论中医典籍中“虚实”的英译——以《黄帝内经》译文为例

Translation of"Xu"and"Shi"in Chinese Medicine Classics--Taking the Translation of Inner Canon of Huangdi as an Example

"虚实"是中医学理论体系中的核心概念,是中医典籍论述中的关键术语。世界卫生组织(WHO)《西太平洋地区传统医学名词术语国际标准》将"虚实"译为deficiency and excess,这与全国通用的中医基础理论教材中定义的"虚乃正不足,实乃邪过剩"相吻合。对"虚实"英文译名的标准化有助于中医学在海外的传播,但教条式地照搬标准化译名则会导致僵化甚至歪曲的译文效果。本文以《黄帝内经》中涉及"虚实"的部分英语译文为例证,通过译文对比、分析及所提出的改进译文,指出译例中的翻译得失,并由此提出中医典籍中的"虚实"具有空间、哲学、身体状态、病证、脉象、治法等多层面的含义,其英译文当根据文本语境而定,不能千篇一律、机械式地套用WHO的标准化译文。

"Xu"and"Shi"is a pair of core concepts in TCM theoretical system and function as key terms in TCM classical treaties.The English translations for"Xu"and"Shi"in WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine in the Western Pacific Region are standardized as"deficiency"and"excess",corresponding to the definition given in the national textbook of TCM basic theory.The standardized translations for"Xu"and"Shi"promote the overseas transmission of TCM,while a dogmatic adoption of the standardized ones often leads to a rigid or even distorted translation effect.Through a comparison and analysis on the examples of translation for Inner Canon of Huangdi and also the improved translations,this paper points out the translation success and failure in the translation examples.Based on this,it proposes that"Xu"and"Shi"in TCM classics entail different meanings related to the aspects of spatial context,philosophy,body condition,syndrome,pulse condition,and treatment,etc.Thus,their English translations are much dependent on the given textual context rather than simply sticking to the translated version standardized by WHO.