Traditional translation studies stayed at the language level and sought one-to-one correspondence in language forms in order to obtain the equivalence between the original text and the target text. Gradually, translation theorists turned their attention from the linguistic level to the scope outside the text, and began to study translation theories in a cross-cultural context. The “cultural turn” in contemporary translation studies has made translation studies begin to involve factors such as social culture, politics, power, and ideology that affect translation activities. For the first time, they linked translation and politics, and boldly revealed the power relations that have always existed in translation and their roles in translation.

This essay will focus on the three Chinese version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the best-selling book in the 19th century, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This anti-slavery novel is believed to be the most important reason to stimulate the rise of abolitionism in the 1850s. This novel’s view on African Americans and American slavery have had profound implications, and to some extent, have intensified regional conflicts. Although this novel and the various scripts inspired by it have created many stereotypes of the black, and its negative elements have weakened the novel’s historical role as an important anti-slavery tool to some extent, it is still, a great book with author’s kind original intention. This essay will not make any critical comment on the style, theme or other relevant elements. Instead, it will compare the three different Chinese translation from Lin Shu and Wei Yi, Huang Jizhong, and Wang Jiaxiang, and demonstrate the social impact on translation. These three version also reflects the different influences and roles of Chinese and western cultures in different historical periods in China.

1. Introduction of the three translations