanindispensablepartofidioms,ChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfiguresarecloselyrelatedtotheirowncultures,conveyingdifferentculturalfeaturesandmessagesoftheirownnations.Usually,idiomscontainingfiguresreflecttheirculturalbackgroundknowledgewithfigureconnotations.Asweallknow,figuresaretypicaloftheculturallyloadedwords.Notonlydotheybelongtothedigitalrealm,theyarealsousedinidiomsandphraseswithculturalconnotations.TheChineseandEnglishpeoplesmayhavethesameorsimilarconceptsforfigures,butbecauseoftheirculturaldiversities,theyusefiguresindifferentwayswithconnotativemeanings.Inthe21stcentury,withtherapiddevelopmentofeconomicglobalization,culturalcommunicationandcooperationbetweennationsbecomemorefrequent,theresearchfieldofChineseandEnglishidiomscorrespondinglypresentsanewtendency.Theidiomscontainingfigures,asacrucialpartofidioms,havebecomethemainobjectforChineseandothernations’scholarstostudyearnestly.However,sincetheidiomscontainingfiguresarecharacterizedbytheirconciseexpressions,richandvividmeanings,andareoftenculturallyloaded,translatorsfinditagreatchallengetotranslatethembetweenChineseandEnglishforeveryfigurehasitsspecificconnotationsindifferentculturalbackgrounds.ThisthesisattemptstosolvetheproblemofhowtotranslateChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfiguresappropriately.Itconsistsof6chapters.ApartfromIntroductionandConclusion,itcontainsanoverviewofidioms,thedefinitionofidiomscontainingfigures,comparisonandanalysisofChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfigures,andtranslationstrategiesofChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfigures.Throughanoverviewofidioms,theauthormakesclearsomebasicconceptsofidiomsandalsoattachesimportancetothissubjectresearch.Theninthepartofexplainingthedefinitionofidiomscontainingfigures,theauthorintroducestherelationshipbetweenfiguresandidiomscontainingfiguresandalsogivesadefinitionofidiomscontainingfiguresbyresearchinganddiscussingthedefinitionsthatotherscholarshaveputforward.ThefollowingpartisthecomparisonandanalysisofChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfigures.Theauthormainlyanalysesthefigures’connotativemeaningbothinChineseandWesterncultures,whichaimstofindouttheculturaldifferencesandmakeacomparisonbetweenChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfigures.TheanalysisandcomparisonwillbehelpfultoexplorethetranslationstrategiesofChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfigures.Fortunately,theauthorfiguresoutsomestrategiesasthetheoreticalbasisofproblemsolving.Theauthorlistssomestrategiesandappliesthemtotheconcretetermsaccordingtotheirfeatures.Finally,bycomparingthedifferenttranslationstrategies,theauthorpresentshisownviewonthetranslationofChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfiguresandofferssomeadvicetothelanguagelearners.Withtheguidanceoftheprincipleof“functionalequivalence,textualcorrespondence”,andtheauthor-and-reader-orientedprinciple,thetranslationofChineseandEnglishidiomscontainingfigureswilltakeonanewappearance.2.AnOverviewofIdiom“Idiomisagroupofwordsestablishedbyusageashavingameaningnotdeduciblefromthoseoftheindividualwords”,accordingtotheNewOxfordDictionaryofEnglish.Aspartofculture,idiomsplayanimportantroleinthedevelopmentoflanguage.Theycarryculturalfeatureandinformationofdifferentnations.Beingcharacterizedbytheirconciseexpressionsandsignificantmeanings,allidiomsderivefromtheirhistoricaloriginswithdistinctnationalfeaturesandarecloselyrelatedtogeographicalenvironment,historicalbackground,religiousbeliefs,socialcustomsandlivingconventions.Sotranslatorsshouldtaketheirculturalconnotationsandnationalcharacteristicsintoconsiderationwhentranslatingidioms.2.1.TheHistoricalStudyofIdiomGenerallyspeaking,thestudyofidiomcanbedividedintothreestages.Asearlyasin1925,L.P.SmithpublishedthebooknamedWordsandIdioms,whichisregardedasthebeginningofidiomsresearch.Inthisbook,Smithdiscussedthesourcesandstructuresofidioms,andpointedoutthebasiccharacteristicsofidioms:anidiomcanbedefinedasagroupofwordswithameaningofitsownthatisdifferentfromthemeaningsofeachseparatewordsputtogether.Hewrote,“Themeaningofanidiomisnon-literal;manyEnglishidiomsareusedas‘expressionsofdetermination,ofexasperation,andvituperation’,whichcontributestovocabularystudiesasbeingadescriptionofhowthepeculiargeniusofEnglishshowsitselfinitsidioms”ChitraFernando,IdiomsandIdiomaticity(Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2000),20-22..Besides,agoodpartofSmith’saccountofidiomsisdevotedtotheirclassificationonthebasisoftheirimagery.Fromthe1930sto1950s,onthebasisofStructuralismTheory,C.F.Hockettemphasizedtheimportanceofcontextunderstandingintheidioms’identificationandinterpretation,andexplainedtheunderlyingstructureandsemanticfeaturesofidioms,whichbegantostandardizethedefinitionofidioms骆世平，《英语习语研究》前言，骆世平著（上海：上海外语教育出版社，2005），Ⅰ-Ⅱ。.In1960s,influencedbytheGenerativeGrammarTheoryofChomsky,thestudyofidiomsreachedanimpasse,butneverstopped.NotuntilB.Fraser,arepresentativelinguists,putforwardtheFrozennessHierarchyTheory,inwhichheadmittedthatidiomsareinfixedexpressiondidthistendencyfinditsoutlet,butB.Fraserthoughttherestillexiststransformationalpotential骆世平，Ⅰ-Ⅱ。.Thus,thestudyofidiomscameintopublicnoticeagain.Sincethe1980s,thestudyofidiomshasenteredanewstage.Linguistsbegintoopenupthefunctionalapproachofidiomsinrelationsenvironment,exploringtherolethatidiomsplayincommunicationactivities,whichmakesthestudyofidiomsmorepractical.Amongalltheachievements,themostprominentonebelongstoC.Fernando’s,anAustralianlinguist,whowrotethebooknamedIdiomsandIdiomaticity.Inrecentyears,agrowingnumberofscholarshavebeguntostudytheformationofidiomsfromtheperspectiveofculturalbackgrounds.Nida（1993）everChitraFernando,IdiomsandIdiomaticity(Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2000),20-22.骆世平，《英语习语研究》前言，骆世平著（上海：上海外语教育出版社，2005），Ⅰ-Ⅱ。骆世平，Ⅰ-Ⅱ。骆世平，25。2.2.TheStructureandFeaturesofIdiom Idiomsareofspeciallanguageforms.Theyhaveasinglesemanticunit,structuralinstitutionalizationandirreplaceability.MorespecificallyelaboratedbyMcMordie,“Generally,theidiomcannotbechangedatwill;anywordintheidiomcannotbereplacedbyitssynonyms,andlittledoesthewordordercanbechanged;anychangeinthewordingandcollocationwilldestroytheidiom,ormaymakeitnosense”McMordieW.,EnglishIdiomsandHowtoUseThem(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1954),6..FMcMordieW.,EnglishIdiomsandHowtoUseThem(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1954),6.Idiomsarecharacterizedbytheirstructuralstability.Anidiom,composedofagroupofwords,isasetphrase.Thestructureofanidiomisalwaysfixed,andthewordsinitcannotbedepartedorseparatedatwill.Becauseofitsstructuralinvariability,anidiomallowsnovariationinformundernormalcircumstances.Aspeakerorwritercannotnormallydoanyofthefollowingwithanidiom:1.changetheorderofthewordsinit,(e.g.*‘theshortandthelongofit’);2.deleteawordfromit(e.g.*‘spillbeans’);3.addawordtoit(e.g.*‘theverylongandshortofit’;*‘facetheclassicalmusic’);4.replaceawordwithanother(e.g.*‘thetallandtheshortofit’;*‘buryahatchet’);5.changeitsgrammaticalstructure(e.g.*‘themusicwasfaced’)MonaBaker,InOtherWords:ACourseBookonTranslation(Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,2000),63..AllidiomsarenotgrammaticallyregularChitraFernando,30..Therefore,theidiom“facethemusic”MonaBaker,InOtherWords:ACourseBookonTranslation(Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,2000),63.ChitraFernando,30.Semanticunityisanotherfeatureofidioms.Themeaningofanidiomisacompleteandinseparableunit,whichshouldbelearnedasawhole.Thatistosay,anidiomcanbedefinedasagroupofwordswithameaningofitsownthatisdifferentfromthemeaningsofeachseparatewordsputtogether.Thesemanticunityofanidiomderivesfromthetransferredmeaning,whichreferstothefigurativemeaningandassociativemeaning.Nowthatmostfigurativemeaningandassociativemeaningofanidiomarenottransparent,andsomeevenlosetheinitialmeaningofthewords,aspeakerorwritercannotgetthemeaningofanidiomjustfromthemeaningofeachwordinit彭庆华，《英语习语研究：语用学视角》（北京：社会科学文献出版社，彭庆华，《英语习语研究：语用学视角》（北京：社会科学文献出版社，2007），32-33。Thestructuralstabilityandsemanticunityarethemostimportantfeaturesofidioms,bothofwhichcanbetakenasidiomaticity.Thisisthebasicdifferencebetweenidiomsandotherwordsandphrases.2.3.TheClassificationofIdiomsInabroadsense,idiomsincludecolloquialisms,proverbs,allusionsandslangexpressions,etc.Accordingtodifferentgroupstandards,idiomscanbedividedintomanyclassifications.Andeachclassificationhasitsownmeritsanddemerits,showingsomeofitscharacteristicsinspecificaspects.Generally,themethodsofidiomsclassificationcanbedividedintothreekinds:classificationbyorigins,classificationbystructureandclassificationbyfunction骆世平，23-24。.I骆世平，23-24。3.TheStudyofIdiomsContainingFiguresIdiomscontainingfiguresrefertothoseidiomshavecardinalnumbersandordinalnumbersinthem.Asacrucialpartofidioms,theyhavebecomethemainobjectforChineseandoverseasscholarstostudyearnestly.Inrecentdecades,anincreasingnumberofscholarshavebeguntostudythetranslationofidiomscontainingfigures,whichpresentsabrightprospectfordevelopmentofthisfield.Yet,inordertolearnidiomscontainingfigureswell,weshouldfirstlyfocusonthefiguresandexplorewhatroletheyplayinidioms.3.1.RelationshipbetweenFiguresandIdiomsContainingFiguresFiguresareoftenusedascalculatesymbolsintheworld.Everycountryhastheneedforfiguresinitscountingsystem.Figuresareoftenusedtorepresentthequantityofthings,expressthesequenceofactionsandthescopeofsize.Rigorous,preciseandaccurate,figuresarewidelyusedintheworldofscience.However,figuresnotonlybelongtothedigitalrealm,theyarealsousedinidiomsandphraseswithculturalconnotations.Influencedbythefactorsofdifferentnationalities,religions,historyandsocialcustoms,figureshavespecialassociativemeaning刘明阁，《跨文化交际中汉英语言文化比较研究》（开封：河南大学出版社，2009），245-246。.Apartfromthefactthatfiguresareregardedasbasictoolsusedinmathandscientificexperiments,scholarsalsotakethemasakindofcultureinthesocialsociety,humancommunication,literaryworks,customsandconventions.Forexample,aChinesecopybookforchildreninolddaysread:“一二三四五，金木水火土。天地分上下，日月同今古。”Althoughthisoldsayingwascomposedoffourshortverses,amountingtotwentywordsonly,ittypicallyreflectedtheimportantrolethatquantityandfigureshadplayedinthesocialliferatherthaninthemathematicalfield刘明阁，《跨文化交际中汉英语言文化比较研究》（开封：河南大学出版社，2009），245-246。吴慧颖，《中国数文化》代序，吴慧颖著（长沙：岳麓书社，1995），2。Figures,asanimportantpartoflanguageandculture,areembodiedwithdifferentconnotationsunderdifferentculturalbackgrounds.Idiomscontainingfiguresaretheessenceoflanguage,andtheyreflecttherichculturaldepositsandhumanintelligence.Asthecombinationofidiomsandfigures,idiomscontainingfigureshavetheirownfeatures.Theirculturalconnotationsaremostlyinfluencedbytheimplicationsoffigures.Peoplefromdifferentculturesmayhavethesameorsimilarconceptsforfigures,butbecauseoftheirculturaldiversities,differentpeoplesmayattachdifferentconnotativemeaningstothesamefigure.Thus,differentnationsmayhaveadifferentunderstandingoftheidiomscontainingthesamefigure.Insomesense,figuresplayaroleofcornerstoneinidiomscontainingfigures,soonlybyhavingagoodknowledgeoffigureconnotationscanweknowthemwell.3.2.TheDefinitionofIdiomsContainingFiguresAsanindispensablepartofidioms,idiomscontainingfigureshavebeenusedfrequentlybothintheChineseandEnglishlanguages.Peoplemayrunintothemwhenreadingarticles,listeningtospeeches,writinganessayortranslatingpassages.Asidiomscontainingfiguresaresoimportant,it’snecessaryforustohaveanideaofwhatidiomscontainingfiguresare.Firstofall,let’sreviewthedefinitionsthathavebeenputforwardbypreviousscholars.AccordingtotheChinaNationalKnowledgeInfrastructure(CNKI),anumberofthesesonbothEnglishandChinesenumericalidiomshavebeenpublished.Therearemanydefinitionsofidiomscontainingfigures:Numericalidiomsareidiomsformedwithcardinalnumbers,ordinalnumbersandotherwordswhichhavethemeaningofnumber.Therearesetphrases,colloquialisms,proverbsandslangexpressionsinEnglishnumericalidioms,whiletherearefour-charactersetphrases,colloquialisms,proverbsandslangexpressionsinChinesenumericalidioms安美华，“英汉数字习语对比”（延边大学硕士学位论文，2008），Ⅱ。.Numericalidiomsrefertothoseidiomaticphraseswithnumbers.Theyarenotjustthesimpleexpressionsbynumbers,andtheypossessthespecificandprofoundrootsandheritageoftheirnationalcultureaswell.Numericalidiomsarethecentralcoreandcreamofethnicculture,andtheembodimentofpracticeoflanguage池玫，“英汉数字习语的文化心理差异与渊源及其翻译”，《福建农林大学学报》12,（2009）:109。.Englishnumericalidiomsaresetphrasesorphrasescomposedofnumeralandotherwords.T安美华，“英汉数字习语对比”（延边大学硕士学位论文，2008），Ⅱ。池玫，“英汉数字习语的文化心理差异与渊源及其翻译”，《福建农林大学学报》12,（2009）:109。徐畅贤，“英语数词习语的特点”，《益阳师专学报》3,（1999）：111。胡小礼，“英汉数字习语的句法功能及其译法初探”《常州信息职业技术学院学报》10,（2008）：53。Accordingtotheabovedefinitionsofidiomscontainingfigures,wecandrawaconclusion:asitsnamesuggests,anidiomcontainingfiguresisanidiomhavingcardinalnumbers,ordinalnumbersandotherwordswhichhavethemeaningofnumberinit.Itisjustonekindofidioms,reflectingstrongculturalcharacteristicswithfigureconnotations.Theproverbs,allusions,slangexpressions,especiallytheuniquefour-characteridioms,allegoricalsayingsandantitheticalcoupletsintheChineselanguage,whichareallconciseandcomprehensive,humorousandwitty,aregoodexamplesofidiomscontainingfigures.4.AnalysisandComparisonoftheChineseandEnglishIdiomsContainingFiguresIdiomsareconventionalizedorinstitutionalizedexpressionswhichareembeddedwithmuchculturalinformationpeculiartothelanguagestheyarein.Figuresmaycarrydifferentconnotationsindifferentlanguages.Therefore,asthecombinationofidiomsandfigures,idiomscontainingfiguresarehighlyculturallyloaded.Wecansaythatmuchmoreculturalinformationisincludedinsuchidioms.However,sinceChineseandEnglisharetwodifferentlanguages,suchidiomsarefeaturedwithdifferentculturalconnotations.Thus,wemayfirstlyanalyzetheimplicationsoffiguresindifferentculturalbackgrounds,andthencomparesuchkindofidiomsinthetwolanguagesandfindtheirsimilaritiesaswellastheirdifferences.4.1.CulturalConnotationsofFiguresinChineseWhenfiguresareusedinlanguages,theyhaveaninformativefunction.Theycarryculturalconnotationspeculiartothelanguagestheyarein.AsWuHuiyingpointsout,“Chineseliteraturehascountlesstiestothefigures;thelargeandwonderfuluseoffiguresinliteraturehasbecomethedistinctivefeatureofcertainworks”吴慧颖，319。.Moreover,heregardsfiguresasthemiracleoftheartgarden.InChinese,theArabicnumbersarewidelyused.T吴慧颖，319。4.1.1.CulturalConnotationsofFiguresRelatedtoTheirPronunciationTheChineselanguageaboundswithrichphonograms,amongwhichfigurescanbethefullestandthemostvividrepresentative.ThattheChinesepeoplehaveapreferenceforacertainfigureusuallydependsonitspronunciation.Forexample,thefigures“six”,“eight”,“nine”and“four”arecloselyrelatedtotheirpronunciationintheChineselanguageandculture,andtheChinesepeoplepreferthefirstthreefigurestothelastone.Inthefollowingtheauthorofthispaperwillapproachthemindetails.Thefigure“six”,duetoitspronunciationbeingsimilartothatofthecharacter“禄”,whichmeansfinanceandsalary,isconsideredasaluckyfigure.Therefore,with“six”,suchas“六六顺”inChinese,everythingwouldgowell刘明阁，253。.Besides,“溜”isahomonymfor“six”forbothofthemarepronouncedliuinChinese.“溜”hasthemeaningofdoingthingssmoothly,withoutahitch,somanyChinesepeopleturnto“six”whentheychooseadateforjoyousoccasionorasacarorphonenumber成昭伟，周丽红，《英语语言文化导论》（北京：国防工业出版社，2011），89。.Insomedialects,“six”isassociatedwiththeword“路”,suchas168,668-一路发,路路发(Onewaymoney-makingtomakemoneyalltheway)安美华，15。.Althoughthefigure“six”alsohasaderogatorysense,suchas六亲不认(torefusetohaveanythingtodowithallrelativesandfriends),六神无主(inastateofutterstupefaction),mostoftheculturalconnotationsof“six”arecommendatory.I刘明阁，253。成昭伟，周丽红，《英语语言文化导论》（北京：国防工业出版社，2011），89。安美华，15。Chinesepeopleshowspecialpreferencetothefigure“eight”foritspronunciation.InmostChinesedialectsandespeciallyinCantonese,itispronouncedas“发(fa)”,whichmeans“makeafortune;getrich”.InNorthChina,asayinggoeslikethis“Ifyouwanttosucceed,don’tstrayfromeight”.Justlike“six”,thefigure“eight”hasbecomethetopchoiceformanyaffairs,becausebusinessmenareobsessedwithsuccessfulorfailure.Forexample,somestoresandrestaurantsarenamed“518”-我要发(Iwillberich);somecompaniesselectthedatewith“eight”fortheiropeningceremony,andtheopeningtimewillbe8:18foritsounds发一发刘明阁，253。.Itcanbeseenthatthefigure“eight”刘明阁，253。Anotherhomophonicfigureis“nine”whichsymbolizessmoothnessandenduranceforitsoundslike“久(jiu)”.TheChineseemperorsofancienttimesusuallytookthefigure“nine”asthesymboloftheirunchangedandeverlastingrule,whichisobviouslyembodiedinthebuildingoftheirpalaces.Forinstance,theForbiddenCityinBeijinghastheNineDragonWalland9999roomsaswell.Besides,thequantityofthestepsinsidetheForbiddenCityPalaceisnineorthemultipleofnine成昭伟，周丽红，92。.Apartfromitspronunciation,thefigure“nine”isendowedwithotherculturalconnotations,suchas九五之尊,whichmeansanemperorbelongstotheupperclass;OldPeople’sDay(theninthdayoftheninthlunarmonth).Thesetwousagesshowthat“nine”成昭伟，周丽红，92。Unliketheabovethreefigures,“four”isviewedasanunluckyonebymostChinese,becauseitspronunciationinChineseissi,whichissimilartothepronunciationofthecharacter“死”meaning“death”.So“four”isnotespeciallywelllookeduponinChina.Oncampus,noroomwillbenamedasRoom214inmostChinesestudents’dormitories.andtheroomnumberinthesecondfloorjustskipsrightfrom213to215.Also,thepriceofanapartmentonthefourthfloorisusuallymuchcheaper.However,thefigure“four”belongstoevennumbers,andinthispoint,“four”canberegardedasaluckyfigure.Suchas四平八稳(verysteady;lackinginitiativeandovercautiousness),四通八达(extendinginalldirections),四世同堂(fourgenerationsunderoneroof),四海财源滚滚来(wealthflowingacrossthefourseas).Alloftheseidiomsarecommendatory.Wecanseethatthefigure“four”inChinesehavecontradictoryculturalconnotations.4.1.2.CulturalConnotationsofFiguresRelatedtoPhilosophyandReligionsFromtheviewofculturalhistory,religionsareoftenconsideredtobethecoresourceofaculture.Theyplayadominantroleinthesociallifeandhaveaninvisibleimpactonthepeople’swayofthinking.TheChinesecultureisgreatlyinfluencedbythephilosophicalConfucianism,TaosimandBuddhism,soaretheculturalconnotationsoffigures.Amongallthebasicfigures,“one”,“two”,“three”,“five”and“seven”arethegoodexamples.InthetraditionalChineseculture,“one”isoftentakenasthesymbolof“unity”,“start”,“concise”and“perfect”,andthesemeaningsderivefromtheTaoismwhosefounderLaoziexpressedinLaotzu,“Taogivesbirthtoone,onegivesbirthtwo,twogivesbirthtothree,andthreegivesbirthtotenthousandthings”成昭伟，周丽红，86。.Fromnothingtosomething,andsomethingtoinfinity,thefigure“one”playsanimportantrole.Insuchfour-characteridioms“一如既往(thesameasusual)”,“一心一意(ofamind)”,“言行不一(one’swordsarenotmatchedbydeeds)”,“一应俱全(allkindskeptinstock)”,thefigure“一”hasthemeaningof“single-mindedness”and“unity”成昭伟，周丽红，86。AccordingtoTaosim,everythingiscomposedoftwosides:阴(Yin)and阳(Yang).阴(Yin)isdark,femaleandnegative;while阳(Yang)islight,maleandpositive.Thetwoforces,YinandYangbeingcombinedproduceallthings.TheChinesepeoplebelieveeverythingcanbedividedintotwooppositesides:goodandbad,rightandwrong,longandshort,brightanddark,etc安美华，14,18。.Thatcomestoanotionthatthefigure“two”andevenallevennumbersarelinkedtogoodluck.Therefore,peoplealwayspursue“两全其美(makethebestofbothworlds)”,orlongfor“好事成双(goodthingsshouldbeinpairs)”安美华，14,18。TheChinesepeopleareinclinedtothefigure“three”.ItisaluckyoddnumberandwidelyusedinBuddhism.SomeChineseidiomswithitoriginatedfromthecreedofBuddhism,suchas三生有幸(transmigrationofdeathandliving).三生referstotheprevious,presentandfuturelives.AccordingtoBuddhism,anyonecanbereincarnatedinanewbody.Thetermmeansthatapersonisquiteluckyinallhislife安美华，19。.Besides,“three”isusedinBuddhismscripturesforgenericwords,like三戒(threeabstentions安美华，19。Thefigure“Five”isrelatedtoBuddhismaswell.五体投地(fivebodypartscasttotheground)isjustagoodexample.五体referstotwohands,twokneesandahead.Thistermindicatesthatpilgrimsshowtheutmostsinceritytotheirreligion.Inaddition,“five”hasthebasicsymbolicmeaningfor五行(fiveelements:metal,wood,water,fire,andearth)providedaframeworkforpeopleinancienttimestoclassifynaturalphenomena.Confucianismpreachesthat“five”impliestheconceptof“themean”foritisveryclosetothepathofthegoldenmeansof“adoptingthemiddlebetweentwoextremes”刘乃银，《英语泛读教程》（北京：高等教育出版社，刘乃银，《英语泛读教程》（北京：高等教育出版社，2006），106。“Seven”isamysteriousfigureintheChineseculture.ItissaidthatSakyamuni,thefounderofBuddhism,sitssilentlyunderthetreeofBuddhaforforty-nine(sevenplusseven)days,andthengainsanachievement.Buddhismholdsthateverythingoriginatesfromsevenprimitiveelementsofnature.InsomeareasofChina,whensomeonedies,themourningperiodshouldbesevendaysfor“doingthesevens”isthecustomatfunerals.Fromthefirstsevendaysaftersomeonepassesawaytotheseventhsevendays,thereareappropriateritualsforeach.ThiskindofcustomisrelatedtoBuddhism刘明阁，257。.Somepeopledon’tlikethefiguresevenbecauseitisassociativewith“doingthesevens”plusthefactthattheseventhmonthofthelunaryearis“ghostmonth”刘明阁，257。4.1.3.CulturalConnotationsofFiguresRelatedtoSocialCustomsSocialcustomisanotherfactoraffectingtheculturalconnotationsoffigures.Ingeneral,theChinesepeoplepreferevennumberstooddnumbers.Becauseevennumberssymbolize“fortunecomesinpairs”whilethecharacterfor“odd”inChinesedanalwaysmeans“alone”.Taketheevennumber“ten”forexample.TheChinesepeoplearefondoftakingittoexpresssatisfaction.Theterm十全十美(tobeperfectineveryway)isalwaysusedtodescribethepursuitinChinese.Thefigure“ten”alsoappearsintheChinesemedicine,cuisineandmusic,suchas十问(inquireabouttenaspectsofthepatient),十剂(tenkindsofprescription),什锦菜(olio),and十番锣鼓(akindoffolkmusic)刘明阁，260。刘明阁，260。Thefigure“two”isnotonlyassociatedwiththereligionsmentionedabove,butalsorelatedtosocialcustoms.WhenChinesegetmarried,thequantityofbetrothalgiftswouldbeapairoranevennumber.Forexample,chickensorduckswouldbewrittenas“fourwingsofpoultry”;goldbraceletswouldbewritten“Goldbraceletsbecomingapair”;Candleswouldbewrittenas“Festivecandleswithdoubleglow”.Noplacewouldallowoddnumbers刘乃银，105-106。刘乃银，105-106。4.2.CulturalConnotationsofFiguresinEnglishDuetoculturaldiversity,thesamefiguremayhavedifferentculturalconnotationsbetweentheChineseandEnglishlanguages.InEnglish,theimplicationsoffiguresarecloselyrelatedtopsychology,religionsandhistoricalallusions.4.2.1.CulturalConnotationsofFiguresRelatedtoPsychologyFromancienttimeson,therehasbeenafetishismthatinfluencestheBritishpeople’ssub-consciousness.Theybelievethatcertainfigureshavemysteriousormagicpowerthatmaybringthemluckorevil.Generally,oddnumbersareconsideredtobeluckyinEnglish-relatedcultures.English-speakingpeoplebelievethat“one”isaluckyoddnumber,andtheyoftenputitafterhundredsorthousandstoemphasize,suchas“onehundred