There have appeared a series of terms in the Chinese translation studies, of which the terms with 'xing' (性, attribute, property, nature) are most commonly used. However, conflicts ensue: are there any differences between “translatability” and “faithfulness” with 'xing' or not? Why do the researchers prefer the terms with 'xing'? Why do the terms from English to Chinese use 'xing'? It is found that the terms with 'xing' always come with discussions of the essence of translation as the main focus. They are either loaned and accepted in different Chinese translation studies dictionaries or coined and appear in the titles of some articles. Under the conditions of disagreements on the essence of translation, the terms with 'xing' are used more frequently with impreciseness. Though some of them are coined for innovation, others are used arbitrarily. In this light, this article sorts them out by analyzing their different semantic relations and categories and clarifying their scopes of application. It is expected that the findings will contribute to the sound development of Chinese translation studies as a discipline.