Religious Tasks, secular amusement, and technical adaptations: A short history of the multi-faceted translation endeavours by nineteenth-century sinologists

The beginning of the history of translations by Western missionaries and secular sinologists of Chinese texts can be considered a floating landmark, depending on which accomplishment we regard as the most symbolic in this process. In order to illustrate the variety of purposes of the second wave of missionaries and scholars engaged with translations of Chinese texts, as well as the evolution, peculiarities, and objectives of their renderings, this article will analyse some translations of religion, amusement, and scientific and technical texts. By focusing on the objectives of the translators’ choices, as well as their rewriting strategies and some links between the two phases of translations considered, the article highlights the main differences between early Jesuit rendering efforts and those by Protestant missionaries and secular sinologists of the second phase.