“金曰从革”汉译英辨析

My Opinion about the Chinese to English Translation of “Jin yue cong ge”

在现行中医教材中,"金曰从革"解释为:从,顺也;革,变也,即是说金具有顺从和变革两种属性,用以解释其肃杀、沉降、收敛等性质。但现行《中医英语》教材中,多将其翻译为metal is characterized by change,即:金之性,革也。从而忽视了"金曰从革"之"从"字。但仔细推敲不难发现,无论是中文解释,还是英语翻译,都过于牵强。作者认为:从,总也,聚也,译为assemble;革,鞣也,制也,译为tan,所以"金曰从革"应当译为"metal is characterized by assembling and tanning"。

In today＇s TCM book, the ＂cong＂ in ＂Jin yue cong ge＂ means following,＂ge＂ means changing. In another word, metal having the attribute of following and changing, which is used to explain metal＇s character of killing subsiding and restraining. But TCM English book often translates it into ＂Metal is characterized by change＂, which only emphasized changing. But thinking it over, we can find that both the Chinese and English translation is unreasonable. In my view, ＂cong＂ should be translated into assembling, ＂ge＂ should be translated into tanning, so ＂Jin yue cong ge＂ should be translated into ＂Metal is characterized by assembling and tanning. ＂