China and Chinese culture—arguably the most antique and persistent cultural tradition in human history—is relatively unknown and often misunderstood outside of China. 

There is and continues to be a profound asymmetry in comparative studies. We enter a Chinese bookstore or a Chinese library, and all of the most recent world scholarship is being made available in accurate and accessible Chinese translations. We enter a European or American bookstore or library, and never mind recent Chinese scholarship, but even the monumental works of the greatest minds of Chinese philosophy and culture are absent.

Such an asymmetry in available information is part of the reason why there are presently some 300,000 Chinese students studying in the United States and only 15,000 American students studying in China. 

Where do we begin in promoting real world literacy on Chinese philosophy and culture that will give China a place at the table in a generation in which the economic and political orders of the world have undergone a sea change? Will Chinese values and traditions be a resource in a changing world cultural order that will follow in its wake?

In this regard, we plan to make a real difference. "Translating China" will bring together some of distinguished Western and Chinese experts on Chinese philosophy for a unique translation project that will address the aforementioned imbalances. One of two divisions of the translation project will be dedicated to the translation of some of the most important philosophical works of the following great Chinese thinkers into English:

•    庞朴 (, 1928-2015): Pang Pu is one of the most renowned experts Confucian philosophy and culture and the winner of the 2010 Confucian Culture Prize. Unjustifiably, his name is not known by Western scholars. To start with, we are planning to translate《孔子文化奖学术精粹丛书：庞朴卷》into English.

•    汤一介 (1927-2014): Tang Yijie, winner of the Confucius Culture Prize in 2011, is one of the most important voices in the contemporary Chinese philosophical discourse. He was a distinguished professor of Peking University and his work on traditional Chinese philosophy and culture is held in high esteem within the Chinese academy. He has been working as the director and chief expert in the《儒 藏 》编纂 中心, a project established by the Chinese government. To begin with, we would like to translate his 汤一介哲学（北京联合出版社）into English.

•    李学勤 (born 1933): Li Xueqin is the most important Chinese historian, archaeologist, epigrapher of our times. A distinguished professor of Tsinghua University, he won the Confucius Culture Prize in 2013. He has served as Director of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Sinology of Tsinghua University, head of the Pre-Qin History Association of China, and Director of the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project. We will translate his book 《孔子文化奖学术精粹丛书：李学勤卷》first.

•    楼宇烈 (born 1934): Lou Yulie is presently one of the most important senior professors of Chinese philosophy. Still teaching at Peking University as a distinguished expert on Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, he has been a major figure in the university’s Eastern philosophy teaching and research section, the Research Institute for Religious Studies, and its Academic Committee. At first, we would like to translate《中国文化的根本精神》（中华书局，2016年 ).

•    陈来 (born 1952): Chen Lai, a distinguished professor from Tsinghua University and winner of the Confucius Culture Prize in 2015, is one of the most prolific and respected Chinese philosophers of his generation. He has enormously enriched the understanding of Chinese philosophical traditions in their most fundamental and difficult aspects, and has laid basic foundations for future discourses in modern Chinese philosophy. We will begin with 2014《仁学本体论》。

•    牟钟鉴 (born 1939): Mou Zhongjian, a distinguished Zhongyang Minzu University professor who has been recognized with many national awards (amongst them the 2012 Confucius Culture Prize), has dived deeply into the ocean of Chinese philosophy and culture for more than 40 years. Being an exceptional and distinguished thinker as well as one of the most important figures in the revival and modernization of Confucian culture, we plan to translate his 儒学价值的新探索into English.

•    郭齐勇 (born 1947): Guo Qiyong is one most renowned scholars of modern Confucianism.  As a distinguished professor at the Institute of Philosophy and the School of Chinese Classics as well as helding many leading and higher positions in some of the most important Chinese commitees for philosophy, Chinese traditional culture and education, like, for example, being the director of the Research Centre for Confucius and Confucianism, he is considered as the leading and most innovative expert for the development of modern Confucianism. We are honored to translate his 《现当代新儒学思潮研究》.