Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

Digest Number 127

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Hello, my name is Isabell McAren and I am an acupuncturist in Illinois. I had

a couple of comments I wanted to throw out there and see what you all

thought.

 

In Illinois, MDs and Chiropractors can practice acupuncture with little or no

training. Chiropractors need only to have 200 hrs worth of seminars to

practice. They also get insurance reimbursement. Acupuncturists, on the other

hand, must have graduated from an accredited school, have passed the NCCA

boards, have paid $500. for an Illinois license (which has to be renewed

every 2 years for the same cost), and must get a referral letter from every

patient's Dr. or Chiro. We can't sell herbs unless we become certified

nutritionists, we can't use a laser, and we don't get insurance

reimbursement. We also have to keep up with our CEU's.

 

I was talking to a chiropractor the other day, and he said that chiropractors

were the ones who brought acupuncture over to the U.S. He said they learn a

different method than us, and that it is more effective. He said acupuncture

can easily be distilled down to 200 hrs of just the basics and that it is

ridiculous to spend 3 years in acupuncture school. He also said that the

classes in acupuncture that he attended were taught by a chiropractor and

were only open to chiropractors or MDs. If you weren't a Dr, you didn't get

in.

 

Does anyone out there have a comment on this? Thanks for your opinions,

Isabell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In a message dated 1/3/2000 9:17:58 AM Eastern Standard Time,

McArenAcu writes:

 

<< Hello, my name is Isabell McAren and I am an acupuncturist in Illinois. I

had

a couple of comments I wanted to throw out there and see what you all

thought.

 

In Illinois, MDs and Chiropractors can practice acupuncture with little or

no

training. Chiropractors need only to have 200 hrs worth of seminars to

practice. They also get insurance reimbursement. Acupuncturists, on the

other

hand, must have graduated from an accredited school, have passed the NCCA

boards, have paid $500. for an Illinois license (which has to be renewed

every 2 years for the same cost), and must get a referral letter from every

patient's Dr. or Chiro. We can't sell herbs unless we become certified

nutritionists, we can't use a laser, and we don't get insurance

reimbursement. We also have to keep up with our CEU's.

 

I was talking to a chiropractor the other day, and he said that

chiropractors

were the ones who brought acupuncture over to the U.S. He said they learn a

different method than us, and that it is more effective. He said acupuncture

can easily be distilled down to 200 hrs of just the basics and that it is

ridiculous to spend 3 years in acupuncture school. He also said that the

classes in acupuncture that he attended were taught by a chiropractor and

were only open to chiropractors or MDs. If you weren't a Dr, you didn't get

in. >>

 

Hello Isabelle,

We have a similar situation here in Florida, though not as grim.

Chiro's and MD's need only 200 hrs as well.

We take the Florida board, and for another $800.00 you get national

accreditation.

Our state lisence is $400.00, We are primary care physicians, and some

though not too many insurance companies pay. We too need CEU's. I beliefe it

is 32 hrs every 2 yrs. They do a random audit, and if you don't have

verification, it results in a fine, and/or action against your license. We

have a pretty broad scope down here.

Herbs and supplements as well as laser - all acceptable, as well as Tui-Na.

 

My father, mother, and uncle as well as about 4 other extended family members

are

Chiropractors, and they agree that it is irresponsable to practice

acupuncture with only 200 hrs. I don't think they would think that if it

weren't for my educating them though.

 

My thought is that acupuncture and Chinese medicine came over with the waves

of Chinese immegrants, although some attribute it to Nixon's aide who was

treated in China, and brought back news of how well it worked. (I think I

have the story straight.)

Our state organization is constantly fighting for our rights. The medics and

chiros are constantly trying to absorb us into their scope of practice.

We are going to 4 years college and four years of college in Chinese

medicine, I believe in the next few years, but there is talk of disallowing

any grandfathering.

 

Your Chiro friend is mistaken in any event, and is probably trying to justify

the irresponsabiliity of being sorely undereducated, and using acupuncture.

If he thinks that acupuncture can easily be distilled down to 200 hrs, either

believes the bill of goods that was sold to him, or he doesn't know his A**

from a hole in the ground. Ask him what he thinks about acupuncturists taking

a 200 hr course and

being certified to correct spinal subluxations, and listen to him defended

his art.

 

It's tough for us at this stage, but I think the only way for us to survive

is to support our state organizations. They are the ones who fight our

battles in the gov't.

 

Hope this was helpful,

R. Scott Malone D.O.M., A.P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Guest guest

Philippe:

 

> Thank you for your feedback, it was like a fresh breeze of lucid culture

!!

 

And thank you, too!

 

> I have myself translated in French* the work of Wang Ang: <Tangtou gejue>

 

Since you are French, you must be familiar with the publications of

Maisonneuve and the work of Elizabeth Rochat de Vallee and Claude Larre.

When I was at ACTCM I felt that there must be some other way of learning

Chinese medicine than the way we were learning it, rote memorization of

endless lists of seemingly uncoordinated functions and indications of points

and herbs. My guess was that there was an underlying theoretical structure

which provided a framework from which all of this endless information could

be extrapolated. I wondered if this endless memorization occurred in

Chinese schools of TCM or whether they had access to books and instruction

that provide this deeper understanding. While this has not yet been

resolved for me, my assumption is that they also learn in the manner that we

learn, this being a product of the development of TCM as a mass education

phenomenon and an attempt to appear or be " scientific " and less " mythical. "

When I encountered the publications of Maisonneuve I thought I had found the

beginnings of what I was looking for. Have you seen " L'Equilibre Rythme "

(excuse me for the lack of accent marks) by Andre Timon or " Equilibre

Energetique Acupunctural, Esquisse d'Une Methodologie " by Dr. J. G.

Bierlaire?

 

Z'ev:

 

>Jonathan hit it on the head. He and I are both students of the Jewish

>mystical literature, and without a continual lineage to pass on the

>teaching, teachers to explain it, commentaries to elucidate it, and a

>working knowledge of Hebrew, the knowledge cannot be explained adequately.

>Modern interpretations of Kabbalistic teaching often end up being just

>that, unable to go farther than the person interpreting it.

 

Of course, I always have our traditions in the back of my mind (and not too

far back) when I think about these things. Not only is Kabbalistic

literature difficult, and I daresay impossible to translate, since it relies

just as heavily on word-play and connotative meaning as Chinese literature,

but the Bible itself is equally impossible to translate and is universally

severely misunderstood. It not only relies upon word play and connotative

meaning but also the visual appearance of words (it is nearly heiroglyphic

at times) and juxtaposition of events. People often read the Bible in

translation all over the world and don't even begin to realize how much they

are misunderstanding, glossing over seeming contradictions and elisions in

the text, like the statement in Genesis 3:23-24, " And Lamech said to his

wives, Adah and Zillah, 'Hear my voice, wives of Lamech, listen to what I

say, for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. If

Cain is avenged seven fold, surely Lamech seventy seven fold.' " And there is

no indication there to what he is referring. Or even the first statement in

the Tanach, " In the beginning, " is misunderstood. This is not at all what

it says, as you know from Rashi's commentary, and indeed the commentary by

R. Yonatan ben Uziel (a commentator from 2000 years ago), who translates it

as " Be Hochmah, " meaning " Wisely " or " Through wisdom did God create the

heavens and the earth. " You must know the ancient story of the Septuagint,

the first translation of the Tanach into a foreign language (Greek) and the

adverse reaction of the Rabbis to this. My usual assumption is that their

dismay was based upon their understanding that the Tanach (Bible) was

impossible to translate accurately.

 

To everyone else, if this is uninteresting, sorry for the long digression

outside of the realm of Chinese medicine.

 

Later,

Jonathan Daniel, DC, LAc.

jalexd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hronic Diseases Heal - Chinese Herbs Can Help

> >------

> >

> >There are 9 messages in this issue.

> >

> >Topics in today's digest:

> >

> > 1. Re: Digest Number 125

> > " Jonathan Alexander Daniel " <jalexd

> > 2. huo ma ren

> >

> > 3. Re: Digest Number 125

> > " " <zrosenberg

> > 4. Re: -about translation-

> > " Galerie Z.T. " <jetnik

> > 5. old new diagnosis question

> > Ed Kasper <edkasper

> > 6. Re: Re: -about translation-

> > " " <zrosenberg

> > 7. Re: huo ma ren

> > Karen S Vaughan <creationsgarden

> > 8. Re: JCM

> > acuman1

> > 9. bioavailability of raw, ground herb

> > Pamela Zilavy <yinyang

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 1

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 10:04:47 -0500

> > " Jonathan Alexander Daniel " <jalexd

> >Re: Digest Number 125

> >

> >> I wrote this article in 1993.If that can help you..

> >> I 'd love to hear your feedback on it.

> >>

> >> Philippe Riviere

> >

> >I agree with you and with Z'ev. This was a great article. Back in 1991

> >when I was at ACTCM I was involved in a translation project there and

what

> >you said in the article is exactly what I said to my teacher then: In

> order

> >to do an adequate translation of a Chinese medicine text into English,

one

> >must know well Chinese language, the English language, Chinese culture

and

> >history and Western culture and history. It is well-known that poetry is

> >nearly impossible to translate, as is philosophy. Language has two

> aspects,

> >the denotative and the connotative. The denotative is easy to translate,

> >but poetry and philosophy rely heavily on the connotative aspect of

> >language, and this is very difficult to translate since the associations

> >that one makes in one language are usually not shared with those of the

> >other language, because of different cultural and historical contexts.

> >Chinese medical texts are similar to poetry and philosophy in this sense,

> >especially the older texts. Chinese medicine has its roots in Daoism,

the

> >entire Chinese cultural civilization has strong roots in the Yi Jing. In

> >order to understand the metaphors being used by ancient medical authors,

it

> >is necessary to adequately comprehend the Yi Jing (and not merely as a

> >fortune-telling device) as well as Daoism. The more ancient medical

> writers

> >were not only doctors but also scholars. In fact many of them were

> >primarily scholars. Sometimes when they wrote they would quote the

> classics

> >of Chinese civilization. These quotations would be immediately

recognized

> >as such by fellow scholar-doctors who were also well-versed in the

> classics;

> >and the context would be immediately understandable to them. But without

> >this cultural background we are often at best lost when we encounter some

> of

> >their statements and at worst we misunderstand and apply our own

> connotative

> >understanding which comes out of our own historical context. This is why

> >commentary is so necessary, commentary by someone familiar with the four

> >things I cited above. In addition, it is quite obvious that the

classical

> >authors often used word associations based upon puns. When one reads a

> >translation without any knowledge of the original Chinese text one has no

> >chance to even consider this word play. An example would be the name of

> >Large Intestine 4, which is He Gu, which can mean, " union valley " but can

> >also mean " grain gathering " and then as a pun it is called " Hu Kou " which

> >means the " Tiger's Mouth, " all of these names bring up associations

related

> >to the functioning of the point. But if one merely reads in English,

> " grain

> >gathering, " " union valley " and " tiger's mouth " one has no concept of why

> all

> >three names are given to this point let alone why the point is given this

> >name. Two good books that I have found which deal with the difficulties

of

> >understanding ancient thought and culture include:

> >

> >Avatara: The Humanization of Philosophy Through the Bhagavad Gita by

> Antonio

> >T. de Nicolas; 1976 Nicolas Hays Ltd. ISBN 0-89254-001-X

> >

> >Quotation from the book jacket:

> >

> > " Professor de Nicolas presents the reader with actualized possibilities

of

> >knowing other cultures as they knew themselves. In his work, philosophy

> >becomes an ongoing synthesis of knowledge and sensation. This new

> >translation of The Bhagavad Gita with its easy and beautiful reading, is

a

> >major philosophical attempt to read a most important text of a culture in

> >its own context. "

> >

> >Hamlet's Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and

> Its

> >Transmission Through Myth by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von

Dechend;

> >1977 David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc. ISBN 0-87923--215-3

> >

> >Quotation from the book jacket:

> > " Ever since the Greeks coined the language we commonly use for scientific

> >description, mythology and science have developed separately. But what

> came

> >before the Greeks? What if we could prove that all myths have one common

> >origin in a celestial cosmology? What if the gods, the places they

lived,

> >and what they did are but ciphers for celestial activity, a language for

> the

> >perpetuation of complex astronomical data? "

> >

> >Modern science has attempted to rid itself of as much connotative

language

> >as possible and to describe things as denotatively as possible in an

effort

> >to present knowledge unambiguously and which can be understood in all

> >cultures at all times. I think that this attempt is somewhat of a

failure.

> >Perhaps in 2000 years our modern scientific texts will appear as baffling

 

> to

> >people as 2000 year-old texts appear to us now. And perhaps 2000 years

ago

> >the authors were also writing in a way that they thought would be

> >universally understood, not realizing the full extent of the significance

> of

> >the shifting sands of language and culture.

> >

> >I am glad that we have reached the point in learning Chinese medicine

that

> >we are recognizing our inadequacies here.

> >

> >Later,

> >Jonathan Daniel, DC, LAc.

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 2

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 09:27:50 -0800 (PST)

> >

> >huo ma ren

> >

> >It is my understanding that sterilized huo ma ren is legal for use in

> >the US. Numerous companies import this seed legally. However, it has

> >been heat treated to prevent sprouting. Since the active components are

> >heat sensitive essential fatty acids, I would suggest that most seeds

> >are rancidified by this process, making them not only useess, but

> >perhaps dangerous. Rancid EFA's cause cancer at very high rates due to

> >massive free radical induction.

> >

> >As Kevin Oneil mentioned in an earlier post, it is also unlikely that

> >powdered water extracts contain much EFA either,as these are fat

> >soluble. Huo ma ren was typically used as pill or porridge because of

> >this. I think pure hempseed oil, which is usually cold extracted and

> >stored in the refrigerator is a good substitute for both dry

> >constipation, yin xu, lung dryness and some scaling skin diseases, all

> >of which have been treated by huo ma ren in ancient times.

> >

> >Also, someone mentioned fumigation, though I am unclear about what

> >exactly was being referred to. There is a misconception that chinese

> >herbs are fumigated at some point in their journey west. Actually, they

> >are not fumigated at US customs; I checked. And as far as I can tell,

> >they are not fumigated by the Chinese unless they are actually infested,

> >but certainly not as a matter of course. This is a common misconception

> >and can be verified by both Andy Ellis at springwind.com herbs and

> >Subhuti Dharmananda at itmonline.org. If anyone has actual evidence

> >(not anecdote) to the contrary, please provide.

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 3

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 10:46:32 -0800

> > " " <zrosenberg

> >Re: Digest Number 125

> >

> >Jonathan hit it on the head. He and I are both students of the Jewish

> >mystical literature, and without a continual lineage to pass on the

> >teaching, teachers to explain it, commentaries to elucidate it, and a

> >working knowledge of Hebrew, the knowledge cannot be explained

adequately.

> >Modern interpretations of Kabbalistic teaching often end up being just

> >that, unable to go farther than the person interpreting it. A similar

> >situation with the Chinese medical literature. . ..we need the tradition,

> >commentaries, teachers and language, adequately translated. The

> >macrobiotic movement floundered, because, having separated itself from

> >historical oriental medical literature and traditions, it could only base

> >itself on the modern teachers, and not go any further. With Chinese

> >medicine, we have to be sure to pass on the importance of proper

knowledge

> >of Chinese medical terminology, so that we are not overly dependant on a

> >teacher's personal interpretations. This is a slow process, and will

take

> >much time. Sometimes, wisdom is knowing what you don't know.

> >

> >

> >>>

> >>> Philippe Riviere

> >>

> >>I agree with you and with Z'ev. This was a great article. Back in 1991

> >>when I was at ACTCM I was involved in a translation project there and

what

> >>you said in the article is exactly what I said to my teacher then: In

> order

> >>to do an adequate translation of a Chinese medicine text into English,

one

> >>must know well Chinese language, the English language, Chinese culture

and

> >>history and Western culture and history. It is well-known that poetry

is

> >>nearly impossible to translate, as is philosophy. Language has two

> aspects,

> >>the denotative and the connotative. The denotative is easy to

translate,

> >>but poetry and philosophy rely heavily on the connotative aspect of

> >>language, and this is very difficult to translate since the associations

> >>that one makes in one language are usually not shared with those of the

> >>other language, because of different cultural and historical contexts.

> >>Chinese medical texts are similar to poetry and philosophy in this

sense,

> >>especially the older texts. Chinese medicine has its roots in Daoism,

the

> >>entire Chinese cultural civilization has strong roots in the Yi Jing.

In

> >>order to understand the metaphors being used by ancient medical authors,

> it

> >>is necessary to adequately comprehend the Yi Jing (and not merely as a

> >>fortune-telling device) as well as Daoism. The more ancient medical

> writers

> >>were not only doctors but also scholars. In fact many of them were

> >>primarily scholars. Sometimes when they wrote they would quote the

> classics

> >>of Chinese civilization. These quotations would be immediately

recognized

> >>as such by fellow scholar-doctors who were also well-versed in the

> classics;

> >>and the context would be immediately understandable to them. But

without

> >>this cultural background we are often at best lost when we encounter

some

> of

> >>their statements and at worst we misunderstand and apply our own

> connotative

> >>understanding which comes out of our own historical context. This is

why

> >>commentary is so necessary, commentary by someone familiar with the four

> >>things I cited above. In addition, it is quite obvious that the

classical

> >>authors often used word associations based upon puns. When one reads a

> >>translation without any knowledge of the original Chinese text one has

no

> >>chance to even consider this word play. An example would be the name of

> >>Large Intestine 4, which is He Gu, which can mean, " union valley " but

can

> >>also mean " grain gathering " and then as a pun it is called " Hu Kou "

which

> >>means the " Tiger's Mouth, " all of these names bring up associations

> related

> >>to the functioning of the point. But if one merely reads in English,

> " grain

> >>gathering, " " union valley " and " tiger's mouth " one has no concept of why

> all

> >>three names are given to this point let alone why the point is given

this

> >>name. Two good books that I have found which deal with the difficulties

> of

> >>understanding ancient thought and culture include:

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 4

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 20:02:56 +0100

> > " Galerie Z.T. " <jetnik

> >Re: -about translation-

> >

> >response to:

> > > Re: introduction & herbquestion

> >>

> >> I wrote this article in 1993.If that can help you..

> >> I 'd love to hear your feedback on it.

> >>

> >> Philippe Riviere

> >>

> >Dear Philippe,

> >

> >thanks a lot for posting your article. It's a big support for me to know

> >that there are people who understand the particular problems involved in

> >translating classical chinese texts. It's not for nothing that in my

> >introduction I wrote that I'm 'preparing' myself to do translation work

and

> >'trying' to read. In college I participated in study-groups preparing

> >translations from -parts of- the Zhuangzi, Liezi, Daodejing including the

> >most important commentaries and comparing translations in French, German

> and

> >English. I'm sure it'll be no surprise to you that very often we were

> >spending a day or so discussing the translation of just one or two lines,

> >sometimes after

> >fierce discussion not even able to agree upon the exact punctuation.

> >

> >Back to your article, in which you express the need to have annotated

> >translations of the Chinese commentaries dealing with the basic classical

> >works on TCM. I'm the first to agree to this, but have to stress that we

> are

> >talking about huge and time-consuming projects here. Last week I was

> >doing a little bit of research for my Materia Medica-teacher, who has an

> >interest in the psychological effects of herbs. He mentioned the

Huangting

> >Jing /'Classic of the Yellow Court' (a Daoist text in verse, describing

the

> >'inner landscape' and its psycho-physiological practice, originally meant

> to

> >be recited by 'adepts') and I marvelled at the very different

> >interpretations of several Chinese commentaries about just the question:

> >what is meant by this 'Yellow Court'?. Interpretations vary from (a.o.)

> >'Three Places in the Head', 'The Spleen', 'Mingmen' and 'Dantian'-the

> >Cinnaber Field.

> >Now of course this can be due to the existence of different schools of

> >thought, but it

> >really would take a lot of study to get that clear. One annotation would,

> >during research, be upgraded to a seperate chapter! I sometimes seriously

> >wonder what would be the value for TCM-students to be informed about

that.

> >This kind of annotations would fall under what you mention in point 3:

> >

> >> The sinologist will tackle a TCM text as:

> >....

> >> 3. A text to be translated in order to be understood by the reader!

> >> but,too often, the text is confined inside the narrow field of literal

> >> translation without taking into account the clinical utility of the

> >> information and its reality in front of illness;

> >> and as a result the translation becomes sterile and at best an object

of

> >> university curiosity.

> >

> >By the way: I've seen that Michael Saso published a translation of the

> >Huangting Jing and wonder how he has solved this kind of problems (some

of

> >you maybe know it?). If in translation one would simply leave it with

'the

> >Yellow Court', what is to be learned from that? The rich metaphors and

> >images in these ancient texts have to be explained somehow.

> >

> >The ideal seems to be to produce translations which are not sterile and

> >don't make the reader lose track in a wood of annotations and

commentaries.

> >So indeed such translations can't be done by mere sinologists. My

personal

> >attitude towards this is: if you want to do translations, study the

> medicine

> >first (and while studying the medicine, being able to read chinese is of

> >course valuable).

> >Your suggestion at the end of your article of working in a team

consisting

> >of 'competent and honest practitioners' and 'open minded sinologists'

> >expresses exactly what I think would be an ideal situation.

> >

> >best regards,

> >

> >Nicolaas Herman Oving

> >jetnik

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 5

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 11:24:39 +0000

> > Ed Kasper <edkasper

> >old new diagnosis question

> >

> >Wil and others Thank you for your responses. I am re-posting hoping to

> offer

> >greater clarity.

> >

> >ABDOMEN DISTENTION

> >My Dx: Spleen Yang Xu

> >

> >female age 54

> >very active not sedentary

> >menopausal 1 1/2 years ago.

> >still hot flashes occasionally

> >little overweight,

> >tongue mostly swollen tooth marked + white.

> >pulse deep and but strong regular

> >suffers long term constipation, few times a week.

> >Bloated past 6 months

> >Hard feeling epigastic region just after eating

> >More of discomfort not sharp pain.

> >gas and belching

> >

> >Treated previously with acupuncture

> >bilateral Ki 16

> >bilateral St 27

> >bilateral St 37

> >Ren 10, 12, 6

> >

> >Also herbal decoction variation of D Cheng Qi Tang

> >Reported feeling better, released more gas

> >

> >Was also seeing a M.D. who prescribed drugs and laxatives.

> >Which she was taking.

> >

> >Stopped treatment as she felt better

> >Symptoms re-appeared and the doctor just diagnosed as

> > " Colon Inertia: a condition where the colon does not properly contract "

> >

> >Questions:

> > would Da Cheng Rx / Da Huang and Fu Zi, be suitable or too harsh.

> > Would Tonifying Rx be too cloying Ginseng & Longan Formula, Ginseng &

> > Astragalus Formula, Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang and Run Chang

> >

> > I am also considering Triphala,

> >

> > Thank you for your consideration.

> >To Your Health,

> >Ed Kasper LAc.

> >http://HappyHerbalist.com

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 6

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 13:13:29 -0800

> > " " <zrosenberg

> >Re: Re: -about translation-

> >

> >There are some excellant examples of balanced translation with good

> >commentary out there. One is the Shang Han Lun, translated by

> >Mitchell/Feng, the other Ancient Chinese Medical Literature (the MaWang

Dui

> >manuscripts) translated by Donald Harper.

> >

> >

> >>>

> >>Dear Philippe,

> >>

> >>thanks a lot for posting your article. It's a big support for me to know

> >>that there are people who understand the particular problems involved in

> >>translating classical chinese texts. It's not for nothing that in my

> >>introduction I wrote that I'm 'preparing' myself to do translation work

> and

> >>'trying' to read. In college I participated in study-groups preparing

> >>translations from -parts of- the Zhuangzi, Liezi, Daodejing including

the

> >>most important commentaries and comparing translations in French, German

> and

> >>English. I'm sure it'll be no surprise to you that very often we were

> >>spending a day or so discussing the translation of just one or two

lines,

> >>sometimes after

> >>fierce discussion not even able to agree upon the exact punctuation.

> >>

> >>Back to your article, in which you express the need to have annotated

> >>translations of the Chinese commentaries dealing with the basic

classical

> >>works on TCM. I'm the first to agree to this, but have to stress that we

> are

> >>talking about huge and time-consuming projects here. Last week I was

> >>doing a little bit of research for my Materia Medica-teacher, who has an

> >>interest in the psychological effects of herbs. He mentioned the

Huangting

> >>Jing /'Classic of the Yellow Court' (a Daoist text in verse, describing

> the

> >>'inner landscape' and its psycho-physiological practice, originally

meant

> to

> >>be recited by 'adepts') and I marvelled at the very different

> >>interpretations of several Chinese commentaries about just the question:

> >>what is meant by this 'Yellow Court'?. Interpretations vary from (a.o.)

> >>'Three Places in the Head', 'The Spleen', 'Mingmen' and 'Dantian'-the

> >>Cinnaber Field.

> >>Now of course this can be due to the existence of different schools of

> >>thought, but it

> >>really would take a lot of study to get that clear. One annotation

would,

> >>during research, be upgraded to a seperate chapter! I sometimes

seriously

> >>wonder what would be the value for TCM-students to be informed about

that.

> >>This kind of annotations would fall under what you mention in point 3:

> >>

> >>> The sinologist will tackle a TCM text as:

> >>....

> >>> 3. A text to be translated in order to be understood by the

reader!

> >>> but,too often, the text is confined inside the narrow field of literal

> >>> translation without taking into account the clinical utility of the

> >>> information and its reality in front of illness;

> >>> and as a result the translation becomes sterile and at best an object

of

> >>> university curiosity.

> >>

> >>By the way: I've seen that Michael Saso published a translation of the

> >>Huangting Jing and wonder how he has solved this kind of problems (some

of

> >>you maybe know it?). If in translation one would simply leave it with

'the

> >>Yellow Court', what is to be learned from that? The rich metaphors and

> >>images in these ancient texts have to be explained somehow.

> >>

> >>The ideal seems to be to produce translations which are not sterile and

> >>don't make the reader lose track in a wood of annotations and

> commentaries.

> >>So indeed such translations can't be done by mere sinologists. My

personal

> >>attitude towards this is: if you want to do translations, study the

> medicine

> >>first (and while studying the medicine, being able to read chinese is of

> >>course valuable).

> >>Your suggestion at the end of your article of working in a team

consisting

> >>of 'competent and honest practitioners' and 'open minded sinologists'

> >>expresses exactly what I think would be an ideal situation.

> >>

> >>best regards,

> >>

> >>Nicolaas Herman Oving

> >>jetnik

> >>

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 7

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 07:24:17 -0500

> > Karen S Vaughan <creationsgarden

> >Re: huo ma ren

> >

> >I've wondered myself about the rancidity of huo ma ren, as well as its

> >effect upon patients who are subject to increasingly sensitive drug

> >tests. A number of hemp butter sites on the web make points about having

> >no detectable THC contamination in their products, which leads me to

> >question whether seeds from our sources would be problematic. (I know

> >people who will avoid poppyseed bagels because they have to take random

> >drug tests and the trace amounts of opiates in legal culinary seeds

> >register as evidence of drug use.) While it may be insufficient to get

> >clients high, it may still register.

> >

> >Flaxseed, ya ma ren, goes rancid within literally minutes of grinding,

> >which is why I counsel clients to grind it immediately before eating. I

> >suspect that huo ma ren would work better in that manner, especially if

> >given in congees. I share Todd's scepticism that essential fatty acids

> >would survive decoction, especially powdered in a bag prepared for the

> >week ahead. Udo Erasmo does indicate that hemp seeds, oil or hemp butter

> >are more stable than flaxseed and flax seed oil (but are less stable than

> >peanut butter.) Michael Tierra recommends huo ma ren electuaries or

> >halvas, which should be freshly made and refrigerated.

> >

> >Erasmo says that hemp seeds sold in the US are steamed. Steaming may

> >cause the seeds to split, permitting oxidation of the oil (although

> >visual inspection of my huo ma ren shows little evidence of splitting.)

> >The cold pressed oil has a peroxide value (PV) of 0.1- 0.5, versus 6-7

> >for oil made of steamed seeds. (Peroxide oil is a measure of rancidity).

> > He says that the PV of hemp is safe and does not ruin its taste, unlike

> >flax oil which tastes bad with a PV of 2-3. For contrast the PV of

> >virgin olive oil is around 20 and the PV of unrefined corn oil may be

> >40-60. So for yin and fluids deficiency it looks like either

> >refrigerated fresh hemp oil or freshly ground huo ma ren would be most

> >nutritive.

> >

> >About 65% of the total protein in hemp seed is edestin, a sturdy, stable

> >protein, similar to that found in the albumen in egg whites and blood.

> >Edestin is however destroyed by heat so is not present except in the

> >Canadian products.

> >

> >As for fumigation, I got the same negative response as Todd in

> >questioning US Customs a year or two ago. However fumigation in the

> >country or origin is sometimes a problem. Erasmo points out that the

> >usual fumigants for hemp seed are highly volatile and rarely leave

> >detectable residues, which squares with Subhuti Dharmananda's

> >information. Canadian hempseed, which is mechanically hulled instead of

> >steamed, and Canadian hemp oils may avoid fumigation entirely but

> >roughage would be lost reducing the laxative effect.

> >

> >Karen Vaughan

> >CreationsGarden

> >***************************************

> >Email advice is not a substitute for medical treatment.

> > " To give pleasure to a single heart, by a single act, is better than a

> >thousand heads bowing in prayer. " M. Ghandi

> >

> >______________

> >YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!

> >Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!

> >Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit:

> >http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 8

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 23:35:04 EST

> > acuman1

> >Re: JCM

> >

> >

> >In a message dated 2/27/00 3:52:11 PM, zrosenberg

> writes:

> >

> >>I'll look forward to seeing it. JCM is about the least imaginative

> journal

> >>I've seen. . . .maybe they can change the format a LITTLE bit?

> >

> >

> >I'm sure it is tough. One guy does practically the whole thing. At least

he

> >did 3 years ago. Altho I suspect that a change of format is due and

hiring

> a

> >graphic artist (a plethora of them in GB) wodl not be too expensive.

> >David Molony

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >Message: 9

> > Mon, 28 Feb 2000 23:17:19 -0800

> > Pamela Zilavy <yinyang

> >bioavailability of raw, ground herb

> >

> >

> >

> >[This message is not in displayable format]

> >

> >

> >

>

>_________________________

> ____

>

>_________________________

> ____

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

__________________________

___

>

__________________________

___

>

> Message: 4

> Tue, 29 Feb 2000 21:49:22 -0800

> " " <zrosenberg

> Re: Digest Number 126

>

> > " Toni Narins " <tnarins

> >

> >Z'ev,

> >

> >You mention Ancient Chinese Medical Literature, translated by Donald

Harper.

> >Where does one get this book?

> >

> >Toni

>

>

> Redwing Book Co. has it in the new catalogue

>

> Z'ev

>

>

>

>

>

__________________________

___

>

__________________________

___

>

>

>

>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...