| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第7-9页 |
| Contents | 第9-12页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第12-16页 |
| ·Significance of the research | 第12-13页 |
| ·A brief review of relevant literature | 第13-14页 |
| ·Purposes of the research | 第14页 |
| ·Outline of the research | 第14-16页 |
| Chapter 2 Chinese Idiom and Four-character Chinese Idiom | 第16-26页 |
| ·Definitions of idiom | 第16-18页 |
| ·Definitions of Chinese idiom | 第16-17页 |
| ·Definitions of English idiom | 第17页 |
| ·Summary | 第17-18页 |
| ·Characteristics of Chinese idiom | 第18-20页 |
| ·Fixity | 第18-19页 |
| ·Habitual usage | 第19页 |
| ·Integrity | 第19-20页 |
| ·Compactness | 第20页 |
| ·Nationality | 第20页 |
| ·Four-character Chinese idiom | 第20-21页 |
| ·Characteristics of four-character Chinese idiom | 第21-26页 |
| ·Special structure | 第21-22页 |
| ·Fixed character's order | 第22-23页 |
| ·Two levels of meaning | 第23-24页 |
| ·Emotional and stylistic feature | 第24-25页 |
| ·Numbers in idioms | 第25-26页 |
| Chapter 3 Main Translation Methods and Suggested Translation Principles | 第26-35页 |
| ·Mains translation methods of four-character Chinese idioms | 第26-28页 |
| ·Literal translation | 第26页 |
| ·Free translation | 第26-27页 |
| ·Literal+free translation | 第27页 |
| ·Substitutive translation | 第27页 |
| ·Rhetoric method | 第27-28页 |
| ·Literal translation with annotation | 第28页 |
| ·Opinions on translation principles of headwords in bilingual dictionaries | 第28-33页 |
| ·Qian Housheng's five principles | 第28-32页 |
| ·Huang Jianhua and Chen Chuxiang's equivalent opinion | 第32-33页 |
| ·Suggested translation principles for four-character Chinese idiom | 第33-35页 |
| Chapter 4 Research Procedure | 第35-40页 |
| ·Option of dictionaries | 第35-36页 |
| ·Option of Chinese-English dictionary as the source of sample idioms | 第35页 |
| ·Option of a Chinese idiom dictionary as the reference | 第35-36页 |
| ·Research methodology | 第36-37页 |
| ·Methodology | 第36页 |
| ·Sampling | 第36-37页 |
| ·Data treatment | 第37-40页 |
| Chapter 5 Discussion and Analysis | 第40-50页 |
| ·Translation methods | 第40页 |
| ·Analysis of the translation methods | 第40-42页 |
| ·Relationship of the suggested transaltion principles, translation methods and translated versions | 第42-50页 |
| ·Embodiment of double-level meanings and translation methods | 第43-45页 |
| ·Stylistic approximation and translation methods | 第45-46页 |
| ·Emotional agreement and translation methods | 第46-48页 |
| ·Translation of the idioms with numbers and translation methods | 第48-50页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusions and Recommendations | 第50-54页 |
| ·Conclusions | 第50-51页 |
| ·The suggested translation principles for the translation of four-character Chinese idioms | 第50页 |
| ·The using situation of the translation methods in the selected dictionary39 | 第50-51页 |
| ·Relationships of suggested translation principles, translation methods, and translated versions | 第51页 |
| ·Recommendations | 第51-52页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions for further research | 第52-54页 |
| References | 第54-57页 |
| Appendix | 第57-60页 |
| 攻读硕士学位期间科研成果 | 第60页 |
