<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written, but a flawed translation.
Review: Ilza Veith's translation was my first encounter to this classic Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) text and definitely inspired me to study TCM. It is beautifully written and has a helpful introduction explaining the basic philosophy and concepts of Taoism and TCM. Unfortunately, her book contains significant translation errors. For this reason it can not be fully relied upon. While ancient Chinese texts are well known to be difficult to translate, some of the errors show a lack of knowledge of TCM and Classical Chinese.
Case in point, page 159 (chapter 17, book 5 of Yellow Emperor's Classic), Veith's translation:
The Yellow Emperor asked: "What is the way of medical treatment?"
Ch'i Po answered: "The way of medical treatment is to be consistent. It should be executed at dawn when the Yin [the female principle in nature] has not yet begun to stir and when the breath of Yang [the male principle of life and light] has not yet begun to diffuse; when food and drink have not been taken, when the twelve main vessels are not yet abundant and when the lo vessels are stirred up thoroughly; when vigor and energy are not yet disturbed--at this particular time one should examine what has happened to the pulse.
There are several serious errors in the above. Apparently, Veith misunderstood the contextual meaning and, in addition, for several characters misunderstood which meaning of several possibilities applied and consequently a cascade of translation mistakes followed in an attempt to salvage a sense of unity to the passage. It should have been obvious that an error early in interpretation had occurred.
1) The portion: "The Way of medical treatment is to be consistent. It should be executed at dawn" should be translated along the lines of: The examination of the pulse is usually done at dawn.
The character zhen3 (pinyin tone 3) means treatment or examination, but zhen3 followed by fa3 means examination or diagnosis and further it is clear from the context that what is being discussed is examination methods not treatment methods.
She has also misunderstood the meaning of chang2; while it can mean constant, in this context it means usually or quite often. The idea is that the pulse should be taken early in the morning when it is calm (If it is stormy weather for example the pulse will be influenced.), since this not always possible or practical, the character chang2 is used to convey this.
2) The phrase: "lo vessels are stirred up thoroughly" is translated poorly and is misleading, literally it would be: lo vessels harmoniously/mixed EVENLY. The idea of balance, lack of excess and calmness pervades the passage and thus the incorrect way Veith translated this phrase stands out like a sore thumb. Further, the phrase could be expanded, as though it isn't explicitly stated, it is the qi and blood that flow through the connecting (lo4) [and branching] vessels [that form a network throughout the body] that are harmonious and balanced.
3) The phrase: "when vigor and energy are not yet disturbed" is also incorrect. Literally, the four characters in this phrase are: qi4 blood not disorderly. Why use "breath" for qi earlier, but then use vigor and energy? And what about the blood? Since the passage is about reading the pulse, obviously qi and blood are central to the passage. No other translation I have seen uses anything other than qi and blood.
4) The last clause: "at that particular time one should examine what has happened to the pulse." Apparently she mistranslated the two characters you3 guo4 which taken together mean: wrong or mistake, Thus the last clause should be translated along the lines of: therefore one can examine (diagnose) a pulse that is abnormal. A Chinese doctor friend of mine stated these two characters you3 guo3 used to indicate "mistake" or "wrong " is a frequent compound and old. While Classical Chinese uses fewer compounds than modern Chinese, this is almost certainly a compound usage here. The character guo3 by itself can also mean: beyond the normal limits.
5) The phrases: breath of Yin and breath of Yang while poetic are also translated poorly. The Chinese characters are: yin1 qi4 and yang2 qi4 respectively.
Yin qi means: the qi of the five "solid" organs (The five viscera are: heart, lung, spleen, liver and kidney. While the pericardium is considered a sixth visceral organ in channel theory, I don't know if this is the case in The Yellow Emperor's Classic.); qi that moves inward and down; the qi that forms the blood, etc.
Yang qi means: the qi of the hollow organs (small intestine, large intestine, stomach, gall bladder, bladder, plus the tripple warmer); qi that moves up and out; defensive qi; etc.
6) The part about twelve main vessels is not well translated. What is refered to here are the main channels (jing1 mai4) of qi and blood, by using "twelve main vessels" Veith is implying the twelve acupuncture channels, which may or may not be meant here, in most TCM works when twelve the channels are meant, the characters for twelve are specifically included.
I don't know enough about the Nei jing to rule out for sure that the twelve channels are not implied. However in last part of the previous chapter of the Nei jing when the jing1 mai4 are referred to, these two characters are specifically prefixed by twelve thus meaning the twelve regular acupuncture channels. Even if somehow jing1 mai4 here means the acupuncture channels, it isn't clear that the 8 extra channels are not meant as well as they are major channels of qi as well.
Since the book is beautifully written, contains many interesting illustrations, and some useful historical and philosophical knowledge, as well as introductory TCM theory it is still worth reading. However, as a reference for learning the nuances of the ancient fundamentals of TCM it is too flawed. Really, a new edition should be put out correcting the many translation errors.
Rating: 
Summary: Ancient Chinese arts of healing and philosophy on life
Review: This is an advanced book for those with an interest in herbal, meditation, and natural foods healing. A lot of the text refers to references and ideas that many may not understand unless you have read previous books on similar subjects. A thorough understanding of the many concepts and ideas of Yin Yang are a must and an understanding of the ancient references to many of the body's organs. The knowledge in this book is given in a conversational method. Many students of the Yellow Emperor respectfully ask him questions and he answers in eliquent methods.
Rating:
Summary: Ancient Chinese arts of healing and philosophy on life
Review: This is an advanced book for those with an interest in herbal, meditation, and natural foods healing. A lot of the text refers to references and ideas that many may not understand unless you have read previous books on similar subjects. A thorough understanding of the many concepts and ideas of Yin Yang are a must and an understanding of the ancient references to many of the body's organs. The knowledge in this book is given in a conversational method. Many students of the Yellow Emperor respectfully ask him questions and he answers in eliquent methods.
Rating:
Summary: Who is it for?
Review: This translation includes only a small portion of the Huangdi Neijing, and the style of translation is such that most readers, including those versed in the principles of Chinese medicine, will gain about as much from studying it as they would from studying the original text without prior knowledge of ancient Chinese writing. It's not clear who the intended audience is for this translation.Western-trained students and clinicians would be better served by Maoshing Ni's paraphrased translation, despite its problems. For a contemporary, scholarly treatment of the Neijing, try Paul Unschuld's. It's a fine alternative. There should be a link to it above on this page.
<< 1 >>
|
