The number of words about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in The Dream of Red Mansions reaches about 50 000, attaching great importance to the spread of traditional Chinese culture and appreciation of Chinese ancient literature works. In terms of a new perspective, that is to say, semantic translation and communicative translation which complement each other, the article analyzed the translation differences of TCM in The Dream of Red Mansions between Yang’s version and David Hawkes’, and tried to summarize a series of specific and practical translation strategies for TCM knowledge in ancient Chinese literature.