English Translation of Culture-loaded Terms in TCM from the Perspective of Cultural Translation Theory—A Case Study on Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases (Shang Han Lun)

Abstract

Since the native medical science originating in local China, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) has been the prominent representative of Chinese civilization. Under the guidance of culture “going global” strategy, it is a critical project to take our fine culture of TCM to the global stage. TCM classics always contain lots of culture-loaded words whose literal counterparts cannot be found in English, leading to great difficulties in translation. Therefore, Luo Xiwen’s Target Text of Treatise on Cold Damage Disease (Shang Han Lun), one of the four TCM classics, is selected for its high recognition to analyzes its culture-loaded words. In addition, the paper studies the translation strategies of culture-loaded words in TCM from the perspective of cultural translation theories and find that translators can opt foreignization or domestication according to different situations, or even can combine them to produce a better translation text, hoping to offer some reference for TCM translation.