2.1 Fu Sheng Liu Ji and different translation versions..4 

2.1.1 Shen Fu and Fu Sheng Liu Ji4

2.1.2 Different versions of Fu Sheng Liu Ji..4

2.1.3 Studies of Lin Yutang's version5

2.2 Translation ethics.6

2.2.1 Previous studies of translation ethics abroad6

2.2.2 Previous studies of translation ethics at home.6

Chapter III Analysis of Lin’s Version of Fu Sheng Liu Ji Under Five Models of Translation Ethics8

3.1 Ethics of representation in Lin’s version of Fu Sheng Liu Ji .8

3.1.1 Representation of character images..8

3.1.2 Representation of customs..10

3.2 Ethics of service in Lin’s version of Fu Sheng Liu Ji .11

3.2.1 Service for readers in lexical level..11

3.2.2 Service for readers in syntactic level.12

3.3 Ethics of communication in Lin’s version of Fu Sheng Liu Ji..13

3.3.1 Explanatory note ..13

3.3.2 Culture specific words ..14

3.4 Norm-based ethics in Lin’s version of Fu Sheng Liu Ji14

3.5 Ethics of commitment in Lin’s version of Fu Sheng Liu Ji .15

Chapter IV Conclusion..17

4.1 Summary17 

4.2 Limitation..17 

4.3 Future trend of the research development.17

References..18 

Chapter I Introduction

1.1 Research background

Fu Sheng Liu Ji was an autobiographical prose written by Shen Fu in the Qing Dynasty. It contained six chapters but today only four chapters of the book were surviving. The first three chapters described his watery life, including Wedded Bliss, The Little Pleasures of Life, Sorrows, which were core parts of the work. And the last three chapters included The Joys of Travel, Experience, the Way of Life, which showed his own aesthetic view, values and generous life attitude. Fu Sheng Liu Ji reflected the spirit of yearning for freedom, respecting for woman and fighting against the feudal ethics. In Chinese literary history, there were many works about love, but description of sincere love between husband and wife was rare, so Fu Sheng Liu Ji could be regarded as a material to learn lifestyle of civilians in the Qing Dynasty. 

Many literary critics and writers like to read and evaluate this book. The literary charm of the book due to the great affection. When reading it, people will feel spiritual fulfillment and psychological expansion. Due to its unique artistic charm, Fu Sheng Liu Ji had been translated into different versions by translators at home and abroad. There were three English versions concerned greatly by literary enthusiasts, including Lin Yutang’s Six Chapters of a Floating Life in 1936, Shirley M. Black’s Chapters from a Floating Life in 1960, Pratt Leonard and Su-Hui Chiang’s Six Records of a Floating Life in 1983.

Among them, Lin Yutang's English Version Six Chapters of a Floating Life was well known. Because of Lin’s bilingual and bicultural competence and his general Chinese attitude towards life in accordance with that in the book, he successfully translated Fu Sheng Liu Ji into English. Lin’s translation preserved the flavor of the original text, at the same time, perfectly targeting to readers with a good appreciation of literature and language.

The previous studies of Fu Sheng Liu Ji’s translation mostly focused on the perspective of descriptive translation theory, adaptation and selection theory, relevance theory, cultural interpretation, translating strategies and so on, but translation ethics was infrequently used to analyze Fu Sheng Liu Ji’s English versions. This theory is widely used in the practice of literary translation. It is different from other translation theories in that it contains relationship of the original text, the author, the translator, the target readers and the translation. With the return to ethics, more scholars focus on ethical issue in translation. They pay more attention to culture communication as professional translators. Thus, this theory provides a new scope to translation.