Terminology

[Guest guest]

Bob,

 

Your point about the polysemous character of

Chinese medical terminology is an important

one. However I don't agree that the Practical

Dictionary displays any inadequacy in this

particular instance. Nor do I think that it

is the role of a dictionary to provide the

entire spectrum of understanding of a language

that is required of specialists who employ

that language in the course of their professional

occupations.

 

There is so much to know about Chinese medical

terminology that it is simply not reasonable

to expect to find it all between the covers

of a single volume. The PD, as I have said

many times, is not the end-all of Chinese

medical terminology in English. It is a beginning.

 

Chinese medical dictionaries include as many

as 60,000 terms. There is an article by Prof.

Zhu Jian Ping (who is the director of the

current project within the China Academy

of TCM and the China Academy of Science

to standardize the terminology of the

subject) in which he discusses the past,

present and future of terminological research

in the subject. I think you'll find it

interesting reading. And I think that

it is an important point that we should

concentrate on bringing to widespread awareness,

i.e. that the proper study of the subject

begins in the mastery of its nomenclature.

 

A year ago on this list, Dan Bensky

suggested that the fact that many Chinese

words mean many different things makes

the establishment of a translation

standard for use in rendering these

polysemous terms into English " more

trouble than it's worth. "

 

I continue to attack this point of

view because it continues to prevail

among the mass of students and educators

of the subject in the States.

 

It is not true.

 

It is not accurate. And it is not

the approach taken by the Chinese

themselves. The Chinese, as readers

of Prof. Zhu's forthcoming article

will discover, have for many centuries

diligently labored to record the various

meanings of the growing numbers of terms

of the subject so that those who study

and prctice it can acquaint themselves

with all of them and know when to use

which meaning.

 

It is not easy. It is a great deal of

trouble. But it is worth every moment

spent, and for lack of such trouble

we face the very serious threat of

seeing the essence of the subject

vanish before our eyes.

 

Ken

 

 

 

 

> This is one place where Wiseman's terminology does not, in my

opinion,

> do an adequate job. As a teacher, it is my experience that many

> English-speakers are confused by this term, " moderate " pulse.

That's

> why, in my own teaching and writing, when I mean huan mai as one of

> the diseased pulse images, I typically say " moderate " and then put

> " i.e., relaxed or slightly slow " in parentheses, thus using Wiseman

> for my standard identification but glossing that term to help bring

> out its technical meaning in that particular context. I believe

most

> of the students to whom I have taught pulse exmaination understand

and

> keep these two meanings disinct in their minds without any

particular

> difficulty. I merely say, like my teachers in Shanghai, that this

> pulse has two different meanings depending on how and when the term

is

> used. This also holds true for the replete (shi) and vacuous (xu)

> pulses which have two different definitions depending on their

> context.

>

> Bob

>

> , " James Ramholz " <jramholz>

wrote:

> > Ken:

> >

> > Huan mai is from the Wiseman dictionary, of course. In it, he

says

> of

> > huan mai, " Construed as a normal pulse, it is even and moderate,

and

> > is a sign of the presence of stomach qi . . . " ---although I

wouldn't

> > agree with his second half of the definition because once it

> > is " without strength " and mostly " seen in dampness patterns and

in

> > spleen-stomach vacuity " it is no longer moderate. You can't have

it

> > both normal and pathological---no wonder why people are confused

by

> > CM.

> >

> > I've taken the liberty of uploading my article on the Normal

Pulse

> > which has a table of comparison between various translations of

> > pinyin pulse terms, including those from my own Korean system of

> > pulse diagnosis.

> >

> > Jim Ramholz

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > What is the Chinese word " huan " here?

> >

> > The typical term used to describe a " normal "

> > pulse in Chinese is " zheng4 chang2 mai4 " .

> > I'm not familiar with the term you're

> > using. Can you clarify it?

> >

> > For those who can see the Chinese characters,

> > zheng4 chang2 mai4 is Õý³£Âö.

> >

> > Ken

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > James Ramholz, O.M.D.

> > 1st Avenue Chiropractic Center

> > 100 Monroe

> > Denver, CO 80206

> > (303) 522-3348