On The English Translation Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the great cultural heritages of Chinese nation. During the several thousand years of medical practice, it has developed into a comprehensive and unique scientific system. With remarkable curative effects and few side effects, traditional Chinese medicine has proved to be a useful method to prevent and treat diseases, which has aroused the attention of the world. The spreading of traditional Chinese medicine to other countries dates back to the ancient times and it still keeps uprising. There may be imbalance in the development of traditional Chinese medicine in different countries, but an upward tendency has been witnessed, World Health Organization recommended it as useful experience to the whole world.Despite the growth in popularity of traditional Chinese medicine over recent decades, the westward transmission of traditional Chinese medicine continues to be hampered by a number of problems such as mistranslations. The English translation of traditional Chinese medicine is the bridge for the traditional Chinese medicine to be transmitted to the world and serve the people's health. Along with the vigorous development of foreign exchanges of traditional Chinese medicine and the uprising enthusiasm for traditional Chinese medicine in the world, its English translation has become more and more important. However, its long history, unique theoretical system and abstruse language cause difficulties in translating traditional Chinese medicine into English. The present situation of the English translation of traditional Chinese medicine is not satisfactory with a variety of problems including inconsistent and inaccurate translation of the terminology of traditional Chinese medicine, mistranslations caused by deviated or even wrong understanding, lack of unification of its translating standards and principles and no systematic researches of translation theories on traditional Chinese medicine. The present author has been engaged in the English interpretation and translation of traditional Chinese medicine for years and will make a systematic exposition on the English translation of traditional Chinese medicine according to her own practical experiences and the valuable experiences of other translators.