Regarding tonficiation

[Guest guest]

All,

 

The sense of the " right word " that Colleen describes concerning

" tonification " is why it is so difficult to change word use once it becomes

vernacular and is one of reasons why translators feel technical terms need

to be developed in a systematic way from a sufficiently large volume of

foreign-language literature before they are put forward as translations, and

why scholars are stringent about publishing glossaries of definition.

 

The problem is not in the word but in the definition. Without that

definition people " fill in the blanks " guided by their English-language sense

of the meaning. Note, for example, that " tonification " it is not actually a

new word. The familiarity of the root word " tonic, " meaning a " whole body

medicine or panacea, " is why it flows easily from an English-speakers

tongue. The question is whether or not " tonic " has colored the idea.

 

The word " tonfication " in English came from Soulie De Morant's French use

in " Chinese Acupuncture. " If you look at how he uses it, it is that which an

acupuncturist does to bring fullness to an empty pulse based on the theory

of qi as energy. It is typically used as a verb form (as in " to tonify " ),

almost

always in close proximity to " disperse. " It is not the quality of a thing, but

the result of needling.

 

If you look at the Chinese definition of bu3 fa3 - supplementing method -

you see it is a much larger concept that is rooted in the idea that when right

qi is too weak to expel an evil, supplementation is used to restore the right

to its proper strength. Soulie De Morant's use fits only the aspect of the

term that refers to the needle technique ( " supplementation and drainage

needling " ). However, in the much richer concept venue of internal medicine

where supplementation describes the quality of many, many medicinals that

accomplish supplementing the right by four main means (boosting qi, yin,

yang, yin), the need to recognize the full scope of the term is much stronger.

 

Neither those who think in terms of " supplementation " or those who think

in terms of " tonficiation " are paying any attention to the other definition.

So, I'm pretty dubious that case examples can show us much. However, I

think you can study it by interview or by textual analysis, for example,

reviewing tests or texts to see whether the herbs and/or herbal qualities that

are closer to describing a whole body medicine are favored. I've never done

the work systematically, but I think if you look at herbal advertisements

and the lay literature there is a bias in favor of " whole body medicine. "

 

You can indirectly see the influence of " tonic, " the obvious category for

herbs that " tonify, " by looking at how people avoid its use. Why, for

example, do we so often see: " herbs that tonify, " or " tonifying herbs " instead

of " tonics, " unless the obvious category word " tonics " weren't a touch too

loaded with the " panacea " connotation? You can see this too in how using

" tonification " for bu3 fa3, which is a category term for a number of

medicinal qualities, limits the perspective on the term. Consider some of

what was said about what the category includes in Dr. Jiao's introduction to

his chapter on supplementing herbs:

 

This lecture introduces more than simply medicinals that supplement

qi, supplement the blood, supplement yin, and supplement yang. To

overcome the limits of individual categories, spirit-quieting and

securing and astringing medicinals, which are similiar to

supplementing medicinals in that they are of benefit to right qi,

have also been included in this lecture.

 

" Tonification " is hard to fit to the category because it is too narrow, misses

the relationship to right qi, and its root in " tonic " too colorful to ignore.

Here again the important issue is not the word, but whether the definition is

sufficiently broad.

 

Bob

 

 

 

bob Paradigm Publications

www.paradigm-pubs.com 44 Linden Street

Robert L. Felt Brookline MA 02445

617-738-4664

 

 

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