Translation of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Gains vs. Losses

Abstract

Translation criteria have always been a controversial topic in contemporary discourse. Depending on the preference for valuing the cultural messages of the source language or valuing the acceptability of the target language, translation theorists mainly fall within two schools: the adaptation school and the alienation school. However, whatever criterion is used, gains and losses are inevitable in the process of translation. In this article, the author, through textual analyses, proves this argument by providing specific findings from the case study of Traditional Chinese Medicine translation. He also argues that the best result of translation lies in choosing the right criterion that best accommodates the translation goal, which offers some help to translators who feel unsure about what translation criteria to abide by in their translation work.