Truly global vocabulary needs untranslatable Chinese terms

This article appeared in Shanghai Daily on June 3, 2013:

EACH AND EVERY culture contributed to World history. What those cultures thought is conveyed in their languages: their ideas, inventions, their names and brands. THEIR languages, not ours. In our languages, we can only “describe” the foreign on our own terms, as language imperialists. Hence, if China really wants its culture to go planetary, she needs to bring her Chinese terms to the Western tables. Chinese terminologies must flow into the future global language. Otherwise, the China story will forever be a Western tale. [BACK TO MAIN]