Translation theory and practice in China

China has a long tradition in translation studies. As the earliest records show, sporadic translation activities began as early as the eleventh century BC, though serious consideration of translation did not begin until the introduction of Buddhism into China in the East Han Dynasty (148). In the following 2000‐year‐long period, China witnessed four great movements of translation activities, which exerted far‐reaching and permanent influence upon China's religion, philosophy, and social life, “in a sense, translation in China has served as a sort of motivating force, giving impetus to the country's progress” (Fan an Wang 1999: 7). Today, as China is making her way to modernization and adopting a policy of economic reform and opening to the outside world, translation studies become more and more important, for without translation, cross‐cultural communication is completely impossible. Translation courses are popular at universities, and the translation major has attracted many scholars and graduate students. There are many research institutes, journals,1 and books devoted to translation. In this article, we shall present a general survey of translation theories and practice in contemporary China in relation to the following three aspects: practice, theoretical studies, and the future of Chinese translation studies.