与古代世界和当今世界的重要文明相比，中华文明具有自己的鲜明特色，比如，中华文明彰显积极性，体现为“天行健，君子以自强不息”，强调个人要以天为榜样，对人生抱有积极的态度。中华文明还彰显实践性，体现为注重经世致用。孔子在古代被视为“圣人”，一个重要原因就是孔子努力以自己的品格和言行改变社会风气，希望“天下归仁”。
Compared withother major civilizations from ancient time to today across the world, Chinese civilization have developed its own features. For example, Chinese civilization tends to encourage positiveness, which is exemplified by the famous quote from the Book of Changes. “The heaven will function with resilience. A man of virtue will always strive to strengthen themselves and never give up”, stressing that individuals should take the heaven as example and hold an positive attitude toward life. Another feature typical of Chinese civilization is that it advocates practice in its emphasis of practical application. One important reason for Confucius’being revered as a sage in ancient time is that he had endeavored to improve the the social mores with his own character and deeds, so that the world will be harmonized by benevolence.
AI评价及AI修改译文
AI指令：
You are a professional translator and proofreader who has a profound knowledge in traditional Chinese culture. Make a comment on the above English translation of the Chinese source text.
AI评价：
Overall Assessment
The translation basically conveys the core meaning of the source text, but it shows typical non-native academic English issues and insufficient handling of Chinese cultural concepts. The main problems lie in:
Grammatical and collocational errors
Over-literal rendering of classical quotations
Conceptual dilution of key terms (e.g. 天、经世致用、天下归仁)
Inconsistent academic register
On a professional scale, this version would be assessed as “adequate but unpolished” (≈ B− / 70–75%), suitable for internal reference but not yet publishable.
Detailed Comments
1. Opening sentence: structure & register
Compared with other major civilizations from ancient time to today across the world, Chinese civilization have developed its own features.
Issues
Subject–verb agreement error: civilization have
Awkward time expression: from ancient time to today
Redundant phrasing: across the world
“developed its own features” sounds weak in academic prose
Improvement
Use a more formal comparative structure
Prefer distinctive characteristics over features
Suggested fix
In comparison with other major civilizations throughout history, Chinese civilization exhibits distinctive characteristics.
2. “积极性” → positiveness
Chinese civilization tends to encourage positiveness
Issues
positiveness is grammatically correct but unnatural and stylistically weak
The concept is closer to moral dynamism / proactive self-cultivation, not simple optimism
Better choices
a positive, self-strengthening ethos
a proactive moral orientation
3. Classical quotation handling (天行健，君子以自强不息)
“The heaven will function with resilience…”
Issues
The heaven is non-idiomatic (should be Heaven or left implicit)
will function is temporally and stylistically wrong
strengthen themselves mismatches singular a man
Over-translation disrupts rhythm
Cultural point
This line from the Book of Changes is canonical. In serious translation, you should either:
use a standardized scholarly rendering, or
paraphrase with attribution
Improved rendering
“As Heaven moves with vigorous strength, the noble person constantly strives for self-improvement.”
4. “以天为榜样” → conceptual clarity
take the heaven as example
Issues
Missing article (as an example)
Conceptually thin: 天 here refers to cosmic order, not a physical heaven
Better
take Heaven’s ceaseless movement as a model
5. “实践性 / 经世致用”
it advocates practice in its emphasis of practical application
Issues
Tautological (practice / practical)
Misses the historical–political weight of 经世致用
Better academic rendering
it emphasizes practical engagement with the world and the application of knowledge to governance and social life
6. Confucius sentence: style & idiom
One important reason for Confucius’ being revered as a sage in ancient time…
Issues
in ancient time → in antiquity
endeavored to improve the the social mores (typo + awkward verb choice)
so that the world will be harmonized (future tense inappropriate)
Cultural precision
天下归仁is normative–ethical, not merely “harmonized”
Improved phrasing
One important reason why Confucius was revered as a sage in antiquity lies in his effort to transform social norms through personal moral example, aspiring toward a world ordered by benevolence.
AI修改译文
In comparison with other major civilizationsthroughout history, Chinese civilization exhibits distinctive characteristics. One such characteristic is its proactive moral orientation, encapsulated in the well-known dictum from the Book of Changes: “As Heaven moves with vigorous strength, the noble person constantly strives for self-improvement.”This reflects the belief that individuals should model themselves on the ceaseless dynamism of Heaven and maintain an affirmative and self-cultivating attitude toward life.
Chinese civilization also places strong emphasis on practical engagement with the world, valuing the application of knowledge to social governance and everyday affairs. One important reason why Confucius was revered as a sage in antiquity lies in his commitment to transforming social mores through personal virtue and exemplary conduct, motivated by his aspiration to see “all under Heaven return to benevolence.”
参考译文
Among the major civilizations in the world, both ancient and contemporary, the Chinese civilization has its distinctive features. For example, the Chinese civilization is positive in approaches, as demonstrated in this famous saying: “as heaven maintains vigor through movement, a man of virtue should constantly strive for self-improvement”. It stresses the need for people to follow nature’s way and takes a positive attitude towards life. The Chinese civilization also values application, which is shown in the advocacy of applying learning to meeting social needs. Confucius was revered as a sage in ancient China; an important reason for this is that he strove to improve social ethos with his own integrity, words and deeds to foster goodness and bring it to all.
参考译文更加流畅自然，不拘泥于原文句式。诚如叶子南所说，“the greatest difficulty a translator faces is that of overcoming interference from the cource language forms”，太过于拘泥于原文语言形式，译文语言必然生硬、蹩脚。大多数时候，应该更注重思想内容的传达。比较之下，AI更倾向于使用复杂的词汇和句式结构，修改后译文也显得繁复、僵硬、不自然。
