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Song Lei spends hours working at his laptop every day. [Photo/by Feng Lian/english.liangjiang.gov.cn]

Since the draft of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China was promulgated in late 2019, Song Lei and his team at Southwest University of Political Science & Law (SWUPL) have been working to spread the code abroad.

Song Lei, the retired dean of the School of Foreign Languages of SWUPL and an honored senior Chinese translator with more than 40 legal publications, believes the English translation of the Civil Code carries great significance.

The Civil Code, which came into force on January 1, 2021, is the first-ever combined codification of civil law since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

The English translation of the code helps the world better understand the latest progress in China's rule of law, according to Song. "As a necessary means of spreading information on Chinese law, the legal translation should serve the ultimate purpose of conveying the spirit of Chinese law. Its success largely depends on efforts made by translators and the development of a country," he added.

The English translation of the Civil Code has been published by US publishers and included in a world-renowned legal database, serving as an authoritative reference on the milestone law.

Accuracy prevails

"Translators are like brokers," Song said, as they make it possible for both sides in the dialogue to understand one another by accurately delivering information.

Legal language is heavy in polysemy and is prescriptiveness, carries profound influence, and requires a high level of accuracy. Consequently, legal translations should prioritize the precise delivery of meaning, followed by fluency and succinctness of language, Song said.

"It should make sense," he explained, as to translate is to express in a way that is comprehensible by speakers of the target language.

Zhu Yuanqing, deputy dean of the School of Human Rights of SWUPL and a member of the translation team, exemplified the idea. Civil subject is widely used as the English translation of the Chinese legal term that defines parties in civil-law relations that enjoy rights and perform obligations, including natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations.

"The term civil subject is the result of a literal translation but was found confusing by many foreign academicians. We conducted extensive research and consulted foreign experts, and finally translated it into Parties to Civil Legal Affairs, which is less succinct but more accurate," said Zhu.

"Always more to learn"

Another way Song achieves accuracy is by putting language into context, where denotative and connotative meanings can be better comprehended.

As contemporary Chinese law has been significantly influenced by the civil law system, the team consulted more than 1 million words in English legal materials, including civil codes of major civil law countries, and conducted cross-references of current translations of China's civil laws before coming up with translation advice.

"It is important to learn how legal terms are used in different contexts. I could read 20 or even 30 pieces to understand a term in different contexts or spend four or five days finding a better choice of word. Learning and using a language are inseparable," Song said.

The concept of learning through context is also embedded in Song's teaching practices, where he requires his Ph.D. students to prepare learning materials for the class instead of teaching using a textbook.

"I teach them what they are interested in and take it as an opportunity to keep up with the latest happenings in legal English. Extensive reading is important if you want to translate properly," Song said."There is always something more to learn. If we compare legal translation to the 26 letters of the alphabet, I may have understood and mastered three of those in my decades-long career. However, the more I learn, the less confident I become, so now I say I have only mastered 2.5 letters."

Song, at the age of 74, is working on a Chinese-English dictionary of law terms after presiding over three editions of the English-Chinese Dictionary of Law Terms. "Legal translation is an endless journey and I want to leave behind a legacy for future generations of researchers," he said.