Abstract

Cultural selection has always been the lifeblood of translation. In the case of translating Chinese-specific terms, cultural selection goes beyond equivalent transmission of semantic content and pragmatic meaning; it emphasizes creating a multi-dimensional alignment of reader effects between the source and target languages. This paper categorizes Chinese-specific terms and proposes a cultural selection model based on three guiding principles: information-first, language appropriateness, and cultural transcoding. Leveraging Xu Yuanchong’s "rivalry and advantage" theory, the paper abandons traditional zero-sum game thinking and overcomes the dichotomy between English and Chinese, fostering a win-win approach to semantic expression. This solution enhances translation accuracy, aiming to provide new insights for translation practices.