All in a Name
kelinsheng
December 08, 2008, 04:49 AM posted in General DiscussionThe only standard name for the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine is the Chinese:
黄帝内经素问
(there is another book, ling shu, which I won't get into right now)
黄帝 (Huang2 di4) is fairly strait forward to translate. "Yellow Emperor"
内经 (nei4 jing1) and 素问 (su4 wen4), on the other hand are a little more tricky.
内 can mean inside; inner; internal; within; interior
经 can mean classics; sacred book; pass through; to undergo; scripture
So 内经 could be translated as "scripture within"; "sacred book within"; And I think this is why the word "canon" fits into most of the translated titles. I'm not sure if the term 内 has anything to do with meanning internal in this context. I have a feeling that 内 has to do with being "hidden" and therefore of value. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with internal medicine though. Also, I need a better understanding of the character 经 to be clear about the meaning of 内经.
素 I do not know what this character means in this context. I need to know the etymology of the character. The dictionary says "white; plain; element; always". I wonder if it could be elemental in this context, and therefore meaning fundamental. It would be kind of silly I think to translate it as "plain" since it's so important to Chinese medicine.
问 means questions.
So my guess is that 素问 means "fundamental questions"
So maybe a good English title would be:
"The Yellow Emperor's Scripture of Fundamental Questions"
or
"The Yellow Emperor's Sacred Book of Fundamental Questions"
kelinsheng
December 09, 2008, 06:41 AMHi changye,
For some reason I get the sneaky suspision that there has never was a 外经 book. The English translation that I have talks about how the weather, diet and lifestyle all influence our heath. Those are all 外 (external) factors. Why make a second book for what is already written in the 内经 (nei jing)?
changye
December 09, 2008, 08:00 AMHi kelinsheng,
Unlike 黄帝内经, 黄帝外经 was completely lost, so nobody knows its content. The name "黄帝外经" is only seen in 《汉书》艺文志, a kind of bibliography, edited by 班固 nearly two thousand years ago, but, of course, this doesn't necessarily certifies that 黄帝外经 actually 100% exsisted. Incidentally, a pair of 内 and 外, such as 内典/外典 or 内传/外传, are often seen in Chinese classical literature.
kelinsheng
December 10, 2008, 03:42 AMFascinating. I guess we'll never know.
One of my instructors insits that 内 used in ancient language meant "hidden" or "secret" is this correct?
changye
December 10, 2008, 04:21 AMHi kelinsheng,
Now let me 现学现卖 the knowledge I've just got on the Internet. Actually, there are several pairs of books listed in 《汉书》艺文志, namely 《扁鵲内经/扁鵲外经》 or 《白氏内经/白氏外经》. And therefore, the 内外 probably means something like "first volume/second volume", or "main volume/supplementary volume". In my opinion, if the "内" had really meant "hidden" or "secret", the book wouldn't have published.......just joking!
P/S. To tell you the truth, I first thought that 内经 would mean "内部经络" or "内脏 and 经络"!!
kelinsheng
December 13, 2008, 07:18 AMYeah, the reason my instructor said it meant hidden or secret was that it therefore meant it was valualbe.
Do you know if there is any Chinese-English dictionaries to ancient chinese characters/language?
changye
December 08, 2008, 08:04 AMHi kelinsheng,
I know nothing about 黄帝内经素问. According to an article of Wiki Japan, this ancient medical book basically consists of questions by 黄帝 and answers to them by scholars. And 素问 connotes "questions (问) raised by 黄帝 in his everyday life (平素，平时)". There seems to be "黄帝外经", but they say it was already lost.
http://baike.baidu.com/view/146581.htm