ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a Rhetoric Model of Translation which uses Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion to explain the ideology and passion behind Chinese patriotic translators’ translation outputs and strategies. We argue that there is a plenitude of Chinese discourse on translation which can be fully depicted by the Rhetoric Model of Translation and subsequently developed into translation theory to systematically account for the significant waves of Chinese translation in history. In this chapter, the backgrounds and achievements of three prominent Chinese patriotic translators are elaborated. The translation strategies, theory and ideology used, proposed and held by these translators are front and centre in our discussion. We illustrate how the overall performance of these translators can be understood when all three modes of rhetorical appeals are taken into consideration. We also show how the Rhetoric Model of Translation is superior to other translation theory in accounting for the behaviour of Chinese translators of particular genres.
