Guest guest Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Z'ev and Eric- Z'ev wrote: >If we are thinking in terms of evil qi attacking the body, the >relationship of defense/soldiers and camp qi makes sense. However, >when thinking of bodily substances, especially ying qi's relationship >with the blood, construction or nutritive works better in my opinion. This discussion of translational choice for ying-2 is quite interesting. For what its worth, I think that the term " camp " is a bad choice for a few reasons: Simply put, it lacks the dynamic meaning implied by the original Chinese while putting too much emphasis on separating out ying from wei. " Camp " brings to mind a fairly static (albeit portable) concept of a fixed place of support from which the " defensive " heads out. In my understanding of the physiology of ying-wei, they are intertwined and co-dependant in a way that this term fails to convey. Although ying-2 can be said to be relatively stable when compared with the sudden, mobile force of wei-4, in normal physiology, they are together. Ying-2 in the vessels, wei-2 outside the vessels. Ying-2 is circulating with rhythm, wei-4 moves to where it needs to go with suddeness. There is obviously a similarity to the military metaphor used in texts like the Ling Shu and Nan Jing but, I think, getting caught up in the metaphor without seeing the dynamics of the physiology in the body is just the sort of approach that an historian takes in contrast to a clinical practitioner. We need terminology that highlights function if (god forbid) there is occasional lack of harmony with the historical meanings of the characters (which have often been fluid) then that is the sacrifice we should make. While no term is perfect, it seems to me that " nutritive " is one of the best English words to convey the idea that our ability to protect ourselves from the six qi depends on a constant supply of internal qi radiating to all corners of the body. Constructive also seems to separate the two ideas in the mind in a similar way to " camp " . Well, that's my two cents, respectfully, Jason Robertson for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Jason, I don't disagree with you, I am just reporting on the changes likely to be implemented by the WHO. Unschuld is part of the input team, and his stance on camp may end up prevailing. But the arguments that they need to consider are the same arguments that you and Z'ev are making. There isn't really one way to do it that is completely correct, and this term will likely continue to be handled differently by different authors no matter what the English standard term becomes. Eric , Jason Robertson <kentuckyginseng> wrote: > > > Z'ev and Eric- > > > Z'ev wrote: > >If we are thinking in terms of evil qi attacking the body, the > >relationship of defense/soldiers and camp qi makes sense. However, > >when thinking of bodily substances, especially ying qi's relationship > >with the blood, construction or nutritive works better in my opinion. > > This discussion of translational choice for ying-2 is quite interesting. For what its worth, I think that the term " camp " is a bad choice for a few reasons: > > Simply put, it lacks the dynamic meaning implied by the original Chinese while putting too much emphasis on separating out ying from wei. > > " Camp " brings to mind a fairly static (albeit portable) concept of a fixed place of support from which the " defensive " heads out. In my understanding of the physiology of ying-wei, they are intertwined and co-dependant in a way that this term fails to convey. Although ying-2 can be said to be relatively stable when compared with the sudden, mobile force of wei-4, in normal physiology, they are together. Ying-2 in the vessels, wei-2 outside the vessels. Ying-2 is circulating with rhythm, wei-4 moves to where it needs to go with suddeness. > > There is obviously a similarity to the military metaphor used in texts like the Ling Shu and Nan Jing but, I think, getting caught up in the metaphor without seeing the dynamics of the physiology in the body is just the sort of approach that an historian takes in contrast to a clinical practitioner. > > We need terminology that highlights function if (god forbid) there is occasional lack of harmony with the historical meanings of the characters (which have often been fluid) then that is the sacrifice we should make. > > While no term is perfect, it seems to me that " nutritive " is one of the best English words to convey the idea that our ability to protect ourselves from the six qi depends on a constant supply of internal qi radiating to all corners of the body. Constructive also seems to separate the two ideas in the mind in a similar way to " camp " . > > Well, that's my two cents, > > respectfully, > Jason Robertson > > > > > for Good > Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.