Sedative Posting

[Guest guest]

In case you haven't already found this discussion draining, I offer the

following sedative.

 

See below, hot off the press--note the use of " sedation. " According to

Webster's, sedation and sedative refer specifically but not exclusively

to a drug-induced calm or something resembling it. Sedate as verb and

adjective are a bit different, as those interested can find without much

trouble.

 

The answers to What does acupuncture do? and What does xie mean and what

is the right English word for it? depend entirely on who is asking. If

I'm asking a hundred Chinese acupuncture teachers what they mean by xie,

it won't mean sedate. Whether acupuncture (or the draining needling

technique) has a sedating effect (or whether they " look drained " ) is

irrelevant to the meaning of the Chinese acupuncture concept contained

in the word xie. Too often arguments are generalized into incongruent

contexts; mistranslation is not the only road to confusion.

 

I believe that standardized translation nomenclature is important, but

I'm less sure about the boundaries delineating when and why it is

important. If you want something translated with linguistic and

philological accuracy, it is clearly preferable to work with linguistic

and philological standards; but it doesn't always matter, and it

obviously can't to everyone. I like Alon's reminder that some confusion

is healthy for learning. Still, though the very idea of faithful

translation is meaningless, the importance of the attempt is nowise

diminished. It would be great if our (mis)translations were at least

synonyms for their supposed Chinese counterparts, but it is not so. Xie

simply does not mean sedate.

 

As for the question Kelvin whined, about how word choice affects our

needling, his implication may be right that we can keep the technique

and lose the rest. It would matter less, though, if these were little

colored pills and we lost only the historically accurate name. But what

you would like your acupuncturist to think they are doing when they

needle a point on your body? We could translate xie into " technique #2 "

and simply lose the name and theory to preserve only the hand

techniques, but words are less inert and adds new meaning. And I suspect

that name, theory, and hand techniques are not so easily separated; my

guess is that that new name, " sedate, " has changed a lot of

treatments--but this point isn't that central. After all, this little

word has, I'm sure, had less impact on acupuncture than one would think

from all this discussion. The central point is one of principle.

 

My teacher Min would always say, " More information is better. " I prefer

to have the knowledge that " sedate " was applied as an erroneous

translation which is now synonymous with the more recent and accurate

choice, " drain. " I think it enriches my understanding and practice to

know such things. It may enrich our understanding and practice to know,

for instance, that " TCM " has no direct Chinese equivalent, and was

coined by the PRC in the mid-50s specifically for the international

community. How that effects my needle technique is something that can be

sorted out later, if it starts to matter--meanwhile I prefer to have the

most, and more importantly best, information, to avoid compounding

inevitable errors with avoidable ones, especially as the former become

the latter.

 

Jonah Hershowitz

 

Jonah Hershowitz, L.Ac.

Schizandra Health Center

493 Sanchez St. (@18th St.)

San Francisco, CA 94114

510 868 1732

415 553 8886 (appointments)

jonah

www.schizandrahealth.com

 

-----------

 

 

* *

Int J Neurosci. <javascript:AL_get(this, 'jour', 'Int J

Neurosci.');> 2006 Feb;116(2):115-25.

*The mechanism of acupuncture and clinical applications.*

 

*Cabyoglu MT*

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Cabyoglu+MT%22%5BAuthor%5D>,

*Ergene N*

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Ergene+N%22%5BAuthor%5D>,

*Tan U*

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Tan+U%22%5BAuthor%5D>.

 

Department of Physiology, Selcuk University, Faculty of Meram

Medica, Konya, Turkey.

 

This study presents the result of the studies explaining the effects

of acupuncture on various systems and symptoms. It has been

determined that endomorphin-1, beta endorphin, encephalin, and

serotonin levels increase in plasma and brain tissue through

acupuncture application. It has been observed that the increases of

endomorphin-1, beta endorphin, encephalin, serotonin, and dopamine

cause analgesia, sedation, and recovery in motor functions. They

also have immunomodulator effects on the immune system and lipolitic

effects on metabolism. Because of these effects, acupuncture is used

in the treatment of pain syndrome illnesses such as migraine,

fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and trigeminal neuralgia; of

gastrointestinal disorders such as disturbance at gastrointestinal

motility and gastritis; of psychological illnesses such as

depression, anxiety, and panic attack; and in rehabilitation from

hemiplegia and obesity.

 

PMID: 16393878 [PubMed - in process]

 

> ____________________

> ______________________

>

> Message: 5

> Tue, 17 Jan 2006 10:58:26 -0800 (PST)

> Alon Marcus <alonmarcus

> Re: Weight Loss Acupuncture Protocol

>

> We may be onto something. Most of my patients seem calm (another

> meaning of sedate)after a treatment of needles but they don't look

> drained. If we talk endorphins, then Z'ev maybey right about

> sedation being drugs?

>

> If talk modern physio i think sedation of over sympathetic activity is more

common of an affect.

> alon

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Nice posting, Jonah.

 

Hey, even if we get all the translation job done correctly, and

explain it well, there will be some confusion among students and

practitioners. It is better, I think, to be confused about something

accurate, however, than something inaccurate. Confusion is reduced

as mastery of conceptual frameworks is increased.

 

 

On Jan 19, 2006, at 7:09 PM, jonah wrote:

 

> I like Alon's reminder that some confusion

> is healthy for learning. Still, though the very idea of faithful

> translation is meaningless, the importance of the attempt is nowise

> diminished. It would be great if our (mis)translations were at least

> synonyms for their supposed Chinese counterparts, but it is not so.

> Xie

> simply does not mean sedate.