<p>Like all cross-linguistic and cross-cultural translations, this requires a knowledge of the context, not just of the source material but also of the target language.</p>
<p>In medieval and Renaissance Western Europe, the 科举 was not &quot;a thing&quot; <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=jzr3DwAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PA23" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in the same way</a> as in Imperial China (and East Asia), with the <em>viva voce</em> being more traditional. However, with greater knowledge of these practices, an accepted translation for certain terms formed, e.g. 科举 = <em>imperial examination</em>.</p>
<p>There are plenty of possible translations for 状元 which are native to English, that any good Chinese dictionary should give:</p>
<ul>
<li>top scorer</li>
<li>best in class</li>
<li>top of the class</li>
<li>leading light (best applied to the world of work)</li>
</ul>
<p>However, in most academic texts, <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?corpus=26&amp;smoothing=3&amp;content=zhuangyuan&amp;year_end=2019&amp;year_start=1800&amp;direct_url=t1%3B%2Czhuangyuan%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Czhuangyuan%3B%2Cc0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">zhuangyuan</a> is used, in recognition of its origin.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-21T09:43:49.797Z
2020-09-21T09:43:49.797Z
Michaelyus
<p>If in urgent situation with no time to explain the background, New (National) Exam Champ(ion) might be a good choice.  In modern world, 状元 refers to top No. 1 in all kinds wide range exam, thus 市状元 municipal level, 省状元 provincial/state level; you can also add type of exam (competition) like 高考状元，奥数状元，even 电竞状元。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-21T10:41:44.600Z
2020-09-21T10:41:44.600Z
James Liu 刘老师
<p>There are several other phrases related to 狀元.</p>
<p>No. 1 狀元, 新科狀元 usually refer the person who is the new number one in some kind of exam. (In ancient China, it was a national-wide exam.)</p>
<p>No. 2 榜眼</p>
<p>No. 3 探花</p>
<p>名落孫山, which is a 成語, means &quot;failed to pass the examination&quot;.</p>
<p>e.g. 這次大學入學考試我鄰居的兒子<strong>名落孫山</strong>，只好來年再努力看看了！</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-21T16:00:56.373Z
2020-09-21T16:00:56.373Z
HungYu Chang
<p>I don't know if other countries had similar systems for electing officials, but I often struggle to find the right English equivalent for 新科状元 or just 状元 when trying to translate Chinese text.</p>
<p>Are there any good suggestions or ideas?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-21T09:22:23.033Z
from wiki: Zhuàngyuán, or trạng nguyên in Vietnamese, variously translated into English as principal graduate, primus, or optimus,[1] was the title given to the scholar who achieved the highest score on highest level of the Imperial examination,省試 [ja](in Tang) and 殿試 [zh](in Song)[2] in ancient China and Vietnam.
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<translation>
How to translate 新科状元?
# How to translate 新科状元?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-09-21)

I don't know if other countries had similar systems for electing officials, but I often struggle to find the right English equivalent for 新科状元 or just 状元 when trying to translate Chinese text.

Are there any good suggestions or ideas?

**Tags:** translation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: from wiki: Zhuàngyuán, or trạng nguyên in Vietnamese, variously translated into English as principal graduate, primus, or optimus,[1] was the title given to the scholar who achieved the highest score on highest level of the Imperial examination,省試 [ja](in Tang) and 殿試 [zh](in Song)[2] in ancient China and Vietnam.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-09-21. Score: 4

Like all cross-linguistic and cross-cultural translations, this requires a knowledge of the context, not just of the source material but also of the target language.

In medieval and Renaissance Western Europe, the 科举 was not "a thing" [in the same way](https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jzr3DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA23) as in Imperial China (and East Asia), with the *viva voce* being more traditional. However, with greater knowledge of these practices, an accepted translation for certain terms formed, e.g. 科举 = *imperial examination*.

There are plenty of possible translations for 状元 which are native to English, that any good Chinese dictionary should give:

* top scorer
* best in class
* top of the class
* leading light (best applied to the world of work)

However, in most academic texts, [zhuangyuan](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?corpus=26&smoothing=3&content=zhuangyuan&year_end=2019&year_start=1800&direct_url=t1%3B%2Czhuangyuan%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Czhuangyuan%3B%2Cc0) is used, in recognition of its origin.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2020-09-21. Score: 1

If in urgent situation with no time to explain the background, New (National) Exam Champ(ion) might be a good choice. In modern world, 状元 refers to top No. 1 in all kinds wide range exam, thus 市状元 municipal level, 省状元 provincial/state level; you can also add type of exam (competition) like 高考状元，奥数状元，even 电竞状元。


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### Answer by username_4 on 2020-09-21. Score: 0

There are several other phrases related to 狀元.

No. 1 狀元, 新科狀元 usually refer the person who is the new number one in some kind of exam. (In ancient China, it was a national-wide exam.)

No. 2 榜眼

No. 3 探花

名落孫山, which is a 成語, means "failed to pass the examination".

e.g. 這次大學入學考試我鄰居的兒子**名落孫山**，只好來年再努力看看了！


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