This thesis, starting from a review of the two translation approaches: meaning-based and intention-based, argues that the former has been abandoned by translation scholars for their despair with the uncertainty and indeterminacy of meaning. The latter, as this author observes, is an invention of Chinese scholars. It is in fact a variety of the former, for it not only lacks a sound theoretical framework and also fails to distinguish the two concepts: meaning and intention.Within the framework of RT, this thesis puts forward a third translation approach-the original-communication oriented translation approach, arguing that translation as a means of communication is composed of two acts: Act I between the author and the SR (the translator), and Act II between the translator and the TR; Act II should be faithful to all the elements of Act I , that is, the original communication rather than one or two of its elements as claimed by some scholars. In this vein, the Principle of Equal Inferential Distance in Translating is formulated: The translator should make Act II be faithful to Act I , with a full representation of the assumptions made by the author towards his intended readership, keeping an equal distance in inferring the author’s informative intention between the SR and the TR. In this thesis the Principle has testified to the application to many aspects such as literary translation, translation quality assessment, translation teaching, translation coherence, and translation of vague language.Since the second act of a translational communication is an ostensive-inferential process, this thesis also examines the inferential clues for the translator and the inference constraints on the translator.