Background Benggang is a typical geo-hazard in the tropical and subtropical areas of South China with the greatest scale of water and soil erosion and serious ecological damage. It is an erosional geomorphology that the soil in the red soil hilly of south China collapses continuously along the gully wall, under the action of hydraulic and gravity, and finally forms a huge wound. With the urgent attention of the country to the management of Benggang erosion in South China, this niche geomorphology vocabulary now gradually tends popular. In addition, with the exchange and cooperation of soil and water erosion globally, the research achievement for Benggang has attracted international attention.

Methods In this paper, the concept and connotation of Benggang were discussed, based on the comprehensive summary of the development, morphology and destination of Benggang. On the other hand, the English translation for Benggang was analyzed by comparing the domestic and international erosional landforms, and by discussing the present translations for Benggang.

Results 1) Benggang is usually developed in tropical and subtropical granite areas with 20-50 m weathering crust, and exists in a small amount in glutenite, argillaceous shale, phyllite and other rock areas. There are about 239, 100 Benggangs in China and the average annual sediment yield by Benggang erosion is about 67, 239, 000 t in recent decades. 2) A Benggang system can be divided into five parts: upper catchment area, collapsing wall, colluvial deposit, scour channel, and alluvial fan. Typical Benggang landforms are characterized by arc-shaped, linear-shaped, ladle-shaped, composite-shaped, and claw-shaped. 3) According to the development conditions, mechanism, and region of Benggang, it is different from the erosion landforms in foreign countries. Therefore, there is no appropriate native English word that can be used as the translation of Benggang. In addition, Benggang is also significantly different from the soil erosion landforms in China, such as landslide and debris flow, which are dominated by gravity erosion. At present, the most common English translations of Benggang include Benggang (transliteration) and collapsing gully (translating meaning). In recent three years, 23 international journal articles were published using Benggang, with an average growth rate of 56.4%, and 33 articles were published using collapsing gully, with an average growth rate of 40.1%. This shows Benggang transliteration has been recognized to a large extent.

Conculsions Benggang transliteration is applied to highlight its unique cultural characteristics and cultural connotation, which will also contribute to the understanding of domestic and foreign scholars for Benggang's uniqueness and further promote the internationalization of soil and water conservation research in China.