“Cherish one's own beauty， respect other's beauty， and when both beauties are respected and cherished， the world will become one”， said Fei Xiaotong， a famous Chinese sociologist at a cerebration party in honor of his eightieth birthday about thirty years ago. In a time of growing interest in intercultural communication today， these words sound especially wise and far-sighted. Translation， as one of the most important means for cultural communication， is usually done into one's mother tongue from other languages by native translators. This largely guarantees the quality of translated text， so far as the linguistic readability is concerned. However，this method implies a one-sidedness in correspondence， as only the translator's “respect for other's beauty” is concerned， regardless， though not completely， of how the local people look upon and cherish their own beauty. It should be compensated by translations on the other way， that is，works selected， interpreted， and translated by the local people themselves into languages other than their own. This approach may go directly against the prevalent views in modern translation theories but， in my opinion，is worthy of practicing. It is perhaps an even more effective way to bring about successful communication in cultures， and the beauties of the world can really be shared by the world's people. It is with such understanding that the Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press is organizing a new series of books， entitled Readings of Chin.ese Culture， to introduce Chinese culture， past and present， to the world， with works selected and translated by the Chinese scholars and translators.
　　The series will cover a wide range of writings including but not restricted to works of different literary genres. For the first batch， we are glad to provide three books of essays and one book of short stories， all written by authors of the 20th century. They will be continued by a batch of serious academic writings on premodern Chinese classics in philosophy，literature， and historiography， written by influential scholars of our time.Later， we will offer more books on classical Chinese drama， classical Chinese poetry， etc.

　　“Cherish one's own beauty， respect other's beauty， and when both beauties are respected and cherished， the world will become one”， said Fei Xiaotong， a famous Chinese sociologist at a cerebration party in honor of his eightieth birthday about thirty years ago. In a time of growing interest in intercultural communication today， these words sound especially wise and far-sighted. Translation， as one of the most important means for cultural communication， is usually done into one's mother tongue from other languages by native translators. This largely guarantees the quality of translated text， so far as the linguistic readability is concerned. However，this method implies a one-sidedness in correspondence， as only the translator's “respect for other's beauty” is concerned， regardless， though not completely， of how the local people look upon and cherish their own beauty. It should be compensated by translations on the other way， that is，works selected， interpreted， and translated by the local people themselves into languages other than their own. This approach may go directly against the prevalent views in modern translation theories but， in my opinion，is worthy of practicing. It is perhaps an even more effective way to bring about successful communication in cultures， and the beauties of the world can really be shared by the world's people. It is with such understanding that the Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press is organizing a new series of books， entitled Readings of Chin.ese Culture， to introduce Chinese culture， past and present， to the world， with works selected and translated by the Chinese scholars and translators.
　　The series will cover a wide range of writings including but not restricted to works of different literary genres. For the first batch， we are glad to provide three books of essays and one book of short stories， all written by authors of the 20th century. They will be continued by a batch of serious academic writings on premodern Chinese classics in philosophy，literature， and historiography， written by influential scholars of our time.Later， we will offer more books on classical Chinese drama， classical Chinese poetry， etc.
　　Some of the books in the series have been published before， but they have been revised and rearranged for the new purpose to meet the current needs ofbroader readers. We are looking forward to hearing comments and su~estions on the series for future improvement.

　　张培基，1921年生，福州市人。1945年毕业于上海圣约翰大学英文系，同年任英文《上海自由西报》记者，英文《中国评论周报》特约撰高者兼英文《中国年鉴》（1944－1945年度）副总编。婴年赴日本东京远东国际军事法庭国际检察局（IPS）任英语翻译，约两载半，随后赴美国印第安纳大学研究英国文学，1949年业回国。历任北京外文出版社编译、中国人民解放军外语学院英语教授、北京对外经贸大学英语教授兼该校出版社总编辑。中国译协一、三届理事，现任《英语世界》杂志顾问。

American Men and Women
Three Fables
My Private Library （Excerpt）
Hunger
My Instant Response
I Love Composition
I Love the Sea
Dusk
My Teaching Career
First Love-Fragments from My Diary
Sa ku ra Apa rtme nt
My Interpretation of On the Teacher
On the Need for More Young Essayists
A Letter to Chiang Ching-Kuo
The Lane
Eulogizing Books
Goodbye to New Year Cards!
The Idol Speaks
The Hunter and Bird Painting
Date Stones
The Ancient City
About Hong Kong
Old Black loe and Other Songs
Spirit of Edgar Snow
Recalling the Construction of the Yunnan-Burmese Road
If I Were a Japanese
On a Yangtze River Steamer
Mourning the Death of Maxim Gorky
Mr．Postman
Predawn Beijing
On the Futility of Literary Criticism
Dogs in Katmandu
The Secret of Longevity
Peking University Library and l
Libraries Are Indispensable Like Food
Growing Flowers for the Benefit ofAII
The Shanghai Food Market
Patience
On Packaging
My Everlasting Dream and Pursuit
The Pawnshop
When Grandpa Died
Praying for Rainfall
The Window
End urance
“Great Empty Verbiage”
My Great Indignation
Rain in My Old Home
Forgetting the Past Is a Crime
My First American Teacher
A White Butterfly
Winter Sun ． Childhood Caravan
Egglaying， Cackling， Etc
When Lu Xun Was a Child
Under a Lilac Bush
Shanghar as I See It
The Green-Uniformed Girl
The Cricket
The Sun
Scrapping My Paintings
On the Verge ofTears
More on Packaging （Excerpt）