參考譯文

　　The theory of five elements is a concept of matter in ancient China. The five elements include metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The theory of five elements emphasizes on an overall concept, describing the structural relationships and forms of movement of matters. The theory holds that everything in the universe is based on the movement and change of these five elements. These five elements interact with each other, affecting a person's fate as well as making the universe move in endless cycles. The theory got mature in the Han Dynasty and was widely employed in the fields like traditional Chinese medicine, architecture, and martial arts.

　　翻譯詳解

　　1.第2句五行中的“金”指“金屬”，而非“黃金”，故第2句中應(yīng)譯為metal，而非gold。

　　2.第3句中的第2個(gè)分句“描繪了事物的結(jié)構(gòu)關(guān)系和運(yùn)動(dòng)形式”可處理為狀語，表伴隨狀態(tài)，用分詞短語describing the structural relationships and forms of movement of matters 來表達(dá)。

　　3.第4句中的“五行學(xué)說認(rèn)為”可譯為the theory holds that...，亦可譯為according to the theory，承前句，“五行學(xué)說”可簡單轉(zhuǎn)換表達(dá)為“該學(xué)說”(the theory)。“宇宙萬物”可譯為the universe，強(qiáng)調(diào)整體，也可表達(dá)為 everything in the universe。

　　4.第5句有三個(gè)分句，可把“這五個(gè)要素相互作用”處理成主干，“不但影響到……，同時(shí)也使宇宙萬物……”處理為結(jié)果狀語，用分詞短語來表達(dá)，“不但……同時(shí)也”可用結(jié)構(gòu)both... and...或... as well as...來表達(dá)，故整句譯為 These five elements interact with each other, affecting...as well as making...。

　　5.最后一句“五行學(xué)說成熟于漢代，之后廣泛應(yīng)用于……”可用并列結(jié)構(gòu)譯出：The theory got mature in the Han Dynasty and was widely employed...。翻譯賓語“中醫(yī)、建筑和武術(shù)等領(lǐng)域”時(shí)，先譯出中心詞fields，再用like或者such as來引出例子。