In addition to his translation of ''Ramayana'', Ji wrote seven books including a short history of India.
In 2006, Ji received a lifetime achievement award from the government of China for his contributions to the field of translation; accepting the award, he stated, "The reason our Chinese culture has been able to remain consistent and rich throughout its 5,000 years of history is closely linked to translation. Translations from other cultures have helped infuse new blood into our culture". ,
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee personally presented the Padma Bhushan to Ji on 6 June 2008. Mukherjee paid a visit to the ailing 97-year-old Ji, who is the first Chinese to receive the honour, at a military hospital where he has been staying and presented the medallion and award certificate.
Exemplary personal life
Ji is also highly regarded for his moral values, character, and personality. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is reported to have told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Ji was his mentor.
Ji is an unabashed patriot, saying, "Even when I am burned down to ashes, my love for China will not change." As a student at Tsinghua University, he signed a petition to Chiang Kai-shek to oppose the Japanese invaders in Nanjing. As an impoverished but brilliant student, he said, "I haven't disgraced my country; my scores are the only comfort that I can give to my motherland."
Ji cultivates the unassuming appearance of a farmer or worker rather than a prestigious scholar, wearing bleached khaki suits and cloth shoes, and carrying an old leather schoolbag; he is also similarly reputed as treating people of all walks of life with equal respect and sincerity. He has opined that the meaning of life lies in work, and he avoids distractions which would detract from his working time; in order to do one's work, however, he believes that one must stay healthy, so he exercises for his health. He is reported as getting up at 4:30 AM，breakfasting at 5:00 AM, and then beginning to write. He once said that he often felt compelled to get up at this early hour to work. Nevertheless, he writes with great speed and efficiency, completing his famous essay "Forever Regret" within a few hours.
He is also often cited as fearless in his pursuit of academic truth, as shown not only by his daring to translate ''Ramayana'' during the Cultural Revolution, but also by his 1986 article, written against the advice of his friends, "A Few Words for Hu Shi", who at that time was in disrepute and whose work was shunned by most scholars. Ji, however, felt that academic progress required acknowledging not only Hu Shi's mistakes, but also his contributions to modern Chinese literature. His article was sufficiently convincing to many scholars that it caused a re-evaluation of the development of modern Chinese literature and the role of Hu Shi.
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