Translations
It is one of the goals of this website to participate in the global movement of preserving and appreciating ancient wisdom, for the specific purpose of utilizing its variegated modes of diagnostic and therapeutic knowledge in a modern clinical context.
The field of Classical Chinese Medicine encompasses a vast reservoir of extant materials, comprising a cache of thousands of documents written between 500 B.C.E. and the 1930s. The knowledge therein stems from the direct observation of natural processes, cultivated through a millennia long tradition of textual commentaries. The ancient Chinese first recorded macrocosmic cycles and patterns in the form of graphic symbols; followed by the creation of pictograms that gave names to the processes of nature; followed by the composition of text that gave details to the names; followed by the formation of commentaries on the textual record.
Much of this rich depository of scientific thought on the interconnection between macrocosm and microcosm remains available in classical Chinese. Yet even in China itself, the number of people who are able to read and understand these records at a deep level is dwindling. For Western readers, only a small fraction has been translated into English or other European languages. In both East and West, moreover, the interest in classical texts appears to be waning, perpetuated by the belief that ancient documents may have some historical value, but that modern textbook interpretations of the principles of Chinese medicine have far greater clinical relevance. In contrast to this development, most ancient master physicians report that they reached their level of clinical achievement by seeking “proximity to the source” through the life-long immersion in the original wellsprings of Chinese cosmology, philosophy, and medicine.
While it may be impossible to create a complete record even in the original Chinese, this section of the site is designed to participate in the evolving process of translating classical Chinese medicine source materials of the broadest possible variety and flavor. We hope that practitioners, students, and recipients of Chinese medicine will thus gain an additional opportunity to experience the original beauty and sophistication of this medicine.