Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2010
This paper investigates the nature of the British andForeign Bible Society's (BFBS) patronage of thetranslation of the Chinese Union Versions(CUVs), the largest Chinese ProtestantBible translation project initiated by the westernProtestant churches in the nineteenth century.Drawing on André Lefevere's concept of patronage, itdelves into how the BFBS served as a controllingfactor of the translation of theCUV by examining the BFBS'sfinancial support to the translation project,conferment of honorary titles to the translators andideological influence on the translators’ choice ofGreek text as the basis for theCUVs New Testamenttranslation.
This paper is based on my work presented at theThird International Postgraduate Conference inTranslation and Interpreting held at theUniversity of Edinburgh on 2nd and 3rd November2007.