Chinese martial arts fictions, as an important branch of Chinese literature, have experienced ups and downs since their birth. It was not until the 1950s when some noted novelists such as Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng and Gu Long came up with the idea of “New Martial Arts Fictions” that Chinese martial arts fictions were revitalized. At that period, most classic Chinese martial arts fictions were created by novelists from Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the 1980s when China implemented reform and opening up policy, novelists from mainland China began martial arts fiction writing, laying a solid foundation for the creation of later novelists.

Today, Chinese martial arts fictions have altered their forms with much more diversified themes. Meanwhile, the media for display has also changed from books to internet. Along with the deepening globalization, the idea of “telling the Chinese stories well” raised by Xi Jinping provides an excellent opportunity for the spread of Chinese martial arts fictions in other countries. Therefore, overseas network literature translation websites spring up in recent years, gaining great popularity among foreign readers.

The reason for the popularity of Chinese online literature abroad lies in the novelty, cultural mixedness and reading pleasure brought by Chinese network martial arts fictions. According to a research done by Zheng Jianwei, there are at least 51 overseas English-language websites that translate Chinese network novels, among which Chinese network martial arts fictions are the absolute main part. At the same time, most translators are native speakers who have a good command of Chinese and Chinese culture.

In 2018, Liu Yi and Zhang Zuotang did a case study on Wuxiaworld which is a website for the translated Chinese network martial arts fictions and analyzed the translation and transmission of martial arts culture involved in Chinese network literature. They are convinced that overseas transmission of martial arts culture would promote the internationalization of network literature and improve the status of Chinese literature and culture in the world. Martial arts culture would give full play to the function of cultural capital and symbol, thus enhancing the national identity.

In Eugene A. Nida’s essay Principles of Correspondence, he asserts that "no two languages are identical, either in the meanings given to corresponding symbols or in the ways in which symbols are arranged in phrases and sentences, it stands to reason that there can be no absolute correspondence between languages. Hence, there can be no fully exact translations.” Chinese martial arts fictions are characteristic of traditional Chinese culture because of which some terms mentioned in these fictions are difficult to translate into English. This poses great challenges to translators. A Chinese scholar named Nie Chunge points out that with the rapid development of cultural globalization, it is especially important to understand the nature of translation from the purpose of cultural exchange. According to this, in the translation of cultural elements, it is advisable to adopt the strategy of foreignization, otherwise it will result in the misunderstanding of the original cultural elements.

By contrast, Xu Jianling and Li Yuying argue that the success comes from the translator’s appropriate strategy in utilizing translation variation techniques including addition, deletion, edition, condensation and amalgamation. Only by taking into account the readers’ interests and receptivity could a translation ensure the readability of the book and realize the literary value and charm of the original.

However, most researches conducted are lack of analysis of the translation acceptability of a specific Chinese network martial arts fictions. Therefore, by taking Battle Through the Heavens, one of the most popular martial arts fictions translated into English, as an example, this paper aims to analyse the translation strategies and the corresponding translation methods applied in the translation of Chinese network martial arts fictions and find out the existing problems which hinder the acceptability of translation in the translation of Chinese network martial arts fictions. At the end of this paper, feasible suggestions on addressing these problems will be given. It is hoped that this research will provide some references for the translation of Chinese network martial arts fictions and be conducive to the spread of traditional Chinese culture.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

This paper will analyse the translation acceptability of Chinese network martial arts fictions by a case study of Battle Through the Heavens. The characteristics and present situation of Chinese network martial arts fictions will be taken into consideration during this research. Besides, principles and strategies for translation will be further illustrated by some examples. Moreover, this paper will find some existing problems in the translation of Chinese network martial arts fictions and provide feasible solution to increase the acceptability of translation.

The goal of this paper is to find out whether the English translation provides more access to Chinese culture for foreign readers by comparing the translation of Battle Through the Heavens with its original Chinese text. Advice will be given on how to spread Chinese culture in a better way by translating Chinese martial arts fictions.

In order to pursue the accuracy of research, the literature research method will be utilized in order to find more detailed and profound information concerning the translation of Chinese network martial arts fictions. Moreover, the theoretical research will also be applied to conduct in-depth discussions on relevant theories in the field of the acceptability of translation. This paper requires reading both the English and Chinese version of Battle Through the Heavens. Wuxiaworld and Sogou Reading will provide the reading materials for this paper, and readers’ comments of Battle Through the Heavens on the website will be included in the study as a way of evaluating the acceptability of translation.