Article http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2025.08.018

The Study of the History of Medical Translation in China (From 1582-1972)

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Shuhong Shangguan

Sanming Senior High School of ECNU, Sanming 365000, Fujian, China.

*Corresponding author: Shuhong Shangguan

Published: July 29,2025

Abstract

This thesis investigates medical knowledge translation from the perspective of Transknowletology and medical history. It analyzes the eastward transmission of Western medicine, the westward dissemination of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and the historical controversy between Chinese and Western medicine. By analyzing each period's representative translators, works, and events, this thesis reproduces western medical knowledge being produced and reproduced in China through translation. The study identifies three core principles in medical translation production: “real meanings,” “full preparations,” and “TT aesthetic conceptions.” These principles operate across three interconnected levels: language transformation, discourse shaping, and knowledge construction. Through translation activities, Western medical knowledge, initially local to Europe, was introduced to China, impacting the existing medical knowledge system, leading to discourse reconstruction, and facilitating its evolution from local to global knowledge. Analyzing representative translators, works, and terminological evolution reveals the complex process of knowledge reproduction in China. The translation of medical knowledge is shown to be as intricate and valuable as that in the humanities and social sciences.

Keywords

Medical knowledge translation; Discourse shaping; Transknowletology

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How to cite this paper

The Study of the History of Medical Translation in China (From 1582-1972)

How to cite this paper: Shuhong Shangguan. (2025). The Study of the History of Medical Translation in China (From 1582-1972). Translation and Foreign Language Learning1(1), 111-120.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2025.08.018