A Study On The Translation Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

With a long history, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has formed a unique system to diagnose and cure illness. In the process of globalization, TCM has played an important role in quickening the pace of going to the world, and the depth and scale of TCM exchange and communication is amazingly unprecedented. TCM translation is undoubtedly a crucial element in the process. Terminology translation, especially standardization of TCM terminology translation, is regarded as the core of TCM translation.TCM pathogenesis terms constitute an important part of TCM terms. However, TCM translation has focused on the translation of basic terms of TCM, such as terms related to yin and yang, five elements, qi, blood and body fluid, and viscera. Moreover, the translation research related to TCM clinical terms is quite limited. At present most of TCM terminology translation is based on qualitative studies, with inadequate evidence and analysis as well as limited guidance of translation theories and translation principles.In this study,51 commonly used TCM liver and gallbladder pathogenesis terms from TCM Commonly Used Terminology Dictionary[1] were chosen as sample terms. Based on these 51 terms, the corresponding English version from 4 prominent and influential dictionaries (WHO’s version, WFCMS’version, Li Zhaoguo’s version, Wiseman’s version) were collected. Then they were classified into several categories based on their lexical structures. A contrastive analysis was conducted to find out the translation methods, patterns, and techniques under the guidance of Nida’s functional equivalence and correctness and systematicness, two principles of terminology translation. The study came to the following conclusions:1) For two-character terminologies, word-for-word translation should be adapted because of the simplicity of lexical structure and unambiguous of meaning of each term.2) As for three-character terms, there are two types of modification-structure terms:the second level of modification-structure, and the first level of modification-structure. While the second level terms adapting word-for-word translation method, the prepositional phrase pattern translation method is ideal for the first level of modification-structure, which can clearly reflect the relationship between modified component and central word.3) For subject-predicate structure of the three-character liver and gallbladder pathogenesis terms, the "N+ Ving" pattern is suggested; for subject-verb-object three-character terms, the structure of "N+ Ving+ N" is desirable.4) For subject-predicate structure of four-character pathogenesis terms, "N+Ving" is highly recommended; for subject-verb-object terms, structure of "N+ Ving+ N" can be applied; for modification-structure, "N+ of/in+ N" is applied. When translating conjunctive structure of four-character pathogenesis terms, we should obey to the principle of ’ ’paying more attention to meaning than to structure", revealing the logical relationship hidden in phrases.The study to some extent enriches the research on TCM terms translation, bridging the research gap between basic TCM terms translation and clinical TCM terms translation. The study analyzes and evaluates the translation under the guidance of accuracy and systematicness, which can be further applied by other researchers in TCM translation. The translation theory of functional equivalence and the principle of accuracy and systematicness also provide effective guidance for further study and research in this field.However, there are still some limitations in the study. Firstly, whether the findings drawn by this research could be applied to translation of other visceral pathogenesis terms needs further research to be tested. Secondly, the analysis cannot include all the translation versions of pathogenesis terms at present, which leaves space for further study. Lastly, the study results need to be tested by authority and practice.