King Gesar is a popular text with ongoing research in worldwide. Especially since King Gesar has been translated several times in many languages already. In this study, I reviewed some issues of translation of the English version. Through research, I studied the topics of translating epics and the difference between various cultural perspectives. First of all, there is an ambiguity of King Gesar"s category, that is whether King Gesar should be labeled as Chinese Studies or Sinology. Chinese scholar Wang Zhi-guo(王治國) said it should be put in the category of Chinese Studies. Basically the story of King Gesar was disseminated from the Tibetan to the Mongols, and was developed from a basic story to an epic. Eventually King Gesar"s story spread in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, and Russia. The first western language translation was from Russia. The French and the English translations by David Nell followed the next generation of the translation. But after World War II there were changes in the landscape of Chinese Studies. Now the field of Chinese Studies has grown to include many countries. The United States has the most predominant status. In this study, I attempted to compare the aspect of the two existing English translations. Douglas J. Penick"s version was based on that of Tibetan, while Ida Zeitlin"s version was translated from Mongolian in 1716. In addition, I examined the contents of these books. In the case of Tibet and Mongolia in the year 1716, when comparing the two different translations with the emphasis on the content in the designated chapter and names of characters, there are three differences. First, the difference in the number and characters of the enemies for Gesar; second, the behaviors of Gesar"s uncle as a traitor; lastly, the description of brotherhood. However the ‘fight" to regain his wife and his territories showed no significant difference. Research of the epic on the Silk Road including King Gesar, will give us foresight of how we will enrich our historical perspective. It will be Silk Road Studies. Looking back at the results of these epic studies, we will be able to look forward to see the effects of future relationships with the countries of the Silk Road.
본 논문에서 필자는 게사르전 번역의 역사적 과정과 게사르전의 영문번역본에 대해서 연구하였다. 특히 게사르전의 티베트어 영어번역본과 몽골어 영어번역본을 비교하면서 두 번역본에 나타나는 차이를 고찰하였다. 이를 통해 게사르학을 포함하는 실크로드학의 가능성을 알아보고자 하였다.
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