A Study of the Mistranslation of the Port Khānfou in China in the Tang Dynasty
- 1 School of Interpreting and Translation Studies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
- 2 School of Interpreting and Translation Studies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
- 3 School of Interpreting and Translation Studies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
Abstract
In the Tang Dynasty, the Arab writers wrote the first Arabic travel notes Ancient Accounts of India and China, by two Mohammedan travelers who went to those parts in the 9th century, translated from the Arabic by the late learned EUSEBIUS RENAUDOT . Their notes are based on Arab travelers and businessmen’s experiences in China. Arab travelers and businessmen’s experiences in China. There are some mistakes in the travels, among which is the account of Khānfou (Khānfū or Khānon), the port from which the Arabs entered China. Khānfou is taken for Guangzhou or Guangfu in the travels. The French scholar Abbé Eusèbe Renaudot published the French translation of Ancient Accounts of India and China in 1817. Many translators, geographers, and historians had argued whether the trade port Khānfou is Guangzhou (Guangfu) or Hangzhou (Ganpu) when they translated or examined the travels, forming two major doctrines as “Khānfou is Guangzhou (Guangfu)” and “Khānfou is Hangzhou”. This article aims to find out more facts about and the reasons for the mistranslation of Khānfou from three aspects: the Arab travelers and merchants entered China from the “Gates of China” located in the port of Ganpu near Hangzhou; the Banshoa Rebellion refers to the Pang Xun Rebellion rather than the Huang Chao Rebellion; Khānfou was misread as Canfu.
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