How Harry Potter Was Translated Into Mandarin Chinese
How Was Harry Potter Translated Into Mandarin Chinese?
Ben Adams
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August 20, 2026
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EN
harry pottertranslationmandarinchinese
The Simplified Chinese translation solves Rowling's invented words three different ways. It calques some of them, transliterates others into meaningless syllables, and mixes both halves inside a single spell. Petrificus Totalus became 统统石化, "entirely petrify". Wingardium Leviosa became eight characters of pure sound. Here's what changed, and why.
As part of my Mandarin learning journey, I started reading (and listening to) Harry Potter. Again. It's such a good way to improve reading in a new language since you're (probably) familiar with the story and won't get lost as easily.
But I didn't even think about what it would be like to translate a book, originally written in English, full of entirely made up words with roots from Latin, English-speaking culture and just vibes. Translating a basic sentence like "He stood up and walked to the door" is straightforward enough, but how on EARTH do you translate "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"?
Well actually, the translation is 波特，那你说说舟形乌头和狼毒乌头有什么区别？, which would literally translate as "Potter, then why don't you tell us what the difference is between boat-shaped aconite and wolf-poison aconite?"
波特，那你说说舟形乌头和狼毒乌头有什么区别？
The four spells at a glance
Chinese can't leave a pseudo-Latin spell sitting on the page the way French or German can, because there's no Latin alphabet to leave it in. Every spell had to become characters, and that forced a choice each time: keep the sound, or keep the meaning. Here's how it went for four of them.
Many of the spells of Harry Potter have Latin roots OR are supposed to feel Latiny.
Petrificus Totalus becomes 统统石化
Take Petrificus Totalus, for example. It's fairly easy to see the words "total" and "petrify", which invoke more or less what the spell does. That might be slightly lost on a 10-year-old the first time they hear it, but "petrify" comes up a lot in book 2, so they'll probably get it.
In Mandarin, that spell becomes 统统石化 (tǒngtǒng shíhuà), which doesn't sound anything like the English version. Instead, it focuses more on the v i b e s.
统统 (tǒngtǒng) means something like totally, entirely, the whole lot and 石化 (shíhuà) is something like to stoneify (石 stone + 化 -ify).
It reverses the Latin word order and translates both halves exactly: Totalus → 统统, Petrificus → 石化.
Alohomora becomes 阿拉霍洞开
Alohomora is a spell that does apparently have roots in real West African languages, but that's not known by anyone reading the book for the first time. So it's essentially a nonsense spell in English.
The Mandarin translation starts out the same, with 阿拉霍 (ālāhuò), syllables that have no meaning here. They're just sounds. But then the second half of the spell is 洞开 (dòngkāi), which means to be wide open.
It's a sorta mix, closer to how something like Expelliarmus might feel in English. Partially nonsense, but that gives you a familiar feeling.
Expelliarmus becomes 除你武器
Expelliarmus, by the way, is another interesting translation. It's a lot more literal than in English: 除你武器 (chú nǐ wǔqì).
除 (chú) means to remove, to eliminate, then 你 (nǐ) means you, your and finally 武器 (wǔqì) straight up means weapon. So it's essentially a little sentence that anyone can read as "remove your weapon".
It's a lot more on the nose than any spell is in English (except perhaps, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow"). However, based on my (limited) experience learning Mandarin, it fits a lot better. There are tons of 4 syllable phrases that are a part of everyday communication in Chinese languages.
They function like a mix between an idiom, a set phrase and just a normal word. So it's not as weird to see "remove your weapon" as a spell as it would be in English (or other European languages).
Wingardium Leviosa becomes 羽加迪姆勒维奥萨
The last spell I want to draw attention to is one of the most famous: Wingardium Leviosa. It's also interesting because it uses the final approach to spell translation: just copying the sounds.
羽加迪姆勒维奥萨 (yǔjiādímǔ lèwéi'àosà) is pretty much just sound. Most of the characters used are the same ones that get used to transliterate proper nouns like Disney (迪士尼). The only part that slightly invokes the vibe of "wing" is the 羽, which is the character for feather or plume. But the rest is just nonsense.
Spells are just the beginning of the trouble! There are still dozens of words, names or ideas that are used again and again in the books.
Lots of them use the same strategy as Wingardium Leviosa and just make the word sound the same. Gryffindor is 格兰芬多 (Gélánfēnduō), Ravenclaw is 拉文克劳 (Lāwénkèláo) and even Hogwarts is just 霍格沃茨 (Huògéwòcí).
Most character and place names are done like this.
However, many are translated to match the style and vibes. This is pretty easy with things like "The Chamber of Secrets", which becomes 密室 (mìshì), meaning secret room and "Sorting Hat" 分院帽 (fēnyuànmào), which is literally divide house hat.
The Whomping Willow does lose a little of the whimsical nature of the original name by becoming 打人柳 (dǎrénliǔ), which literally is hit people willow or the willow that hits people.
Read Harry Potter in your target language
There is SO much more to the translations of Harry Potter into Mandarin. I only scratch the surface on the first two books, let alone the whole series.
The only way you can really experience it is by reading the series in another language! It's a fascinating experience that also helps your language learning a ton.
Not only did I learn a lot of Mandarin and improve my reading speed/comfort, but I got to see a piece of English language culture viewed through an entirely different lens.
Something that surprised me was how, at the end of most chapters, there were footnotes explaining terms in the books that young, Chinese-speaking kids might not know. I remember there being an explanation of what "dreadlocks" were (since Lee Jordan is described as having them), since they're not as common or known in the Chinese speaking world.
Harry Potter is translated into over 80 languages, which means it's available for 99% of language learners in the world.
What? You've never read a book in your target language before?
That might feel like a problem, but you can do it! I promise. I've read Harry Potter in (at time of writing) 5 different languages and here are my tips:
Get the book and audiobook. The audio pushes you along and ensures you don't get stuck on page one
Focus on finishing, not understanding. It's totally normal not to understand much. You're still learning, but once you finish a book, it unlocks so much for you
Use digital versions of the book you can look up words. Don't look up every word, but some targeted lookups here and there go a long way
Just DO it! Don't wait for the perfect moment or something, just start today
If you're learning French, Spanish, German, Italian or English, you should also check out our Harry Potter prestudy decks. They're complete packages of digital flashcards which cover all the words you need to know to survive (and thrive) during your first readthrough.
I'm proud of them and there's a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can get them, start reading and then, if you decide it's not for you, I'll personally make sure you get all your money back.
Start reading Harry Potter in your target language
Our starter bundles teach you the vocabulary of the first book before you read it. You study the words, then you open the real book and actually understand what you're reading. Most people are surprised by how much of that first chapter they can actually follow.
No. Refold Languages Inc is an independent language-learning company. This deck is a vocabulary study aid built from our own analysis of the book, and it is not endorsed by, affiliated with, sponsored by, or approved by Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling, or any rights holder. We reference the book title only to identify the source text the vocabulary is drawn from. All trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Frequently asked questions
How was Harry Potter translated into Chinese?
The Simplified Chinese edition from the People's Literature Publishing House uses three strategies depending on the word. Names of people and places are usually transliterated, so Hogwarts becomes a string of characters chosen for their sound. Descriptive names are translated for meaning, so the Sorting Hat becomes 分院帽, "divide house hat". Spells go either way, and several go both ways at once.
What is Wingardium Leviosa in Chinese?
羽加迪姆勒维奥萨 (yǔjiādímǔ lèwéi'àosà). It's almost pure transliteration, built from the same characters Chinese uses for foreign proper nouns like Disney (迪士尼). The one exception is the first character, 羽, which means "feather" and looks like a nod to the "wing" in Wingardium, though the translators never said so.
What is Expelliarmus in Chinese?
除你武器 (chú nǐ wǔqì), literally "remove your weapon". Unlike the English, which is pseudo-Latin, the Chinese is an ordinary readable phrase. It works because four-syllable set phrases are a normal part of everyday Chinese, so a spell that reads like a short sentence doesn't feel strange the way it would in English.
What is Hogwarts in Chinese?
霍格沃茨 (Huògéwòcí), a transliteration with no meaning attached. The houses go the same way: Gryffindor is 格兰芬多 (Gélánfēnduō) and Ravenclaw is 拉文克劳 (Lāwénkèláo). Places with descriptive English names are treated differently, so the Chamber of Secrets becomes 密室, "secret room".
Who translated Harry Potter into Chinese?
The Simplified Chinese editions were published by the People's Literature Publishing House in Beijing, with Ma Ainong, Ma Aixin and Cao Suling among the translators across the series. Taiwan has a separate Traditional Chinese translation from Crown Publishing, which makes different choices; the forms quoted in this article are the Simplified ones.
Are the Harry Potter spells in Chinese the same as in English?
Almost none of them are. Most European translations leave the pseudo-Latin spells untouched, because Latin already looks foreign on a European page. Chinese has no Latin alphabet and no Latin substrate, so leaving a spell alone isn't an option. Every spell had to be rebuilt as characters, which forced a decision on each one about whether to carry the sound or the sense.
Is reading Harry Potter a good way to learn Chinese?
It's one of the better options, because knowing the story carries you through the parts you can't read yet. Chinese adds a difficulty that alphabetic languages don't, since you can't sound out a character you've never seen, so reading alongside the audiobook and pre-learning the common vocabulary matters more here than usual.
Sources and methodology
Every Chinese form quoted here was read out of the published Simplified Chinese text of books 1 and 2, not taken from a fan wiki. Pinyin is given in the standard romanization. Glosses of the invented words are readings rather than official translations: 统统石化 is transparently "entirely" plus "to stoneify", but deciding that 羽 in 羽加迪姆勒维奥萨 is a deliberate nod to "wing" rather than an accident of transliteration is interpretation, and I'm flagging it as such.
The Traditional Chinese translation published in Taiwan is a separate translation with its own solutions. Nothing here describes it.
Sources
The Harry Potter Project, cjvlang.com (Greg Pringle's long-running comparison of the Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese translations)
Simplified Chinese editions of books 1 and 2, People's Literature Publishing House (every Chinese form quoted in this article was located in the published text rather than taken from a fan wiki)
J.K. Rowling on the origin of Alohomora, Wizarding World (Rowling has said the word comes from Sidiki, a West African Mande term glossed as "friendly to thieves")
