On The Translation Of Prescription And Disease Names In Traditional Chinese Medicine:Pluralism And Options

The Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)carries the experience and theoretical knowledge of Chinese people’s struggle against diseases.It has made significant contributions to the protection of human health and national prosperity.In 2015,Tu Youyou won the Nobel Prize in Medicine,and the State Council issued a white paper on Traditional Chinese Medicine in China to promote the development of TCM in 2016.Today,the ASEAN countries have become an essential exporting market for Chinese herbal medicines,which shows that the international market demand for Chinese herbal medicines is expanding.However,the promotion of TCM globally faces difficulties due to factors including cultural differences between Chinese and western countries,inconsistent translations of Chinese medicine terms and the lack of authoritative authentication for TCM theories.Against this background,the translation serves as a bridge linking the cultural communication between Chinese and western medicines.Therefore an in-depth analysis of the English translation of TCM’s core cultures such as prescriptions and diseases can better promote Chinese herbal medicines globally and enhance the international competitiveness of TCM.By analyzing the translated names of prescription and disease in different versions of the Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber,it can be seen that different translators employ different translation strategies and methods,which gives rise to different translated names for one prescription or disease.To solve this problem of options among plural translated names,the translator should firstly consider the translation purpose.Without a particular translation purpose,translation pluralism is a normal phenomenon.However,when the translation purpose is clear,the translator should choose the appropriate translation strategies and methods to achieve this purpose.It can be concluded from the literature review that only a few scholars discussed the translation of one specific type of prescription or disease names.They proposed that it is necessary to distinguish the target readers and consider the specific context to make translation choices.However,no scholar has mentioned about the plural translation phenomenon of prescription and disease names and solved the optional problem among pluralism.Hence,discussing the plural phenomenon and options on the translation of prescription and disease names becomes the starting point of this thesis.Based on the textual material of the Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber,this thesis chooses the translation of prescription and disease names as research objects,adopts the methods of literature review,quantitative research and translation case analysis.It is concluded that the direct purpose of TCM translation is to prevent and cure diseases and protect human health while the indirect purpose is to realize the publicity of TCM culture globally.Hence under the guidance of the Skopostheorie,the most appropriate translation strategy and method options for prescription and disease names should be the ones which help TCM go global and recognize the target readers’ acceptances.Prescription and disease names in the Jin gui yao lue are classified according to their naming rules,and this paper finds that:(1).The primary target readers of the Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber are foreign doctors,medical students,nurses and medical researchers,so the prescription and disease names should be translated accurately,succinctly and scientifically.(2).The translation purpose determines the use of translation strategies and methods.The most suitable translation options should be reader-oriented.(3).The findings for prescription names translation can be concluded in the following three aspects.Firstly,the translation of prescription names emphasizes on foreignization rather than domestication,with literal translation as the primary translation method supplemented by the Pinyin translation.Secondly,the translation of herbal ingredients and numbers contained in the prescription names can not be omitted.Thirdly,herbal ingredients should be translated in modern English.(4).The findings for disease names translation can be concluded in the following two aspects.First of all,the translation of disease names emphasizes on domestication supplemented by foreignization because diseases have clinical commonalities.Hence the translators can actively borrow western medicine vocabularies and use conventional translations by domestication.What is more,if domestication does not work,the translator can adopt foreignization and use the literal translation method and ensure a scientific manner of words selection by considering the clinic needs of the target readers and a series of factors including aetiology,pathogenesis,disease position.(5).Some prescription and disease names use figures of speech,which makes those names vivid.Under this circumstance,the translator should use domestication and free translation method because the foreignization and Pinyin translation method can not convey the vividness contained in original prescription and disease names for the target readers.