Subject: Chinese Translation, Re: The nature of Qi

From: [email-masked]
Date: 24 Jan 1995 15:28:32 GMT

On 1/24/95, Jan Nauta asked:

: Aren't there native Chinese experts available. or Internet-contacts
: with Chinese Academies for TCM for consultation? Jan Nauta,
: Groningen, the Netherlands 

Helpful as that may seem, it really isn't as useful as you would think. My
experience with modern Chinese is that they are as caught by the modern
implications of ancient terminology as modern Westerners. Most, even in the
ETH community, are perfectly happy to define Qi as energy. As for
'experts'...in some cases German and French scholars are better able to be
called experts, since their study has been of longer standing, and they had
long access to texts that weren't generally available in China for a hundred
years.

Then there's the question of what constitutes proper English translation.
Look at the Wiseman translation work. Highly controversial. And yet,
decidedly clear of the usual simple misconceptions. His 'errors' are larger
than mistakes. They are caught up in questions of universality vs. personal
conception.

I think a lot of our problems are due to complex misconceptions, and we
should perhaps be proud of them, in the sense that at least they aren't
simply denotative errors. What a wonderfully broad tradition, complete with
all sorts of shadowy corners! Lots of interesting ideas.

[email-masked] (Paul Iannone, P.O.B. 66843, L.A., CA 90066).