Volume 3 · Issue 6 (2026)
DOI number:
10.66521/2938-9933-2026063003
Construction of the Chinese-English Translation Corpus for Terms of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Taking Chinese Martial Arts as an Example
Shi Shi, Xu Wu*
School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Corresponding Author: Xu Wu
Abstract: The Chinese-English translation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) terms is crucial for China’s cultural dissemination and international discursive power. However, current practices are plagued by inconsistent renderings, mechanical literalism, and loss of cultural connotations, primarily due to the absence of systematic terminology resources and standardized translation norms. Taking Chinese martial arts (Wushu) as a case study, this research proposes a corpus-based approach integrating quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative analyses of martial arts terms using Chinese and English corpora (COCA, COHA) reveal that these terms are highly culture-loaded, with technical terms comprising approximately 65% and theoretical terms carrying the most profound cultural meanings. Qualitative parallel text comparisons indicate that English-speaking countries favor domesticated translations such as “Kung fu,” which tend to narrow the original concepts, whereas Chinese scholars prefer transliteration and literal translation—more faithful to the source culture but less internationally accepted. Based on these findings, the study proposes four corpus construction strategies (terminology classification, parallel text alignment, corpus-mining for strategy optimization, and multimodal platform expansion) and six translation recommendations: prioritize transliteration for term status; use literal translation for core information; supplement with free translation for cultural connotations; employ transliteration with annotation to balance foreignness and clarity; adopt cultural transplantation for lexical gaps; and implement a dynamic domestication-foreignization mechanism. This research aims to standardize ICH terminology translation and enhance the accurate international dissemination of China’s ICH heritage.
Keywords: Intangible Cultural Heritage; Chinese Martial Arts; Terminology Translation; Corpus Construction; Chinese-English Translation
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