Abstract: Huang Zunxian was the first Chinese who chose to translate Japan’s 1880 criminal law and criminal procedure law, not only out of diplomatic missions, but also in the belief that translation was an effective means to promote social transformation.Despite the lack of Chinese equivalences to Japanese terminologies, Huang managed to regenerate the Japanese legal terms of Chinese characters in the Chinese system effectively by adopting a series of translation methods and strategies such as comparison, selection and thick translation. As a translator,Huang has exerted a profound impact on readers. More importantly, the translation methods and strategies he employed have to some extent transformed the foundation of the academic discourse system of the science of law in China.

Key words: Huang Zunxian, legal translation, translation history, modern Chinese law, language transformation