\"Cherish one's own beauty， respect other's beauty， and when both beauties are respected and cherished， the world will become one\"， said Fei Xiaotong， a famous Chinese sociologist at a cerebration party in honor of his eightieth birthday about thirty years ago. In a time of growing interest in intercultural communication today， these words sound especially wise and far-sighted. Translation， as one of the most important means for cultural communication， is usually done into one's mother tongue from other languages by native translators. This largely guarantees the quality of translated text， so far as the linguistic readability is concerned. However， this method implies a one-sidedness in correspondence， as only the translator's \"respect for other's beauty\" is concerned， regardless， though not completely， of how the local people look upon and cherish their own beauty. It should be compensated by translations on the other way， that is， works selected， interpreted， and translated by the local people themselves into languages other than their own. This approach may go directly against the prevalent views in modern translation theories but， in my opinion， is worthy of practicing. It is perhaps an even more effective way to bring about successful communication in cultures， and the beauties ofthe world can really be shared by the world's people. It is with such understanding that the Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press is organizing a new series of books， entitled Readings of Chin.ese Culture， to introduce Chinese culture， past and present， to the world， with works selected and translated by the Chinese scholars and translators.