Abstract:With an increasing volume of research being conducted on the transmission of premodern Chinese thought in the Western World，a plethora of studies have been published on the English translation of the ancient text Mozi，primarily through the lens of cross-cultural translation studies. Discussions on how the concept of jian’ai—often rendered as “universal love”—should be expressed in English have also taken place in this framework，while the topic has rarely been examined hermeneutically or with reference to histories of knowledge transfer，intellectuals，or scholarship. This article discusses the translation of jian’ai into English by the missionary-sinologists Joseph Edkins and James Legge during the mid-to-late 1800s. It points out that，while both scholars used the term “universal” to translate the concept，they differed on whether “equal” could be used. The author also demonstrates how differences in translation can signify differences in thinking. Using the “the thought unit” of hermeneutics as a methodology to study the translators’conception of jian’ai via a comparison of common structural levels，a case can be made that both of them used the criticism by Mengzi of Mozi as a kind of “context construction”. However，in terms if “context clarification” and “context consolidation”，Edkins and Legge held completely different views. The differing understandings of jian’ai arrived at by these two scholars demonstrates that missionaries sent to China after the mid-nineteenth century underwent a transition from amateur to professional sinologists. Moreover，by examining how Mohism was introduced to the West in modern times，it can be shown how Legge’s interpretation of jian’ai coined a longstanding translated name for the concept.
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