Abstract:
This presentation tries to analyze cultural genes involved in understanding and translating Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine, a great and large Chinese classic, conceived in antiquity, developed in Warring States and compiled in the Qin and Hand Dynasties, characterized by elegant language, abstruse concepts, excellent theories and detailed discussions. Since its theory was established on the basis of traditional Chinese culture and studies of various schools, information tends to change in its translation. To reveal the causes responsible for information change, the author has applied the theory of cultural gene, entropy and dissipation to the study of English translation of Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine, trying to analyze the reality of information change and its possible cultural significance in intercultural communication.
About the Speaker:
Li Zhaoguo, Master of Arts (English), Ph. D on traditional Chinese medicine and Professor of English in Shanghai Normal University, has devoted himself to the study, practice and translation of traditional Chinese culture and traditional Chinese medicine in the past 26 years. His publications include 23 books on Chinese culture and translation (including Entropy, Dissipation and Reconstruction: A New Approach to the Theory and Practice of Chinese-English Translation) and 25 versions of traditional Chinese medical canons and classics (including Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine). He is now General Secretary of Translation Specialty Committee of World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, Vice Director of TCM English Committee of China Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, and WHO expert on international standardization of traditional medicine terminologies.