Abstract
In both Chinese and foreign-language textbooks, the basic theory of Chinese medicine is presented in the form of largely unsubstantiated statements. How the theories evolved is left largely unexplained.
While Chinese students gain some inklings through deeper study of the classics, Westerners are left guessing or imagining.
When we look at basic theories more to see where they may have come from, we find a mixture of deductions from naked-sense observations of the body in its environment and complex yīn-yáng, five-phase, governmental and other analogies.
Some analogies may be obvious (e.g., kidney belonging to water), but even here, there is much more to unpack, such the kidney’s association with essence, the bones, the Office of Forceful Action.
This lecture discusses the importance of analogy in human cognition and the immense role that various forms of analogy have played in the development of Chinese medical theory in tandem with and under the constraint of analysis of observable data.
Introduction
- Topic: analogy in the development of Chinese medicine’s basic theories.
- General aim: provide food for thought about Chinese medicine and culture; possibly fill in some knowledge gaps; and hopefully provide you with some surprises.
- How basic individual "theories" arose is not explained in textbooks or in the earliest description of them (Nèi Jīng). Lots of things have to be memorized instead of understanding how they arose.
- But, the Nèi Jīng is very explicit about one thing: “Without drawing comparison of kinds [i.e., analogy], this cannot be clearly understood” (不引比类¸ 是知不明 bù yǐn bǐ lèi, shì zhī bù míng).
- Analogy helped ancient medical scholars make sense of direct observations.
- Western students are aware of analogy in Chinese medicine; just not aware of its enormity, since much of it is lost in translation.
- Importance of analogy rediscovered in modern times. Culturally we were all aware of analogy and metaphor, but the work of people like George Lakoff has shown much greater depth.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Nigel Wiseman
PhD
NIGEL WISEMAN, born in the UK, studied Spanish and German at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and subsequently worked as a French-English translator in Belgium while learning Chinese. In 1981, he moved to Taiwan, where he has been ever since. He holds a doctorate in Complementary Health from the University of Exeter.
Nigel has taught English and subjects related to Chinese medicine at both China Medical University and Chang Gung University, the two universities in Taiwan that offer Chinese medical programs.
Specializing in the English translation of Chinese medical texts, Nigel has produced numerous titles in collaboration with other translators. Amongst his works are Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine, Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture, and Jiao Shu-De's Ten Lectures on the Formulas. He has also co-authored the translation of two major classical texts, On Cold Damage (Shang Han Lun) and Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Coffer (Jin Gui Yao Lue).
In his unswerving belief in that a major key to advancing the Western understanding of Chinese medicine is to gain access to primary Chinese texts, Nigel has co-authored several language books, including Introduction to English Terminology of Chinese Medicine and Chinese Medical Characters Volume 1–5.
Widely respected in the international scholarly community for his research on Chinese medical terminology, Nigel has produced numerous papers arguing for a source-oriented approach to Chinese medical term translation, many of which are available at paradigm-pubs. com. From 2004 to 2005, he acted as a Technical Advisor to the WHO in its debates on an ISO standard for Chinese medical terminology.
Nigel’s lexicographic works include a Glossary of Chinese Medical Terms and Acupuncture Points,《汉英英汉中医词典》English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, and Online Dictionary of Chinese Medicine. 2021 publications include Chinese-English Dictionary of Chinese Medical Terms and Comprehensive Chinese Materia Medica.
A website, Chinese Medical Database, containing much of the material created by Nigel and colleagues over 40 years is shortly to be launched.
