China boasts of a 5000-year civilization, but for much of the past few millenniums, the country had been shrouded in mystery due in large part to its lack of communication with the rest of the world. The scarcity of translations of Chinese books, classic or otherwise, was a contributing factor to the impasse as well. Mysteries and misunderstandings about China and its culture with its values, customs and institutions began to be unveiled and corrected in modern times thanks to the masterful translation of Chinese novels and other classics by a group of Westerners who were steeped in the Chinese language and culture. In a recent book on noteworthy Western translators of Chinese literature, the author Prof. Zhu Zhenwu of Shanghai Normal University, a renowned translator himself, provided insights into 20 or so master translators in modern times from the U.S., the UK, Australia and Canada who translated over 300 Chinese literary works, both classic and modern and brought a side of China rarely known to the English-speaking World.