Analysis of the translator's individual case is an essential part of translation history research and translation studies.Burton Watson is considered to be the most prolific translator of Chinese literature in the 20th century.His highly readable translations in a fluent,natural and elegant style have been very instrumental in introducing Chinese classics to the western general readership.Employing Watson's translation practice in translating Chinese historical classics as empirical data and the framework of the descriptive translation studies -the acquisition and internalization of norms by a translator,is materialized in the process of socialization as a model,this paper explores how socialization serves as a facilitator in Watson's formulation of linguistic norms in translating Chinese classics into English.