Secrets of Mastery

There was once a case in our student clinic of a dermatological patient who had received many treatments without improvement.  In addition to his skin problems, the patient reported fatigue, a symptom repeated in each chart. When interviewed again, however, he described the problem as a “tendency to fall asleep easily” rather than any sense of physical weakness or chronic exhaustion.  When his secondary complaint was more accurately expressed as “somnolence”, using technically precise language, the patterns changed, and the modified treatment strategy yielded the best results he had experienced. Far from semantics, getting the words right can make the difference between clinical success and failure.

Unfortunately, much of the English-language terminology used in Chinese medicine today is fundamentally flawed and either fails to convey the nuances of the Chinese language or is simply wrong.  The source of our jargon in English is mainly a blend of English renderings of French translations created by medical doctors in the 1920’s and terminology added by later Chinese-speaking translators.  Both of these sources break the cardinal rule of professional translation: only translate into your native tongue.  For native English speakers who read medical Chinese, it is easy to see how the essence of Chinese medicine is, all too often, lost in translation.

This blog will explore key Chinese medical terminology and TCM theory with an emphasis on linguistics.  Our hope is to restore some of the essential cultural elements to Chinese medical language, not for purely academic interest but, rather, with the intention of improving clinical practice.  If there are questions, corrections, or comments, we invite you to participate in constructive dialogue with the hope of enriching everyone’s understanding of this profound medical system.