This article addresses the history of translation in countries whose language has been influenced by classical Chinese (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam). This paper focuses particularly on the cultural and political independence of Korea and Vietnam threatened by regional and Western colonialism. Renewed writings closer to daily language, with the rise of the printing press, the establishment of newspapers and schools, disseminated new and wider contents. Alongside neighboring powers and through exchanges and conflicts, the question arises as to how translation and literary creation facilitated the modernization of these two countries’ own language, education system, knowledge, and thereby the redefinition of their identity. To answer this overarching question, this paper focuses first on the imbalance of influences between China and Japan before discussing the transformation of languages and literary works once liberated from classical Chinese. Finally, the paper highlights the influence of these writings on the political independence of Korea and Vietnam.