The Analects of Confucius is an important classic reflecting ancient Chinese Confucianism and the accurate translation of it is a meaningful way to spread Chinese traditional thought and culture to the world. Ancient Chinese culture has a very long history of development and profound effect and it is not easy to accurately convey the cultural essence in The Analects of Confucius. In order to translate it as accurately as possible, we need not only to master various translation theories and skills, but also to fully grasp the cultural knowledge structure related to the certain points of the lingual knowledge based on the correct understanding of the meaning in the source language. Besides, it also requires an acute perception of the diachronic alteration of semantic meaning of certain expressions, so as to truly achieve the purpose of spreading the source language culture, enriching the target language culture and prospering the world culture. By comparing several English versions of the Analects of Confucius, this paper mainly focuses on the translation of some key words, analysing the subtleties and deficiencies in these versions to convey the cultural connotation of Confucianism in the pre‐Qin period more accurately.