China-India translation project facilitates sharing of ancient ideas

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01:52

The past few years have seen an ambitious translation project between China and India, two of the world’s oldest civilizations. Focusing on time-honored classics and recent literary works, the collaboration has proved to be a landmark in the two countries' cultural exchanges.

Based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2013, China and India's national authorities in publication and foreign affairs took up the project. According to its arrangement, each country will translate 25 titles of the other's ancient classics and contemporary literature.

So far, a team of 17 leading scholars from India has completed the Hindi translation of eight Chinese titles. Among them are novels written in the 20th century and Confucian classics from over 2,000 years ago.

B. R. Deepak, Indian sinologist from Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that he has finished the translation of eight titles and this is the first time the Four Books have been translated into the Hindi language.

A highlight of the project is the "Encyclopedia of China-India Cultural Exchanges," of which the first two volumes have been translated. The Hindi version of the biography of Mr. Ji Xianlin, a prominent Chinese scholar, has also proved a major success.

In recent years, China has been working to improve its mutual understanding with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. And the translation project has contributed in promoting the sharing of ideas among scholars from India and China.