Cultural And Translation Studies Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

This paper aims at the studies of cultural factors in Traditional Chinese Medicine (hereafter briefed as"TCM") and the translation of TCM culture. Traditional Chinese Medicine is a special scientific subject. It enjoys a history of more than two thousand years, during which it has developed the unmatchable theoretical system and medical treatment methods. However, since the foundation of its medical system in Spring-Autumn and War State Periods, Traditional Chinese Medicine has undergone great or little, permanent or temporal influence from historical development and the cultural background that it is deep rooted in. The paper therefore points out that comparatively speaking, TCM does not fit in the modern definition of a typical scientific subject that usually excludes cultural factors for the sake of accuracy and objectivity.This paper studies Traditional Chinese Medicine from a cultural perspective. The paper elaborates TCM culture from five main aspects: the theoretical basis derived from philosophical conception, standpoints relating to Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, literary writing style with a great deal of rhetoric figures, allusions, special influence from historical and dynastic changes. All the above demonstrate the unique culture of Traditional Chinese Medicine that makes it differ from other scientific subjects.However, in translating Traditional Chinese Medicine, emphasis is usually laid on the medical information while cultural factors are rarely given enough attention. This led the researches of Traditional Chinese Medicine to a corner but not rapid development over the past decades. On the basis of reviewing and summarizing past and present researches of TCM translation and translating methods of cultural-loaded text, the paper further discusses general principles, that is, combination of domestication and foreignization; and main approaches on translating the cultural factors of Traditional Chinese Medicine, amongst others are transliteration, literal translation, translating the meaning of deep structure, making notes, paraphrase, and morpheme translation.