A Study Of Two English Versions Of Huangdi Neijing·Su Wen In Light Of Eco-translatology

Huangdi Neijing, reputed as the “Bible of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)”,is the first medical book extant in China. It is a must for TCM majors and scholars.Huangdi Neijing, divided into two parts namely Su Wen and Ling Shu, records asystematic and complete system of medical theories, laying a solid foundation for thedistinct medical system of TCM. Many TCM terms used nowadays can find theirorigins in Huangdi Neijing. As China’s global status has been improving, TCM isalso striding forward across the whole world. Huangdi Neijing, as the pioneeringwork of TCM theories, is being taken more and more seriously all across the world.As a result, there have emerged twelve English versions of Huangdi Neijing at homeand abroad. Unfortunately, there are only two complete English versions, the rest ofwhich are almost confined to the translation of Su Wen. Therefore, the studies of thetranslation of Su Wen and TCM terminology have been a focus in academicresearches these years.Eco-translatology, a newly emerging translation theory in the twenty-firstcentury, belongs to interdisciplinary studies, which combines translation withecology. It has been widely applied to researches on the translation of literature andpractical texts. Eco-translatology borrows such ecological terms as “survival of thefittest”,“eco-environment” and “adaptation and selection” to explain translationactivities. Although the theoretical system of eco-translatology is far from perfection,the existing studies can prove its strong explanatory power. Eco-translatologybelieves translation is a process in which the translators adapt to the translationaleco-environments and then make some adaptive selections. Based oneco-translatology, this paper tries to study the translating of two English versions ofSu Wen, namely the adaptation and selection processes of two translators (Ilza Veithand Li Zhaoguo),on the basis of which the translation principles of TCM terminology will be discussed to make a contribution to the standardization of TCM terms.This paper holds that when Ilza Veith and Li Zhaoguo were translating Su Wen,on the one hand, they adapted themselves well to their own translationaleco-environments; on the other hand, they made disparate adaptive selectionsbecause of their different translational eco-environments, which led to differenttranslations. As far as their translational eco-environments are concerned, the degreeof holistic adaptation and selection of both translations is high. This is also why thesetwo translations have been widely accepted by readers. The translation principle ofeco-translatology is “multi-dimensional adaptation and adaptive selection”. Underthis general translation principle, the translation principles of TCM terms can besummed up as the principle of conciseness, naturalness, national characteristics andprescription. If translators want to make sound adaptive selections in linguistic,cultural and communicative dimensions when they are translating TCMterminologies, it is essential for them to follow these four translation principles.