The Philosophically Revisionist Translation of Terms in Mozi Taking the Translation of “Fa” in Mozi as an Example

Abstract

In 2020, the English translation of Mozi by Chris Fraser, a philosopher, was published, which brought a new perspective, a philosophically revisionist one in Hansen’s words, to the English translation of Mozi. This paper takes the term “fa” as an example to reveal the uniqueness of Fraser’s translation in terminology translation and highlight the importance that translators and Sinologists have recently attached to the philosophical interest of terms in Mozi. At the same time, this paper demonstrates the discussion of the term “fa” in Chinese and Western academia and explores the path of analyzing this term from the philosophical point of view both at home and abroad. Ultimately, through the translation of “fa,” this paper analyzes the integration of philosophical research and terminological translation in Fraser’s translation, and provides a philosophical revisionist approach for the subsequent translations of the terminology in Mozi.