Gabriel Garcia-Noblejas has translated some foundational works of Chinese classics. Photo: COURTESY OF GABRIEL GARCIA-NOBLEJAS

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The depth of civilizational dialogue often hinges on the precision of linguistic transformation. Gabriel Garcia-Noblejas, a professor from the School of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Granada in Spain, has dedicated nearly three decades to the Spanish translation of Chinese classics. From the concept of “ren” in The Analects to the “xing” in the Book of Poetry, from the mythical realms of The Classic of Mountains and Seas to the enigmatic philosophy of the Tao Te Ching, this sinologist and translator does not merely convey words—he builds bridges for cross-cultural understanding. 

In this exclusive interview, Garcia-Noblejas offers a systematic account of his translation philosophy—including how Spanish can be made to “grow” the rhyming cadences of ancient Chinese poetry, why fantasy novels strike a chorus between Chinese and Western readers, and how wuxia fiction acts as a “greatest common denominator” for shared values. When asked about the significance of translation for Sino-Spanish relations, his tone warmed with conviction: Mutual understanding, he reflected, is the foundation of friendship. 

A story starts with magic world 

CSST: Could you share your story with China? 

Garcia-Noblejas: I started learning Chinese language in China. I was writing my Ph.D. dissertation on Theory of the Translation of Poetry, and I realized that I needed to go to a distant culture to understand what translation is really about. I applied for a grant from the Spanish and the Chinese governments, I got it, and I went to China speaking no Chinese language at all in 1993. 

I had translated before poems from French and English language into Spanish, and I had worked as a translator and interpreter for a year in Spain. At that time, there were no translation departments in Europe—only one in the UK. I had also translated an Ecological Report from English into Spanish for the Department of Biological Sciences of Durhan University. 

Then I found the beginning of my path toward Chinese when I found The Classic of Mountains and Seas. I saw a world of magic which I felt very attracted to. Mythology was also a topic I always loved, so that is what I saw in it. Mythology, imagination, magic, the description of a whole world so incredible that I was fascinated. The only real difficulties were the technical words for trees, plants, and some animals. But it was not so difficult on the whole. 

Differentiated translation strategy 

CSST: You’ve translated some of the most foundational works of Chinese thought and poetry—from The Analects and I Ching to the Book of Poetry, and Tao Te Ching. How do you approach the challenge of conveying their philosophical depth and poetic elegance to Spanish readers? 

Garcia-Noblejas: I approach it as a challenge. Translations are never perfect. They can be always a bit better, a bit worse, or simply a bit different. So this is my first thought: No translation is perfect. 

The second is to convey the meaning at the same time as the beauty in the Spanish language. I approach translating philosophical prose in a different way to translating poetry. Philosophical translation focuses on the translation of concepts, which means, the meaning. Concepts like “shu” (statecraft) in Chinese belong to this category. On the other hand, poetical translation focuses not only on the meaning, but also—and most importantly—on the expression, that is to say, on how the meaning is expressed; in this case, I try to convey both expressivity and meaning because the key of literature is the indissolubility between both. 

CSST: Among the classical works you’ve translated, the Book of Poetry appears especially close to your heart. How do you approach the art of translating ancient Chinese poetry, and what guiding principles shape your translation philosophy? 

Garcia-Noblejas: I approach translating ancient Chinese poetry as a task in which I must convey the images and the meaning of the poems on one hand, and at the same time, in a way that the Spanish verses have classical rhythm. I believe, as many poets and critics have pointed out, that rhythm is the differential key between poetry and other forms of discourse. Consequently, I have paid much attention to rhythm in my last translations. But this is a recent discovery. That is why my last translation of classical Chinese poetry is in classical Spanish rhythm. But I cannot say more about this last translation until it gets published; it is still unpublished. 

Endless wisdom in Chinese classics 

CSST: You once said that classics convey wisdom—a kind of knowledge that transcends time. How do you define the kind of “wisdom” found in Chinese classics, and what do you think modern readers can learn from it? 

Garcia-Noblejas: The wisdom which is found in Chinese classics is endless, too rich to be discussed here. We would need books and books to make visible all the universal wisdom which the Chinese classics have. It is utterly impossible. 

You can take Confucious—his wisdom is endless. I would point out, only as an example, the following: the idea of the “junzi” as a moral model for everyone; the idea of teaching by actions and not by forcing the persons to follow laws; the idea of a society in which the family forms the foundation; the idea of society as a network of persons helping and respecting each other: the leader, the people, the husband, the wife, the sons and daughters, the friends; the idea of remembering the persons who made possible our lives, i.e., our parents, grandparents, and so on. The same could be done with many other Chinese Classics, such as Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi, etc. 

CSST: You’ve pointed out that these fantastical tales often reflect timeless human concerns about death and the afterlife. How does Chinese literature treat these themes differently from Western traditions, and why do you think this genre has remained so resilient across the centuries? 

Garcia-Noblejas: I think that the theme has remained so resilient because it talks about a problem that is and will remain resilient forever. This is because it deals with the core of human life: to live and to die. It deals with the topic that any culture has been thinking about since the most ancient cultures like China, Mesopotamia, or Greece. 

The Chinese approach is slightly different and somewhat equal. One of the main differences lies in the imagining of the Netherworld as structures of the real world: The Netherworld has the same kinds of cities, the same kinds of guards, the same kinds of judges—the same kinds of everything. It is also different in the way the stories talk about how and why certain dead persons come back to life. 

My new book, Cuentos fantásticos chinos, includes 127 short stories from the Zhou Dynasty [1046–256 BCE] to the Ming Dynasty [1368–1644], like The Classic of Mountains and Seas, that are representative of characters, plots, topics, or descriptions, along with those that are brilliant from a literary point of view. 

I had an encounter recently with readers of the book at an event organized by the Confucious Institute in Madrid, and the readers said that they loved their originality—that the stories were so unique and so imaginative that they found in them pure brilliant literature. Incredible imagination and deep meaning are two key aspects of the greatness of these short stories, and maybe of the greatness of Chinese literature in general. 

Translation is dialogue of hearts 

CSST: Currently, Chinese online novels, especially wuxia and xianxia novels, are gaining some popularity abroad. From the perspective of cultural exchange between the East and the West, how do you view the international craze for wuxia novels or the phenomenon of Chinese online literature going global? 

Garcia-Noblejas: I think it is great that Chinese wuxia novels are read all over the world. The real cultural dialogue happens when we find common likes. Wuxia novels are a common like between China and the West, so I think that wuxia novels are a good door that leads to a better and more enjoyable knowledge of China, of its traditions, of its creativity, and of its values—like risking life for justice, keeping to personal standards of morality, doing good while expecting no reward, using strength and intelligence to do good deeds, being honorable, being just, and doing good. 

CSST: Could you please introduce the reading preferences of Spanish readers regarding Chinese literary works? Are there other lesser-known works you believe deserve more attention or new translations? 

Garcia-Noblejas: What I know after my own research is that the Spanish reader prefers to read much more the Chinese classics than contemporary Chinese writers. There are many more re-editions of classics than of contemporary books. And not only classics in general, but mostly The Art of War and Tao Te Ching. I believe that Romance of the Three Kingdoms—this monumental epic—has yet to receive the attention it deserves in the Spanish-speaking world. 

CSST: You’ve expressed the hope that translation can help build stronger cultural and political ties between Spain and China. How do you see your work contributing to this vision, and what role can literature play in fostering more meaningful international dialogue? 

Garcia-Noblejas: I believe that translation leads to mutual understanding, and that Spain does not understand China. I believe that through understanding the high value of the Chinese classics, Spain and Spaniards may realize that China is such a great country that it is bad for all of us not to approach each other in mutual understanding. When two people or two countries understand each other, they can be friends. The better they understand each other, the deeper their friendship can be. The deeper their friendship is, the better fruits it will produce. Otherwise, no friendship can exist. 

Edited by LIAN ZHIXIAN