To Z'ev: A careless error or an intentional mistranslation?

[Guest guest]

Dear ZÕev:

As you are a devoted Shang Han Lun-ist yourself, I am

sure that you have already found a mistranslation in

line 31 (p. 109) of the Mitchell et al version of the

Shang Han Lun.

It says, " [in] greater yang disease with a stretched

stiff nape and back, absence of sweating, and aversion

to cold, Pueraria Decoction governs. "

As you know this line starts with the exact same

sentence as line 14 and it is translated as follows:

Line 14 " When in greater yang disease [there is]

stretched stiff nape and back, but also sweating and

aversion to wind, it is treated with Cinnamon Twig

Decoction Plus Pueraria. " (p.79)

I do not know why they did not use the same

translation. If they had, then they would not mistake

" aversion to wind " as " aversion to cold. " The correct

translation is " aversion to wind. "

In classic Chinese literature, this type of sentence

is called " hu wen. " The word " hu " means " each other. "

Fujido Meiho, a Japanese authority on classic Chinese

linguistics, explains in his " Gakken Kanwa

Daijiten " (1991), " Hu wen is a set of two words or two

sentences, where one of them omits a part of the words

or the sentences, and the set compensates for each

other to complete the meaning. " Thus, I believe

Mitchell et al should have translated these two

sentences the same way.

My point is, " Is this a careless error or an

intentional mistranslation? "

In the Text Note of Mitchell et al, it says, " This is

the same expression as that used in line 14. In this

line, however, the disease is cold damage exterior

repletion, whereas in line 14, it is wind strike

exterior vacuity. "

In Shang Han Lun, " wind strike " and " cold damage " are

defined in line 2 and line 3.

Line 2: " When in greater yang disease [there is] heat

effusion, sweating, aversion to wind, and a pulse that

is moderate, it is called wind strike. "

Line 3: " Greater yang disease, whether heat has

effused or not, as long as there is aversion to cold,

with generalized pain, retching counterflow, and yin

and yang [pulses] both tight, is called cold damage. "

As far as I understand, Cheng Wu-ji started to

categorize Pueraria Decoction as Shang-han (cold

damage) in his book, Zhu Jie Shang Han Lun (Notes and

Explanation of Shang Han Lun, 1144.) In Japanese Kanpo

practice, Pueraria Decoction is a common cold remedy,

not a Shang-han medicine.

ZÕev, what do you think?

Shinjiro