請問，中國古代 ”祭天” 的英文，該如何翻譯

Question

各位大大安安~ 想請教一下，中國的古禮 "祭天大典" 及 "八佾舞" 之類的禮制，該如何翻譯成英文？
有比較正式的 "官方說法" 嗎？！或者，國外人士會使用的字是哪些呢？！

若我想查詢是否有國外學者的論文或專刊或期刊，談及中國的祭天大典，請問，我可以怎麼查詢？有哪些地方，或者論文專刊的網站(國外的) 可以查詢呢？還有，關鍵字該用哪些比較能夠查到呢？謝謝大家喔～ ^^

Answer 1

「祭天」就是“sacrifice to heaven”﹐請參考「天主教百科全書」中對「祭天」的名詞解釋﹕
http://www.catholic.org.tw/katalina/ycw/BLESSING/dict/S.htm
sacrifice to heaven：祭天：在中國敬天祭祖有四千多年悠久歷史；天指主宰的天，是有位格的至上神。帝王時代只有皇帝才能代表全民主持祭天大典。
你把「"sacrifice to heaven" 」當關鍵字做搜尋﹐可以找到許多關於「祭天」的英文網頁﹐如果要縮小範圍只查詢專屬中國的「祭天」就要用「"sacrifice to heaven" china」當關鍵字做搜尋﹐例如下面有幾篇提到關於中國「祭天」的外國網站﹕
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13309a.htm(天主教百科全書)
the Emperor of China is also the high-priest who alone may offer sacrifice to heaven. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/eacp/japanworks/cosmos/irc/emperor.htm(哥倫比亞大學)
The Record of Ritual states that “the sacrifice to Heaven is the highest expression of reverence.”
http://www.threeemperors.org.uk/index.php?pid=23(英國皇家藝術學校)
None was more critical than the annual sacrifice to Heaven, which marked the beginning of the dynasty’s reign in China and was performed annually until its end.
「祭天大典」因為是專屬帝王的祭典﹐只要在前面加一個“Imperial ”成為“Imperial sacrifice to heaven”就可以了﹐簡單明了。


「八佾舞」就是“Eight-row dance”﹐同樣你也可以把"Eight-row dance"當關鍵字做搜尋﹐下面是幾個提到八佾舞的外國網頁﹕
http://www.korea.ac.kr/~lawlec/intro/select/node3.html(韓國高麗大學的論語篇)
Confucius spoke about Mr Ji. "To Have the eight-row dance performed in his garden! How can this happen! How on earth can this happen!"(孔子謂季氏，八佾舞於庭。是可忍也，孰不可忍也)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Confucius(維基百科孔廟篇)
A dance known as the Eight-Row Dance, consisting of eight columns of eight dancers each, was also performed.
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/printthread.php?t=731975&pp=30(新加坡硬體論壇台北篇)
A solemn ceremony with eight-row dance is held every year on Sept. 28 to commemorate Confucius' birthday
我們的政府﹑英文傳媒及民間也是使用“Eight-row dance”﹐例如我駐德辦事處的網站﹕
http://www.roc-taiwan.de/info/festival_c/teacher_e/dance.htm
As its name implies, the eight-row dance consists of eight columns of eight dancers each, and is today performed exclusively on Confucius' Birthday.

Answer 2

祭天大典
Grand ceremony of offering a sacrifice to Heaven
八佾舞
Eight Yi dances