A Postcolonial Perspective on Ku Hung-Ming's Translation of Zhongyong

Ku Hung-Ming was the first Chinese to compete with Christian missionaries and Western Sinologists in representing China and the Chinese culture through translation and creative writings. His Confucian translations were motivated by a clear and strong desire to say no to Western colonialism in general and intellectual colonialism in particular. This article highlights some prominent features of Ku's translation of Zhongyong and analyzes his translation strategies embodied therein, and proceeds to reflect on certain misconceptions in postcolonial translation studies.