A Study on the Interpretation of Cultural Heterogeneity in Chinese Classics Translation — Taking the English Translation of <i>The Classic of Tea</i> as an Example

Translation is a cross-cultural interpretive activity that requires respect for the uniqueness of “the other” in the source language culture and reconciliation of its heterogeneity within the target language environment. Taking two English translations of <i>The Classic of Tea</i> as research subjects, this paper explores the interpretation of cultural heterogeneity in Chinese classics and the similarities and differences in their compensatory strategies from the perspective of translation motivations. The study shows that the two translations adopt sharply different interpretive strategies. Carpenter’s version, produced at the time of the Cold War for Western audiences who knew little about the East, tends to adopt domestication, smoothing away cultural friction so the text would be accepted more easily. Jiang’s, by contrast, appears under China’s cultural “going-out” initiative: here the translator speaks as a self-appointed cultural envoy, foregrounding foreignness through an alienating lens. What drives the swing from one pole to the other is a mix of imagined readers, ideological stance, and the quiet pressure of institutional patrons. This research also demonstrates the dynamic reconciliation mechanism between foreignization and domestication in the translation of Chinese classics, providing theoretical and practical references for enhancing the effectiveness of China’s tea culture dissemination abroad.