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As a milestone achievement of the Project on Disseminating Key Concepts of Chinese Thought and Culture, Key Concepts In Chinese Thought Volume 1 is compiled by top scholars in Chinese history, philosophy and translation including Yuan Jixi and Huang Youyi. It is a cultural reference book that balances strict academic standards and popular reading value. The entry “kējǔ (the Imperial Civil Examination System)” fully shows the book’s unique writing logic and value for cross-cultural communication. This book mainly explains basic cultural concepts formed before the Wei and Jin dynasties, and also tracks how their meanings changed in later ages. It breaks people’s fixed, one-sided understanding of traditional Chinese terms. Take the imperial civil examination system as an example. The entry sorts out its complete history: its birth in the Sui Dynasty, the eight-legged essay format finalized in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and its official abolition in the late Qing Dynasty. It clearly explains how this system helped China shift from aristocracy-based politics to bureaucracy-based politics, and adds ancient quotes from historical books to support its analysis. Unlike rigid ancient classics, this book connects Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Chinese history and Western philosophy. It points out that the same word can carry totally different meanings in different schools or eras. For instance, it compares the different definitions of “Dao”, “rule of law” and “fengjian” in different periods, solving the common confusion many readers face when reading ancient texts. The outstanding editorial team guarantees the book’s quality. Specialists in Chinese traditional studies, philosophy and translation work together, making the content both historically profound and accurately translated into English. Every term comes with standard, natural English explanations written at a US high school reading level. College students can use it to improve their bilingual ability in traditional culture, while overseas readers can easily grasp ancient Chinese systems. The translation of “kējǔ” does not use stiff word-for-word translation. Instead, it adopts the internationally recognized phrase “the Imperial Civil Examination System” to capture the core of this ancient official-selection system. Its English paragraphs avoid complicated sentence structures, balancing academic precision and readability. Nowadays, cross-cultural communication has become increasingly important. Many young college students hope to introduce Chinese culture to foreign audiences, yet they struggle to find simple, standard bilingual explanations. This book perfectly fills this gap. It avoids obscure theories and uses single cultural terms as entry points to link thousands of years of Chinese thought, institutions and history. The entry about the imperial civil examination system alone covers ancient education, talent selection, social stratification and cultural inheritance, allowing readers to understand how ancient Chinese society operated. In short, this bilingual book is a must-read for college students. It helps us clarify confusing traditional cultural concepts and enrich our humanistic knowledge. More importantly, it teaches us to tell Chinese stories in standard, accessible English, making it an excellent material for domestic cultural study and international cultural exchange.