Markedness Theory, first formulated by the Prague School for the analysis of the phonemic contrast between oppositional pairs of phonemes, has now found its wide application in many other sub-disciplines of linguistics. Chinese quoting verb “Dao” in classical fictional dialogue, originally unmarked in its meaning, after rendered into English, usually entails some additional information or connotation which enriches its basic meaning from different aspects, thus demonstrating characteristics of markedness. The archaic quoting verb “Dao” shows a strong tendency towards interpretation in meaning after translated from the source language (Chinese) into the target language (English). By tentatively introducing Markedness Theory,it gives a full description and makes a detailed analysis of the translation of “Dao”, and seeks to reveal the underlying cause which leads to the explicitation of the original meaning of “Dao”,i.e. the asymmetry of semantic markedness.