Abstract: "Block" is a core concept for describing the basic spatial unit of the city. Through systematic excavation of historical literature, and using literature databases together with content analysis, this study examines the evolution of Chinese translations and conceptual connotations of "block" since its introduction into China in the early-modern period. The study finds 28 translations in early-modern literature, which can be classified as transliterations, indigenous semantic translations, and borrowed Japanese translations. Despite terminological diversity, scholarly understandings of its core definition - a spatial unit enclosed by four streets - and of its three attributes - planning control, land development, and social life - are highly consistent. In modern and contemporary usage, translations of "block" have gradually converged around jiefang, jiequ, jiekuai, and jiekuo. Among them, jiekuai is recommended as the standard term because it is more scientific, univocal, and systematic, and can facilitate disciplinary communication. This historical process reflects the transformation of Chinese urban planning from knowledge transfer to independent construction. It provides a typical example of localizing foreign concepts and offers important implications for improving China's urban planning knowledge system.