The tradition of translation in China was rooted in writing studies， or wenzhangxue， the most important Chinese academic tradition of language and poetic studies long known for its integrative humanistic demand on scholars' morality， scholarship and literary capability． In fact， YAN Fu's much controversial observation“three difficulties in translation”was not anything about a workable set of translation principles， but a direct heritage and a compact theoretical summary of such academic lineage． Thus were built the humanistic fundamentals of Chinese writing-based study of translating and translation． However， it is not until recent years， when PAN Wenguo re-discovered the true meme of Chinese traditional translation ideas， that YAN Fu's speculation assumes a workable framework． By arguing“Three matching in meaning， genre and literary strength” ， PAN suggests a concrete set of principles for translation process and translation criticism in the light of traditional writing studies， bringing YAN Fu's fundamental observation into full functionality． PAN's“three matching”theory has been found especially true and useful in guiding and assessing the translation of Chinese ancient classics．