ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the beginning of Chinese translation activities and try to uncover the many faces of Chinese translation practice during the long history of China. A good way to gain more understanding of these translation activities is through an examination of the translators who carried out these jobs of translation, which may shed light on the understanding of the complicated relationships between the author, the commissioner, the translator, the texts and the contextual factors. Xu Yuanchong is a renowned translator rarely seen in the history of Chinese translation who has both practical experience in translating between Chinese, English and French, and has presented a systematic translation theory. The chapter considers some of the great translators in the history of Chinese translation, finding out the nature of their work, the concepts they embraced toward translation and the preeminent positions they held in the history of Chinese translation.
