The concept of transculturalism is often used to describe the increasingly complicated interactions between different cultures under the circumstances of globalization. It is also widely used in international communication/intercultural studies in China, and is often translated differently with different meanings such as “跨文化” “超越文化” “转文化”. How can we better understand the meaning of this concept in different academic contexts? This paper attempts to look into the development of the academic discourse of this term in the West so as to fully and accurately understand the connotation of transculturalism. It is found out that this term is developed as criticism of post-colonialism and that of Western cultural studies reflecting a worldview that is centered on Eurocentrism. The Chinese translation of transculturalism should accordingly vary in different academic discourses. The concept is of great significance to promote cultural equality, cultural connection and respect, cultural exchange and mutual learning. But cultural competition and western-centrism embedded in Welsch’s definition of transculturalism(超文化主义) is worthy of attention.