Inverse translation has long been seen in the negative light in modern translation studies, and has thus been relegated to a sort of second class endeavour. Based on a brief comparative study of English translations of Wenxin Diaolong, a Chinese literary classic, this paper argues that inverse translation is as legitimate and feasible as direct translation in China, and that the assessment of quality of translation should be based more on the translator's translation competence and translation strategy than on his or her language affiliation.