ArticlesOnTerminology

1)NoteonTerminologyfromGiovanni'slatestbook(tobepublishedin2008).
PleaseclickheretodownloadthePDF.
2)Extractoflettersentto'ClinicalAcupunctureandOrientalMedicine'
Thefollowingisanabridgedversionofalettersenttotheeditorof"ClinicalAcupunctureand
OrientalMedicine"inresponsetoanarticlebyNWisemanpublishedinthesamejournal.
IwouldliketomakeafewcommentsonWiseman'sarticleTranslationofChinesemedicalterms:not
justamatterofwords(ClinicalAcupunctureandOrientalMedicine,Vol.2,no.1).
FirstlyIwouldliketocorrectsomeofthecommentshemakesonmybookFoundationsofChinese
Medicine.Wisemanassertsthatinmybook"thesameareaisdescribedintermsofthorax,abdomen,
chest,flank,hypochondrium,epigastrium,upperpartoftheabdomen,lowerabdomen,lower(partof)
theabdomen,upperpartoftheabdomenjustbelowthexiphoidprocessandhypogastrium".Ipresume
thatwhenWisemansays"isdescribedintermsof"hemeans"istranslatedas".Thisissimplynot
true.Itisobvioustoanyreaderthat"chest"isatranslationofxiongwhileepigastriumisatranslation
ofwan.Althoughthesetermsarenotintheglossary,sometermshaveanobvioustranslatione.g.an
"elbow"inChineseisthesameasan"elbow"inEnglish.Wisemanhimselfsaysinthefollowingpage
thatItranslatexinxiaasupperpartoftheabdomenjustbelowthexiphoidprocess,thuscontradicting
himselfbecausethisprovesthatthetermshequotesabovearenottranslationsofthesameterm.
Wisemandislikesmytranslationofxinxiaasupperpartoftheabdomenjustbelowthexiphoid
process:althoughlong,mymainpriorityisthatthistermisclinicallyuseful.Moreover,Wiseman
translatesxinxiainhisdictionaryasregionbelowtheheartbutthisisimprecisebecausetheregion
"belowtheheart"couldbecentralorlateraltowardstheleftofthechest:itisinfact,themidlinearea
belowthexiphoidprocess.[1]TheConciseDictionaryofChineseMedicineconfirmsthiswhenitsays
thatpaininthexinxiaregionispaininthepitofthestomach.[2]
SecondlyIwouldliketomakesomegeneralobservationsonthetranslationofChinesemedical
terms.Inmyopinion,themostimportantissuefacingpractitionersisnothowtotransmit
thelanguageofChinesemedicine(animpossibletaskgiventhedifferencesbetweenChineseand
otherlanguages)buthowtotransmittheclinicalskillsofChinesemedicine.Whatmattersisnot
whetherxianistranslatedas"wiry"or"bowstring"[pulse]butwhetherstudentsareabletomaster
thatpulsequalityandsuccessfullyidentifyitintheclinic.Itcouldevenbearguedthattheexcessive
(ifnotobsessive)attentiondedicatedtoterminologywithitsensuing"debate"distractsusfromthe
maintask,i.e.thatofmasteringandcommunicatingtheclinicalskillsofChinesemedicine.Ofcourse,
thelanguageofChinesemedicineisimportantinasmuchasithelpsustounderstandtheconcepts
behindit:thuswhatmattersisnotsomuchthetranslationofatermbutunderstandingtheidea
conveyedbyaparticularChinesecharacter.Forthisreason,whenIlectureandIamintroducinga
newconceptordiseaseofChinesemedicine,Iwouldalwaysdrawtherelevantcharacterandexplain
itsmeaningandnuances:inmyopinionthatiswhatmatters,nothowwetranslateit.Isimplyfailto
seehowtranslatingzhengjiaas"concretionsandconglomerations"(ratherthan"abdominalmasses")
helpsstudentsandpractitionerstounderstandthepathology,diagnosisandtreatmentofthisdisease
(incidentally,accordingtotheOxfordEnglishDictionaryboth"concretion"and"conglomeration"
indicateaprocess,anactionratherthanasubstanceandthereforecannothaveapluralform).Inhis
questtoestablisha"correct"terminology,Wisemanoccasionallyneedstoinventnewwordssuch
asoutthrust,anabsurdsituationgiventheextremelyrichEnglishvocabulary.[3]Anotherexampleof
thenarrownessofEnglishtranslationsofChinesetermsisWiseman'stranslationofcoulias
"interstice"andhisexplanationthatthisisan"anatomicalentityofunclearidentity".[4]Isuggest

Wisemanlooksatthearticle"ThelocationandfunctionoftheSanJiao"byQuLifang.[5]Wiseman
clearlyreducesthemeaningof"interstice"tothatof"grain"whichisnotcorrectgiventhanliindicates
the"grain"(ofvariousstructures)whilecouindicatesthe"interstices"(invariouspartsofthebody).
ThisisanexampleofhowtherigidandreductivetranslationofaChinesetermactuallyreducesour
understandingofit.
Also,itcouldbearguedthatthemainissuefacingusintheWestisnothowtotranslatetheChinese
termsbuthowtofindthecorrespondencebetweenChinesetermsandwhatWestern
patientsactuallyuse.Forexample,mostauthors,evenWiseman,translatethewordzhangas
"distension"(or"distention").However,Englishpatientswillneverusethiswordandwillusuallysay
"bloating"toindicatezhang,whileItalianpatientswouldsaygonfiore(whichstrictlymeans
"swelling")andGermanpatientsspannung.Thus,wemay"correctly"translatezhangas"distension"
butstudentswillneverhearthattermintheclinic.Anotherexampleisthatofmenwhichisusually
translatedasa"feelingofoppression"however,veryfewEnglishpatientswillusetheword
"oppression"todescribethisfeelingandwillusuallysay"tightness"or"afeelingofweight".Thus,
whatisthepointofconcentratingallourattentioningettingtheterminology"right"ifitisnot
clinicallyrelevant?Therewouldbeacaseforproducingaglossaryretranslatingthetranslated
Englishtermsintotheexpressionsthatpatientsactuallyuse(ineachWesterncountry).
TheverypremiseofWiseman'sarticle("ifweassumethatitwouldbeagoodthingforallspeakersto
refertoeachconceptofChinesemedicinebythesameterm")isitselfdebatable.Apartfromthefact
thatthisaimmaybeimpossibletoachieve,isitevendesirable?GiventhatsomeChinesemedical
termsarepracticallyimpossibletotranslatebecausetheyhavesomanynuances,dothedifferencesin
translationnotactuallyenrichourunderstandingofChineseMedicine?Ifsomeone
translatesxian[pulsequality]as"wiry"andanotheras"bowstring"doesthereferencetoabowstring
nothelpustovisualizethewirypulse?ItranslateYangQiaoMaias"YangHeelVessel"but"Yang
MotilityVessel"isbynomeanswronganditusefullyconveysaparticularaspectofthisvessel.Why
subjectallauthorstoarigid,autocraticuniformity?Inover28yearsofpracticeandteachingIhave
metthousandsofstudents,practitioners,teachersandheadsofcollegesandnobodyhasever
indicatedtomethatterminologyisthemainissuefacingthesuccessfuldevelopmentofChinese
medicineintheWest:themostpressingissuefacingpractitionersishowtodevelopthediagnostic
skillsofChinesemedicine.SincemoreandmorepeoplearelearningChinese,aslongasauthorsuse
aglossaryofterms,thereisnotaproblem.
Furthermore,Wiseman'spositionisratherAnglocentricbyconcentratingsomuchonthe"correct"
translationofChinesetermsintoEnglish.Chinesemedicineistrulyuniversalnowandisusedin
practicallyallcountriesoftheworld.Evenifweadopttheonly"right"and"correct"English
terminology,howdoesthatpromotethedevelopmentofChinesemedicineintheworld?Again,as
moreandmorepeoplearenowstudyingatleasttherudimentsofChinese,theonlyuniversal
terminologyistheChineseone.Ihavetaughtinmanycountrieswithmanydifferentlanguagesall
overtheworldandwheneverthereisadoubtaboutaparticulartermIalwaysusetheChineseterm
andthisinvariablyclearsupanymisunderstanding.
Moreover,WisemanattributesaprecisiontoChinesemedicalterminologythattheChinesetexts
themselvesoftendonothave.OneonlyneedstolookattheimprecisewaythetermsHeatandFireare
oftenusedinterchangeablyinChinesebooks,oldandmodern.Wisemanhimselfseemstohavethis
difficultyinthearticlewhenhecommentsonthetermxiewhichhetranslateas"todrain".However
Wisemanseemsatpainstodistinguishxie(asin"todrain"fromxie(asin"todischarge")_asinhis
dictionaryheassertsthatxie(discharge)hasthesamemeaningasxie(drain)whichisclearlynotthe
case[6].Aconfusionofthesetwotreatmentmethodsinherbalmedicinewouldleadtodire
consequences.Theoftenimpreciseuseofterms(ordifferentusesofthesametermbydifferent
authors)isduetothefactthatChinesemedicinewasdevelopedexclusivelybypractisingdoctorsnot
linguists,anthropologistsorethnologists.InotherinstancesWisemanseemstodeviatefromhisown
ruleoftranslatingeverytermliterally(e.g."Foxymountingpattern")quiteafewtimes.Forexample,

hisdictionarytranslatesXuLi(thethrobbingoftheleftventricleoftheheartandtheGreat
ConnectingchanneloftheStomach)as"apicalpulse"andthenasVacuousLi,leavingthe
wordLiuntranslated.
[1].WisemanN1998APracticalDictionaryofChineseMedicine,ParadigmPublications,Brookline,
p.497.
[2].GuangzhouCollegeofChineseMedicine1980ConciseDictionaryofChineseMedicine(Jian
MingZhongYiCiDian,People'sHealthPublishingHouse,Beijing,p.193.
[3].APracticalDictionaryofChineseMedicine,P.422.
[4].Ibid.,317.
[5].QuLifang"TheLocationandFunctionoftheSanJiao"inJournalofChineseMedicine,no.65,p.
26.
[6].APracticalDictionaryofChineseMedicine,p.130.

PleaseclickheretodownloadaPDFonTerminologyfromGiovanni'slatestbook
(tobepublishedin2008).