English Translation of Culture-Loaded Words in <i>Three</i> <i>Character</i> <i>Classic</i> from the Perspective of Cultural Context Adaptation

《三字经》是我国蒙学经典，用词简明，韵律和谐，取材典范。基于Bronislaw Malinowski文化语境理论以及Jef Verschueren语境顺应性理论，围绕儿童心理认知发展及启蒙教育，选取《三字经》两种译本译例，探究了蒙学典籍外译中文化负载词的有效翻译策略。王宝童译本多采用动态对等，重韵律口语，简洁易解但细节流失；翟里斯译本多采用直接转换，重语法书面，严谨精准但接受度低。由此可见，蒙学典籍中文化负载词的翻译，译者的翻译策略选择须根据不同的文化语境和儿童认知能力做出动态顺应。在不同的文化层面上，翻译可是表层文化语境顺应的直接转换，亦可是深层文化语境顺应的动态对等。Three Character Classic is a classic of Chinese enlightenment education, featuring concise wording, harmonious rhythm, and content drawn from exemplary sources. Based on Bronislaw Malinowski’s theory of cultural context and Jef Verschueren’s theory of contextual adaptation, this study focuses on children’s psychological and cognitive development as well as enlightenment education, selecting translation examples from two versions of Three Character Classic to explore effective translation strategies for culture-loaded words in the external translation of enlightenment classics. Wang Baotong’s translation predominantly employs dynamic equivalence, emphasizing rhythmic colloquialism for simplicity and accessibility, though at the cost of detail loss. Herbert Giles’ translation tends to use direct transformation, prioritizing grammatical formality for rigor and precision, yet with lower acceptability. The study reveals that in translating culture-loaded words in enlightenment classics, translators must dynamically adapt their strategies to different cultural contexts and children’s cognitive abilities. Across cultural layers, translation may involve direct transformation for surface-level cultural context adaptation or dynamic equivalence for deep-level cultural context adaptation.