Abstract:With a historical symptomatic reading of the five texts (published in the 1949-to-1966 period) from Collected Essays on Translationedited by Luo Xinzhang, this article aims at reinterpreting the features of contemporary Chinese translation theories.The method of reading proposed here, a synthesis of multiple theoretical sources, is applied to explore the implicit intertextuality through analyzing the symptoms inherent in a text, so as to highlight the performative aspects of textual production by subjects in history, and further to release the polyphonic voices once inhibited.The research finds that the problematic of "distinctive Chinese translation theories" upheld by Luo's edited collection set a limitation to the questions it can raise and the answers it is supposed to find.This article, in contrast, proposes the problematic of "interaction between practice and conception", arguing that another voice has been largely silenced in Luo's collection.To conclude, this article contributes to an alternative understanding of the features of contemporary Chinese translation theories and the value of the historical symptomatic reading as a method.