【正文】 （英若誠， 1999:116） Wang Lifa: You?re a learned man. You know all about heaven and earth. You?re been a member of parliament. (英若誠， 1999:117) As an uneducated person, Wang Lifa is likely to express “上知天文，下知 12 地理” with the words “heaven and earth”. While Howard translates it “from astronomy to geography” which is literal translation. Though they are both convey the meaning to the audience, Ying?s version is colloquial and easy for the audience to understand. On sentence level Example 1: 常四爺：二哥，走！找個地方喝兩盅去 !一醉解千愁！ (英若誠， 1999： 86) Chang: Come, brother, let?s go and have a drink. Drown our sorrow in wine. (英若誠， 1999:87） FOURTH ELDER CHANG: Come on, Second Elder, let?s find a place where we can share a few cups of tea. One cup can drown a thousand sorrows. (HowardGibbon， 1980:32) Here“ 找個地方喝兩盅去 ”, Ying Ruocheng puts it into a sentence“ let?s go and have a drink” by liberal translation. It is clearly that his version is much more concise pared with Howard?s version. Moreover, its sentence structure is simpler than the latter one which is an attribute clause. Though both the two version are acceptable, Ying?s version is much better and more suitable for stage performance. Example 2: 黃胖子：一天云霧散，算我沒白跑腿！ （英若誠 , 1999:48） Tubby Huang: Well, we?ve done it again! All been smoothed over! I never e here for nothing! (英若誠， 1999:49) In Chinese, we often use “算我沒白跑腿 ”to express not doing something in vain. Ying Ruocheng translates it into “never e here for 13 nothing” and he appropriately chose the simple word “never” and“ nothing” to express his meaning. Therefore, he could use liberal translation to represent the original meaning successfully. Just as Pan Bingxin and Li Zhengshuan writes: Due to the differences between Chinese and English word meaning, therefore, if the source text is translated word to word, the translated text may lose the brilliance or even misrepresent the original meaning which will lead to make the readers puzzled. (Pan Bingxin， Li Zhengshuan， 2020:2) To some extent, as long as the translated sentence can convey the sense and spirit of the original meaning, translator can choose his own translation method. Therefore, Ying Ruocheng?s liberal translation method is reachable for stage performance. Domesticating translation from the cultural perspective Domesticating and foreignizating translation are two fundamental translation strategies which provide both linguistic and cultural guidance. In this part, the author will particularly discuss the domesticating translation. Shuttle and Cowie in their book Dictionary of Translation Studies defined domestication as“ A term used by Venuti(1995) to describe the translation strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language reader.”(Shuttle＆ Cowie, 1997:59) Venuti thinks a fluent translation one is domestication. “A fluent translation is written in English that is current(?modern?) instead of archaic, that is widely used instead of specialized(?jargonisation?), that is standard instead of colloquial(?slangy?)”(Venuti, 1995:4) Generally speaking, there are many cultural elements involved in the literary translation such as religious culture, material culture and social culture. In this case, translator should take into account the differences 14 between languages as well as culture differences. Ying Ruocheng mainly selects domesticating translation to make some adjustments according to specific situation in trans。 on the other hand, it gives convenience for audience to appreciate from every perspective. According to the Skopos theory,“ The prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose of the overall translation action… Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose.” (Nord, 2020:27) In order to satisfy needs of Teahouse?s being performed abroad and make audiences understood the contents, Ying Ruocheng?s language is very concise and pact and has a flowing sense. The purpose of Ying Ruocheng?s English version Teahouse is apparently for stage performance. In preface to his translated work, he ever said that Stage performance does have its unique requirement. What the audience expects to hear is crisp language that is clever and well patterned and dialogues and arguments that go back and forth. These to the great master of language, such as, in the works of Oscar Wilde or Bernard Shaw can be found everywhere. As translator, we are responsible for representing them in front of the audience. (Ying Ruocheng, 1999:12) 9 As an experienced actor, director and translator, he prefers to highlight its stage performance. However, stage performance has its own characteristics. For one thing, it is limited by time and space。 Teahouse Contents Introduction.......................................................................................... 1 Chapter one Drama and Drama Translation............................................ 3 An introduction of drama ........................................................... 3 A brief summary of drama Teahouse .......................................... 4 Ruocheng and his translation of Teahouse ........................... 5 Chapter Two An Overview of Skopos Theory ........................................ 6 Vermeer?s Skopos theory ........................................................... 6 Skopos theory in drama translation............................................. 7 Ying Ruocheng?s performanceorientation