Notes
Chapter one
In the 1960s, Nida only dealt with "grammatical meaning", "referential meaning" and "associative meaning". In the 1980s "rhetorical meaning" was added to his book From One Language to Another.
Chapter two
1. 中国传统绘画理论重“神似”。
《淮南子》中说，“画西施之画，美而不可说；规孟贲之目，大而不可畏，君形者亡焉”。
东晋画家顾恺之也明确提出“以形写神”的说法。
2. Nida's definition of translating may be put into Chinese as "翻译是在译入语中用最贴近、最自然的对等语再现原语的信息，首先是语义上的对等，其次是风格上的对等。
3. Nida's "dynamic equivalence" is defined "in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptor in the source language"; while Newmark's "communicative translation" attempts to produce on its original". Comparing the two definitions, we can see that both of them emphasize readers' acceptability of the translated message and the dynamic relationship between readers and texts.
Chapter three
1. Nida employs the expression "receptor language" to refer to the language into which one translates. In his opinion, the traditional expression "target language" is not proper, for in translating "one does not merely shoot the communication at a target. Rather, the communication must be received". Clearly, the use of "receptor language" emphasizes that "the message must be decoded by those who receive ti".
2. In Toward a Science of Translation (1969), Nida put forward his "science of translation" in a systematic manner. In the 1970s, however, he gave up his idea and claimed that translation was an art rather than a science. In the preface to The Theory and Practice of Translation (1974), Nida stated that "translating is far more than a science. It is also a skill, and in the ultimate analysis fully satisfactory translation is always an art". Since then Nida no longer took translation as a science.
3. As early as 1964, Nida tried to define a dynamic equivalent translation. He stated that one way of defining a D-E translation was to describe it as "the closest natural equivalent to the source-language message". This definition contains three essential terms: (1) equivalent, which points toward the source-language message, (2) natural, which points toward the receptor language, (3) closest, which binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation.
Chapter four
1. In the 1930s, Qu Qiubai wrote: A translation should introduce completely and correctly the content of the original text to the Chinese reader so that he can obtain an idea as same as that of the English, Russion, Japanese, German or French reader could
get from the corresponding original text. One should not tolerate "awkwardness to a certain degree" for the sake of retaining the spirit of the original text. On the expense of the loss of the original spirit.
2. As Jin's says, his translation is neither a literal nor a free translation, because he only takes account of how to achieve the objective of "equivalent effect" in translating. Similarly, Nida's "dynamic equivalence" is not opposed to literal translation on condition that they can achieve the goal of equivalent effect.
3. In "An Interview with Professor Jin Di" (2000), he states: the three translation criteria "faithfulness, expressiveness and spirit resemblance" I put forward, which is based on Y an's principle, are completely the same as my theory of "equivalent effect". For me, to strive for these criteria is actually for the objective of "equivalent effect.
Chapter five
夫人之立言，因字而生句，积句而成章，积章而成篇。
篇之彪炳，章无疵也；章之明靡，句无玷也；句之清英，字不妄也；振本而末存，知一而万毕矣。
（刘勰《文心雕龙•章句》）。