@Bi, Andrej: does this sound Chinese to you --- I am addressing the question to you, as Chinese speakers. I noticed already, in the Analects renovated (cited once), that the analects need interpretation to be properly understood. I can accept that. But was it because the maxims of Confucius were to subtle or abstract, or there is always a problem with the multiple significance of Chinese characters?

I am asking that, because I have another book in my hands, in French this time, which seems to suggest that it is insufficient merely to translate the the Chinese proverbs in French. The author transcribes first the Chinese proverbs into Latin letters, as to make sure that the translation does not ignore the original sense.

So, the next question: can these transcriptions be precise? For example, what do you understand by the following?

'Jiedao sharen'.

Tongchuang yimeng.

Source author: Petru Dumitriu PetruD@diplomacy.edu