晚清民初是我国翻译史发展的一大高峰时期,在此“西学东渐”过程中,产生了很多外来概念的翻译。但是,使用功能对等翻译理论来分析,这些外来词汇的翻译并不都是成功的。“rule of law”与“rule by law”在翻译中的混淆就是一个很明显的例子。因此,我们有必要从政治和翻译角度讨论这两个词的混淆现象原因,从而探讨对外来概念的翻译处理。 The late Qing and early Republican China was a major peak period in the development of Chinese translation history. In this process of “learning from east to west”, many translations of foreign concepts have taken place. However, using functional equivalence translation theory to analyze, these foreign words are not always translated successfully. The obfuscation of “rule of law” and “rule by law” in translation is an obvious example. Therefore, it is necessary for us to discuss the reasons for the confusion of these two terms from the perspective of politics and translation, so as to explore the translation of the concept of foreign affairs.