This paper analyses the paratexts of four English versions of the Chinese autobiography Six Chapters of a Floating Life, aiming at the significance of paratexts in the narrative autobiographical prose, which includes the reconstruction of the historical and cultural context, promotion of cross-field emotional resonance, effective realization of cross-cultural communication. Research on the English translation of paratexts not only conduces to the interpretation space of the translation theory, but also contributes to deeper understanding various factors that affect the translation process of the autobiography, and cultural connotation and poetic value of translation.