Influenced by the meaning characteristics of Chinese philosophical terms, the compilation of Chinese- English dictionaries of Chinese philosophical terms is required to reveal the historical and cultural connotations of terms as well as reconstruct the unique contexts for different meanings of polysemous terms with the help of interpretation. This paper, based on literature review and case analysis, draws on the research ideas of conceptual history and puts forward three specific principles that need to be followed in the English interpretation of C-E dictionaries of Chinese philosophical terms: the principles of historical objectivity, orientational conformity and contextual adaptation. Hopefully, it will help to solve the main problems in the compilation of such dictionaries in a more targeted manner, and then give full play to the important functions of such dictionaries in international exchanges and cultural dissemination.