101

The Research Centre for Translation (RCT)The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Lawrence Wang-chi WONG*
The Research Centre for Translation (RCT), established in 1971, is a
research unit at the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), The Chinese
University of Hong Kong (CUHK). It is Hong Kong’s first research centre
dedicated solely to the development of Translation and Translation Studies,and one of the oldest translation research centres in Asia and the world.
The Centre was the brainchild of the late Mr
Stephen C. Soong, named then as the Centre forTranslation Projects, with the aim of promoting
Chinese literature internationally through high-quality
English translation. The biannual journal Renditions
was launched in 1973, which publishes English
translations of fine Chinese literary work from theclassical to the contemporary. Series Renditions Booksand Renditions Paperbacks were launched in 1976
Stephen C. Soongand 1986 respectively, earning the praise of translation and academic circles around the globe. The Centre officially changed its
name to Research Centre for Translation in 1983, and began to promote
Translation Studies as a serious academic discipline by regularly holding
scholarly events, rapidly establishing itself as a key translation research unitin China and Asia.	  * Lawrence Wang-chi WONG 王宏志 is Chairman and Professor of Humanities at theDepartment of Translation, and the Director of the Research Centre for Translation,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

102

Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 10 2019

RCT Logo

The Research Centre for Translation started to use its
new logo in 2011. Shaped like a traditional seal, theCentre’s acronym ‘RCT’ is carved into the vermilion base,with three horizontal strips representing the standard form ofprinted English and three vertical lines corresponding to thatof Chinese. It is a seal symbolizing interchange between
English and Chinese.

The Centre Director

Professor Lawrence Wang-chi Wong iscurrently Chairman and Professor of Humanities at theDepartment of Translation, and the Director of theResearch Centre for Translation, The Chinese
University of Hong Kong. He was Associate Dean(Research) and Director of Research Institute ofHumanities, and Director of the Centre for Hong
Kong Cultural Studies, CUHK. He was Associate
Dean (Research) and Director of Research Institute of
Humanities, and Director of the Centre for Hong Kong Cultural Studies,
CUHK. He was also the founding Dean of the School of Humanities andSocial Sciences as well as the founding Dean of the College of Humanities,
Arts, and Social Sciences, the founding director of the Centre for Liberal Arts
and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His
research interests are in translation history of China in the early modern andmodern period (18th century onwards), modern Chinese literature, and Hong
Kong cultural studies. He has so far single-authored 15 books and over 130
academic articles and book chapters in these fields, including Translation andModern China (2014), Between Translation and Literature (2011),
Reinterpreting Xin Da Ya: Translation Studies of The Twentieth Century
China (1999 & 2007), Lu Xun and the Left League (1991 & 2006) andBetween Literature and Politics (1994). He is Executive Editor of Renditionsand Chief Editor of Journal of Translation Studies and Studies in Translation
History.
Professor Lawrence Wang-chi Wong became the director of the RCT in2005.

The Research Centre for Translation (RCT)The Chinese University of Hong Kong

103

Chief Editor

Professor Theodore Huters is professor emeritusof the University of California, Los Angeles, where hetaught at the Department of Asian Languages andCultures. He is a distinguished scholar in modernChinese literature and Chinese culture. His major
publications include Bringing the World Home:Approaching the West in Late Qing and Early
Republican China, and China’s New Order: Society,Politics, and Economy in Transition.
Professor Huters joined the RCT as the Chief Editor of Renditions in2010.

Honorary Research Staff and Visiting Scholars

The RCT started appointing honorary research posts in 2009 with the aimof enhancing international communication and cooperation and promoting
translation research. Currently eight distinguished scholars from mainland
China, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada and the UK have taken the positions ofHonorary Senior Research Fellow, Honorary Research Fellow or Honorary
Research Associate and actively participate in the Centre’s various research
programmes and activities.
The RCT also regularly invites renowned scholars or young researchers
who are engaged in translation research or interested in participating inconferences and seminars to visit the Centre as Visiting Scholars.

Centre Activities

The Centre has two main branches of activities—— Literary Translation
and Translation Studies.
Literary Translation
Since its establishment, the RCT has devoted itself to promoting Chinese
literature internationally through quality translation; this remains one of theRCT’s primary objectives. The Centre’s flagship journal Renditions is a biannual journal dedicated to publishing English translations of fine Chinese
literary work, with 82 issues to date, and is recognized internationally as oneof the most important of its kind. The series Renditions Books andRenditions Paperbacks were launched to meet the demand of different readerships, the former in hardcover is of a more academic focus with 19 titles todate, and the latter, in paperback intended for a more general readership, haspublished 30 titles. Renditions CD-ROM and PDA series followed in 2002.
The Centre has launched a new online shopping system, the RCT

104Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 10 2019

The Fourth International Conference
on Asian Translation Traditions (Hong Kong)

Summer School (Shanghai, 2011)

Bookstore (eshop.rct.cuhk.edu.hk/), where all publications by the centre are
now available for ordering online.
Translation Studies
Translation Studies has been gradually gaining importance as an academic
discipline since the 1980s. The RCT is increasingly focusing its efforts inadvancing innovative translation research, and emphasizes particularly but not
exclusively on historical and cultural contexts, with topics pertaining to Hong
Kong, China and the rest of Asia.
The Centre regularly holds academic events, including seminars, conferences, workshops, awards and summer schools for graduate students, andregularly publishes journals and book series. It collaborates closely withuniversities and research institutes in mainland China, Taiwan, and also thosein other parts of the world.
Stephen C. Soong Translation Studies Memorial Awards
To commemorate Mr Stephen C. Soong’s contributions in the promotionof translation education and research, the RCT set up the Stephen C. SoongTranslation Studies Memorial Awards in 1997 with a generous donation fromthe Soong family. The Awards give recognition to academics that have madecontributions of original research in Chinese Translation Studies. Each winner
will be awarded with a prize and certificate.
International Conferences
The Centre regularly holds international conferences and seminars,including ‘The Fourth International Conference on Asian Translation
Traditions’ (2010), the first ‘Sinologists as Translators in the 17–19th Century
Conference’ (2011) and ‘Translation and Modernization in East Asia in the19th and Early 20th Century Conference’ (2013), that attracted the attention

The Research Centre for Translation (RCT)The Chinese University of Hong Kong105

and won praise from international academic circles.
Workshops
The Centre frequently holds workshops, sharing the latest developmentsin the Centre’s many research areas, such as the 2012 ‘Translation andColonial Rule in Taiwan’ Workshop, and the ‘A Database for Chinese
Translation History’ Workshop in 2013.
Nurturing Young Talents
The RCT started the ‘Young Researchers’ Conference’ in 2004 and the‘Summer School on Chinese Translation History’ in 2009, both biennial
events with the aim of nurturing the finest young talents in the field. The firstevent invites distinguished scholars to give detailed feedback to young
researchers after they have presented their papers at the conference, and thelatter event gives young researchers the chance to listen to lectures byscholars on the latest research methodologies in translation history, enhancing
the development of translation studies as a serious academic discipline. The‘Summer School on Chinese Translation History’ is held in collaboration
with prominent universities in mainland China or Taiwan.
RCT Research Programme Fund
The Research Centre for Translation set up the RCT Research ProgrammeFund in 2010 to support research programmes/projects in translation studies.
At the moment, projects supported by the RCT Research Programme Fundinclude:• Sinologists as Translators in the 17–19th Century• Translation and Modernization in East Asia
• Translation and Colonial Rule in Asia
• A Database for Chinese Translation History
A grant of up to HK$100,000 a year will be provided to each project tosupport research, workshops, conferences, and publishing.
Publications on Translation Studies• Translation Studies Research, a book series firstpublished in 1998, with 6 titles to date.
• Fanyishi yanjiu 翻譯史研究 [Studies in TranslationHistory], an annual academic journal launched in2011 published and distributed by Fudan UniversityPress, is currently the only academic journal dedicated to publishing articles on Chinese Translation
history.

106

Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 10 2019

• Fanyishi Yanjiu Luncong 翻譯史研究論叢 [Studies in Translation History],launched in 2012 published and distributed by Chinese University Press,
is a Chinese book series devoted to the case study of Chinese translation
history.
• Asian Translation Traditions, scheduled for launch in 2014 to be publishedand distributed by Chinese University Press, is a English book series ofcase studies or essay collections on translation traditions of Asian countries and areas.
All published articles in Fanyishi yanjiu, Fanyishi Yanjiu Luncong andAsian Translation Traditions are approved by the academic committee and go
through a double blind external review.

Friends of RCT

The RCT contact list has now almost 5,000 people, and we send by email
information on the latest events held by the RCT. In order to promote theexchange, share and discussion of the latest developments on translation
studies, the RCT has planned the electronic platform ‘Friends of the RCT’,
which will be officially launched in a year’s time.