Frontiers of Global Sinology
FGS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.20-29.
Print ISSN: 3106-5503; Online ISSN: 3106-5511
Journal homepage: https://www.fgsjournal.com
DOI：https://doi.org/10.64058/fgs260103setzs
高 菲（Gao Fei），孙 娟（Sun Juan）
摘要：何莫邪（Christoph Harbsmeier）最新推出的《庄子》译本：《莊子內篇匯評詮釋》（The Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi: With Copious Annotations from the Chinese Commentaries），通过大量脚注系统整合中国历代章句注疏，构建了一个跨越古今、融贯中西的阐释空间。本研究通过“前副文本”“主旨型注释”“思想型注释”及“后副文本”四个维度，系统考察译者如何借助副文本传递文化语境、再现经典的多层内涵。研究揭示，何莫邪的《庄子》英译立足于扎实的训诂与义理分析，既规避了以西释中的单向格义，亦突破了泥古守旧的封闭阐释，进而在“存异”与“化同”之间激活了《庄子》的当代价值。本研究不仅为诸子典籍的外译实践提供了方法论参照，也对推动中华经典在海外真正“走进去”具有启示意义。
关键词：《庄子》英译；何莫邪；副文本
作者简介：高菲（通讯作者），山东财经大学硕士，研究方向：典籍英译，电邮：gaofei345634@qq.com；孙娟，博士，山东财经大学副教授、硕士生导师，研究方向：认知翻译研究，电邮：gwsunjuan@163.com。
Title: A Study on the English Translation of Zhuangzi by Sinologist Christoph Harbsmeier
Abstract: Christoph Harbsmeier’s latest translation of the Zhuangzi, titled The Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi: With Copious Annotations from the Chinese Commentaries, systematically integrates traditional Chinese exegetical commentaries through extensive footnotes, constructing an interpretive space that bridges ancient and modern times as well as Chinese and Western traditions. This study examines how the translator employs paratexts to convey cultural context and recreate the multilayered meanings of the classic from four dimensions: “pre-text paratexts” “thematic annotations” “conceptual annotations” and “post-text paratexts”. The research reveals that Harbsmeier’ s English translation of the Zhuangzi is grounded in rigorous philological and philosophical analysis. It avoids both one-sided Western interpretations imposed on Chinese thought and rigid, antiquarian approaches to exegesis, thereby activating the contemporary relevance of the Zhuangzi through a balance between “preserving difference” and “achieving integration”. This study not only offers methodological insights for the translation of classical Chinese philosophical texts but also provides implications for promoting the genuine cross-cultural reception of Chinese classics abroad.
Keywords: English translation of Zhuangzi; Christoph Harbsmeier; paratext
Author Biographies: Gao Fei (Corresponding Author), Master’s student at Shandong University of Finance and Economics. Research field: English translation of Chinese classics. E-mail: gaofei345634@qq.com; Sun Juan, PhD, Associate Professor and Master’s Supervisor at Shandong University of Finance and Economics. Research direction: Cognitive Translation Studies. E-mail: gwsunjuan@163.com.
Received: 21 Mar 2026 / Revised: 29 Apr 2026 / Accepted: 30 Apr 2026 / Published online: 30 Apr 2026 / Print published: 30 May 2026.
