Abstract: In the history of Chuang Tzu's English translation,Watson's version has strongly promoted the overseas studies on Chuang Tzu and has successfully reconstructed Chuang Tzu's overseas image,becoming a translation classic with historical significance in translation studies.Taking paratexts as the starting point,this paper analyzes the reconstructed image under the thick translation strategy in Watson's version.Meanwhile,in the light of the social-cultural context in which the translation is produced,this paper also investigates the relationship between the context and the translator's choice of thick translation.It is found in this research that the paratexts in translated texts play an essential role in the reconstruction of Chuang Tzu's overseas image.The immense amount of paratexts demonstrates several distinctive features such as conciseness and flexibility.They are the vital parts that constitute the thick translation strategies in Watson's version.It is enlightening to reveal the transformation trajectory of literary translation and documentary translation in the American sinology academia as well as to explore the interaction mechanism between the overseas literary translations and the world circulation of literature classics.