In Search of a Term Translation Strategy for Chinese Medical Classics

Abstract

The difficulties encountered by the translators of traditional Chinese medical texts are numerous: the antiquity of the texts, the concision of the classical language, the specificity of Chinese thought, clerical errors, terminologic problems, and so forth. Being a relative newcomer in this profession, I will focus on only the most evident and relatively simple problem, i.e., the translation of the traditional medical terms. Even here, the difficulties are numerous and varied. We meet them every day, and every one of us regrets the lack of agreement for the translation of any particular term.