Opinions on Chinese English translation of TCM terms

陈星羽 王颖 林冰 胡廷莹

Abstract: As an important part of Chinese traditional culture, traditional Chinese medicine culture has a long historical influence. With the deepening of cultural exchanges, the translation of TCM knowledge has become more and more popular. This paper introduces the principles and methods that should be paid attention to when Translating TCM terms.

Keywords: TCM; Chinese Medicine; health preservation

Chinese traditional culture has a long history. "Traditional Chinese medicine is the most traditional and ancient medicine in China. It is a medical system with unique theoretical style and diagnosis and treatment characteristics gradually formed in the long-term medical practice of the Chinese nation." ^[1]

Now, with the continuous development of society, the pace of people's life is speeding up, and people's health problems have also received more attention. In today's society, the development of globalization is deepening, and the economic and cultural exchanges between countries are also deepening. In the aspect of medical treatment, Chinese medicine culture is stepping into the international stage. The first prerequisite for promoting Chinese medicine culture is the translation of TCM knowledge. In the translation of TCM terms, the author should follow its translation principles and methods.^[2]

Specifically speaking, translation principles refer to the principles that translators follow when making decisions in translation practice, and they are also the criteria that translation critics must grasp in terms of judging a translation work^[3]. Therefore, for translators, translation principles are actually of great importance. The official account will be bilingual and show the culture of Chinese medicine. It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world. In addition, there is also an expectancy to arouse the curiosity and exploration desire of people from different cultural backgrounds to traditional Chinese medicine culture. For example, when it comes to "Yin Yang" and "Wu Xing" that belongs to the domain of traditional Chinese medicine, citizens from the target language, teenagers or adults, will not show confused expression. Instead, they will be fond of discussing the knowledge relevant to traditional Chinese medicine and matters like how to keep healthy.

After the above analysis, it could be figured out that applying Nidas translation theory, that is, “functional equivalence” theory seems a proper choice in accordance with its translation purpose.

Firstly, there is a brief introduction about Nidas “functional equivalence” theory. As the earliest translation theory introduced into China, it has left a significant and far-reaching influence on Chinas translation practice almost in the past 40 years. Furthermore, it has been widely praised and recognized by scholars in the translation field, and has been widely applied to the translation practice of various texts^[4].

Nidas theory lies in the essential part, namely, “functional equivalence”. In translation practice, achieving equivalence in the most appropriate and natural language means that when it comes to those articles relative to TCM, the target readers and the original readers almost share similar reactions, and furthermore, appreciate the articles in a manner alike^[5]. In terms of translating TCM disease terms, if there is a conflict between content the delivery and formal equivalence, translators should give priority to functional equivalence rather than formal equivalence. It is difficult to define TCM terms accurately through a few Chinese words, because these terms usually contain complex connotations under the cultural background. Under the guidance of functional equivalence theory, translators ought to adopt corresponding translation strategies to accurately translate TCM disease terms, and take into account the audience's acceptance to the maximum extent. In short, in the face of the translation of TCM terms, readers' acceptance of the translation and the suitability of translation principles should be taken into consideration, so as to promote the internationalization of TCM culture.

Nowadays, because of the scientific nature and effectiveness of Western medicine, it has been spread rapidly around the world and is widely accepted. In contrast, the effect of Chinese medicine has been greatly underestimated by the Chinese nowadays. As a matter of fact, this is a huge loss because the long history of Chinese medicine is a symbol of its value. In recent years, the Chinese government has begun to attach importance to the Chinese medicine and has issued several important guidance documents to revitalize Chinese medicine culture. So, our research team has decided to promote the spread of TCM. The theme of our official account is that "Use TCM to keep fit". And we edit the text in both Chinese and English to popularize the knowledge of Chinese medicine  and promote the spread of Chinese medical culture.

However, translating medical texts from Chinese into correct and idiomatic English isnt easy. In the translation of traditional Chinese medicine culture, our group also experienced many challenges. Firstly, the names of various medicinal materials in traditional Chinese medicine is a challenge. The culture of traditional Chinese medicine has Chinese characteristics. Therefore, the naming of many terms in traditional Chinese medicine also has unique Chinese artistic conception. However, for translators, these nouns are likely to become obstacles in translation. In view of the great differences between Chinese and Western cultures, even if the corresponding English can be found in the dictionary, many medicinal materials are no longer as rich in charm as Chinese. Therefore, many Chinese original flavors will inevitably be lost in translation. Moreover, sometimes some Chinese herbal medicine names can not even find the corresponding English words.

The difficulties in the translation of traditional Chinese medicine culture are not limited to the names of medicinal materials. Health preservation in traditional Chinese medicine is closely related to Yin Yang theory and five elements theory. In view of cultural differences, the concept of Yin Yang and five elements is a blank in western culture. Moreover, the concepts of Yin Yang and five elements are usually very abstract and vague, and the understanding by the team members themselves has become a major constraint in the translation work. Apart from the translation of terms and theoretical concepts, another obstacle in the translation of traditional Chinese medicine culture lies in the interpretation of traditional Chinese medicine classics. The language of traditional Chinese medicine books often uses four character short sentences, and sometimes uses writings in classical Chinese, which is concise but rich in content. Therefore, in the translation work, the translator must correctly understand the meaning of the original text, properly transform the classical Chinese short sentences into modern vernacular, and then translate them from Chinese into English. At this time, the ancient prose level, verification ability, understanding ability and language transformation ability of translators will be tested.

In the face of these challenges, the team members also conducted a long time of exploration and learning, and improve the translation level. In the translation of professional terms, in order to facilitate the understanding of Chinese and foreign readers, priority should be given to the use of English words that can be verified in the translation; for some medicinal materials, they have different aliases, such as Ginkgo biloba, and the aliases include Yinxing, Baiguo, etc. Reading an uncommon alias, translators can use the backstepping method to verify the name of medicinal materials by using other aliases. Team members make use of he English translation of medicinal materials in professional Chinese medicine books, finding the relevant parallel texts through HowNet and other academic platforms for reference. For the understanding of abstract concepts such as Yin Yang and five elements in traditional Chinese medical literature, team members will use relevant reference books for verification and understanding, making the content more acceptable due to earths knowledge about TCM. Sometimes the text part of the abstract concept will be transformed, which is more conducive to the readers' understanding. If it is really necessary to translate the abstract concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, brackets will be joined to explain them simply, or explanatory endnotes will be added at the end of the text.

In the rapidly changing contemporary society, traditional Chinese medicine culture still has its precious value and unshakable status. Therefore, the value of traditional Chinese medicine should be fully excavated, and the excellent traditional Chinese medicine culture should be vigorously carried forward. As a language learner, it is a great honor to inherit and carry forward the excellent culture of traditional Chinese medicine. Translation work should also continue to persist in seeking advice and verification without fear of difficulties and troubles. At the same time, it is also important to constantly improve bilingual ability and translation quality, use various methods to deal with text translation flexibly, and strive to present a better translation version.

References

[1] 陳力,鄢来均.文化为土 中医植根 ——从文化自信看中医发展[J].中国中医药现代远程教育,2018,(第20期).

[2] 李权芳.中医翻译与中华文化的传播[J].文学教育(中),2013,(第10期).

[3] 方梦之，《译学词典》，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2004年，第23页。

[4] Li Yan. Nidas Translation Theory of “Functional Equivalence” and Its Application in Chinese Herbal Medicine Translation[J]. Advances in Literary Study, 2021, 09(01) : 11-15.