Introducing Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine

This article introduces the document, Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine, published in PDF form online in both Chinese and English. This 20-page document includes several sections describing why the Considerations is necessary, the specificity of texts in Chinese medicine; the history of translation in Chinese medicine; who constitutes an ideal translator of Chinese medicine; what types of language exist in Chinese medicine; and specific issues in the translation of Chinese medicine, such as domestication versus foreignization, technical terminology, period-specific language, style, polysemy, and etymological translation. The final section offers a brief advisory for consumers, and concludes with a call to further discussion, and action, specifically in the development of international collaborative efforts towards the creation of more rigorous guidelines for the translation of Chinese medicine. The current article provides an overview of several of these sections, and includes links to the original document.