【Abstract】American linguistics （Zipf） pointed out that the fundamental principle of information transmission is the Economy Principle. That is， people should use as fewer words as possible to express a whole meaning， thus achieving the goal of minimum input and maximum output. According to the economy principle， the translation of dishes’ names can use literal translation to highlight the excellence of their ingredients， use images to highlight the beauty of their shape， use transliteration plus literal translation to highlight the uniqueness of their flavors， and use transliteration to highlight their profound historical and cultural connotations. In this way we can make the translation short and understandable.
　　【Key words】Chinese food culture； dishes’ names； literal translation
　　Introduction
　　With the rapid development of China’s economy， many people come to China. However， most of them are often facing the problem of understanding Chinese culture with distinctive characteristics.
　　Sichuan cuisine， as one of the “eight major cuisine” in China， has gained wide popularity both at home and abroad. However， the translation of these dishes’ names is a mixture of both good and evil versions. Therefore， it is necessary for us to explore an efficient translation principle in order to let foreigners know Chinese food cuisine more easily and correctly.
　　For C-E translation of Chinese cuisine’s names， none of them studied the translation of the names of Chinese dishes from the perspective of Economy Principle， which emphasizes expressing meaning in a quick and easy way. In essence， the names of dishes also reflect such effect both in their naming and translation， so the principle fits the translation of dishes’ names well.
　　1. An Overview of Economy Principle
　　The main idea of this principle can be simply summarized into this： to produce maximum achievements with minimum consumption of energy （Zipf， 1949： 67）.
　　1.1 Development of Economy Principle
　　Economy Principle， as a new theory used to define the ways of communication and a fundamental basis in communication process， originated in America in the 1950s. G.K.Zipf，， an American linguist and psychiatrist （Zipf， 1949： 12）， found that human activities must abide by a fundamental principle： the Principle of Least Effort， or the Economy Principle. Another linguist， P. Grice， （Grice， 2003： 27） proposed four maxims in his Cooperative Principle （CP）： Maxim of Quantity， Maxim of Quality， Maxim of Relation and Maxim of Manner， which are closely associated with the Economy Principle. Later， on the basis of Grice’s CP and other maxims， G. Leech （Leech， 1983： 64）concluded his own four principles on economy， that is， first， be humanly processible in ongoing time； second， be clear； third， be quick and easy； four， be expressive. In Ideas and Ideals， N. Chomsky regarded Economy as a component of the Minimalist Program， and tried to add details to old ideas about “Economy”. He claimed that the Principle of Least Effort is a prominent characteristic of the language faculty （Chomsky， 1999： 86）.