《西行漫记》（Red Star over China）作为记录中国革命的经典报告文学，其汉译历程与中国社会的历史变迁深度交织，1938年复社译本与1979年董乐山译本作为其重要译本，在翻译策略上显见差异。两个译本的翻译策略差异根植于迥异的历史语境，1938年“孤岛救亡”语境下的复社译本以“统战动员”为核心诉求，1979年“思想解冻”语境下的董乐山译本以“还原历史真实”为目标，这种差异直接导致译本具体在书名处理、关键术语翻译、人物形象建构及叙事风格上呈现出系统性不同，并产生了不同的历史功能与经典化路径。对比两个译本为翻译社会学、红色经典译介史及跨文化传播研究提供典型案例，有助于当下中国故事的精准译介与红色经典的现代传播。

As a classic work of reportage documenting the Chinese revolution, Red Star over China has a Chinese‑translation history deeply intertwined with the historical changes of Chinese society. The Fushe translation of 1938 and Dong Leshan’s translation of 1979, two major Chinese versions, exhibit notable divergences in translation strategies. Such divergences are rooted in drastically different historical contexts. Produced under the “isolated‑island national‑salvation” context of 1938, the Fushe translation centered on the demand for “united‑front mobilization”. By contrast, Dong Leshan’s 1979 translation emerged amid the “ideological thaw” and aimed to “restore historical authenticity”. These contextual‑driven differences have brought about systematic discrepancies in the handling of book title, rendering of key terminologies, construction of character images and narrative style, which further yielded distinct historical functions and canonization paths. Comparing the two translations provides a typical case for translation sociology, the translation‑introduction history of red classics and cross‑cultural communication studies. It also offers historical references for the accurate translation and introduction of contemporary Chinese stories and the modern‑day dissemination of red classics.