Chinese Medicine Terms in the English language

Thorsten J. Pattberg, PhD, writes about
Chinese terminologies and global
language (Image: FLP Beijing, 2013)

"I think what you say is true, but there's more to it than that. Of course, being vacation in lovely Hawaii, it's understandable that you should be outdoors and enjoying the scenery, rather than spending time typing long comments on a blog! So this is not a criticism. But I'd like to suggest some further ideas in this vein.
As you note, China being richer is fundamental. This means a larger number of students able to afford study, and able to become scholars and writers and other producers and interpreters of Chinese knowledge able to communicate in English (as well as other non-Chinese languages) and in Chinese. It takes years of personal effort and institutional support to nurture scholars and talents. A richer and more economically vibrant Chinese society generates opportunities for careers for individuals seeking to tap into this economy. This provides opportunities for not only the population of ethnic Chinese, but also non-ethnic Chinese. Scholars like Professor Pattberg who have devoted years of their lives to Chinese studies play an enormous part in helping people understand the significance of Chinese intellectual and cultural traditions.

This doesn't "just happen" as a result of China becoming wealthier – after all, individuals need to choose to study these fields, to find meaning in what they do, and the subject matter needs to be intellectually enriching for them to build a professional scholarly career upon. But of course, the wonderful thing is that the richness of Chinese traditional intellectual culture (including the period in the last 150 years as it has confronted western and modern traditions, as well as the fracturing of Chinese social and political institutions under the onslaught of Western (and Japanese) imperialism) provides so much of interest to the scholar that there is an endless profusion of material on which to generate new ideas and new knowledge for consumption in education, cultural and markets for applied knowledge.
One of the areas in which we have seen a proliferation of "Chinese terminology" in English language during the past few decades are terms relating to Chinese martial arts and medicine. The terms "kung fu", "qi", "Tai chi (Taiji)", "yin yang", "tao" (dao) and "feng shui" have become almost commonplace English language concepts."

by DeWang [Sourcetext]

How to translate Chinese ideological and cultural terms? New book illuminates the humanities!

It took over 70 professors two years... finally it's getting published in June 2015! 

《中华思想文化术语》正式出版

《中华思想文化术语》（第一辑）将于2015年6月由外语教学与研究出版社出版发行。作为《中华思想文化术语》系列丛书的第一本，该书收录了首批100条体现中华传统人文精神及核心价值的思想文化术语，涵盖文艺、历史、哲学三大学科领域。这些术语均提供了简明中文释义和英文翻译。

2013年12月，经国务院批准，设立“中华思想文化术语传播工程”（以下简称“工程”），确立以北京外国语大学和外研社为依托，协同国内外70余位文、史、哲等学科及英语翻译领域的专家学者共同开展中华思想文化术语的梳理、筛选、诠释和翻译工作。 [...]

We are told that "America won WWII"; We are not told that Germany lost the war at the gates of Stalingrad (Eric Arnow)

MOSCOW/SEVASTOPOL – Eric Arnow, from Boston Massachusetts, USA, is a Zen Buddhist with Russian Roots who traveled extensively, and over long periods of time, in China, Japan, and Thailand. In May 2015, he decided to visit Russia, travelling from Moscow to Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula. Here are his impressions:

“I think the story I sent you speaks for itself, how I decided to go to Russia.

My name is Eric Arnow. 66 yo, I grew up in Boston Massachusetts, USA. My 4 grandparents, from one or another part of the Russian empire, came to the US in early 20th century, to either escape difficult political, or economic situation there.

I studied Buddhism for 40 years–Zen Buddhism as practiced in Japan.

Came to Thailand in 2004, Spent a lot of time in China to find my Zen roots, from 2007-14.

But maybe due to my ancestral roots, felt affinity with Russia and the situation in that area. So, when I heard that the West was dissing Russia after all it went through, I thought it would be a good thing to see for myself what is going on, meet and make friends. A One Man Peace Army.

That’s it in a nutshell.” –Eric Arnow, 2015

A Traveler’s Impressions from Western-sanctioned Russia (Part 1) – by Eric Arnow

Russia and the West hold different views on World History (Part 2) – by Eric Arnow

CLICK ON IMAGES ABOVE, OR HERE FOR: PART1 AND PART2

Posted with permission by the author. Eric Arnow can be reached at https://bumblebuddhist.wordpress.com/

©2015 Eric Arnow

Western Powers and Japan up in Arms against Mighty China (1890/2015 Western Imperialism)

G7 leaders gang-up: China must obey “international laws”, or else… http://www.east-west-dichotomy.com/g7-leaders-gang-up-china-must-obey-international-laws-or-else/ #China #G7 #ForeignPolicy 

Pattberg geht hart mit westlichen 'China Experten' ins Gericht

"Thorsten Pattberg geht in der Asia Times hart mit westlichen "China-Experten" ins Gericht. Deren Methoden scheinen die Grenzen wissenschaftlich und politisch motivierter Streitkultur leider deutlich zu überschreiten..... Sehr empfehlenswert."
Source: MediaWatch - Fundstuecke im Internet

Yao Minji: A dreamy, smoggy, funny year

A dreamy, smoggy, funny year

“It’s not about a definition, but more about universality,” Thorsten Pattberg, a research fellow at Peking University, said of Xi’s concept. “Everyone has dreams. The question becomes: Can you fulfill your dreams in China and not elsewhere?”

FEATURE | YAO MINJI | DECEMBER,31,TUESDAY | PRINT EDITION B1

Pattberg: China reveres foreign degrees more than its own diplomas

China reveres foreign degrees more than its own diplomas

(Shanghai Daily)

Thorsten Pattberg, PhD, Peking University, is a former research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University and the author of “The East-West Dichotomy. Pattberg can be contacted at pattberg@pku.edu.cn.

German media calls American society kafkaesque and its feminists out-of-control (Sulkowicz Vs. Nungesser)

#feminism #carrythatweight #sulkowicz German media builds up behind #Nungesser, calls American society kafkaresque http://www.east-west-dichotomy.com/paul-nungesser-vs-emma-sulkowicz-fatal-attraction/

In Amerika gibt es eine Lynchjustiz, keine Frage. DIE ZEIT schreibt von kafkaresquen Zuständen. Wie zu Zeiten der Hexenverfolgungen. Nur diesmal haben es die Frauen, Feministen der 3. Generation, es fertiggebracht, ein auf wilkürliche Anschuldigungen basierendes, eigenes „Rechtssystem“ zu schaffen, in dem die Weiber immer die Opfer sind, und die Kerle erst gar kein Recht bekommen können.

Source: www.east-west-dichotomy.com

I agree completely that the USA will want to use military actions against China

Thoughts on Tyler Rogoway's piece 'China Tries to Jam U.S. Global Hawks While Busy Devoloping Their Own'
Hey Tyler, nice analysis. I agree completely that the USA will want to use military actions against China. China wants a peaceful rise, because naturally it is the greater phenomenon on earth, and based on its sheer size and quality of its people, it will become the biggest economy... by far. If the USA doesn’t attack it whilst China is still weak, that is. Washington knows that every little Chinese gain is America’s loss. The USA controls the entire world, so so the media boasts. Americans were indoctrinated that everyone who disagrees with them must be an enemy of freedom, and ought to be contained, coerced, and destroyed. What we see in the Western media these days -total disrespect for all other human beings on this planet: the Turks, the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, the Muslim countries in general - all are feeling the whip of an ever-increasing fascist American mission to civilize the rest of the world, if need be by force. Even the Europeans can’t take US hubris and arrogance anymore. One day, the bowl will break and the cradle fall. One cannot help but feeling more and more sympathy for the victims of American imperialism; for the people in Asia in general, and China in particular. The US media of matter isn’t having any of it, of course, and keeps praising and justifying US militarism while demonizing China. It proves my point that Western media is part of the problem. Just saying. 

Top Posts for The East-West Dichotomy (EWD) in Spring 2015

The following is a list and rank of the all-favorite EWD posts in Spring 2015.

Readers are genuinely interested in unique East-West Dichotomy content:

Shengren, Language Imperialism, Peking University news, prominent China

scholars, Chinese mistress culture, Press Soldiers at The New York Times,

and related books and articles written by the author.

Surprise hits were an entry on Loser Laowai in China, and the controversy

surrounding China Expert Daniel A Bell's submission to the NY Times's

Orwellian Rules of Writing.

Title

Home page / Archives

Western Press Soldiers: Michael “the Knife” Forsythe (NY Times)

BIG THINK censorship: Censors ‘Orwellian Rules of Writing at The New York Times’

Shengren – The Book

Beida vs Tsinghua – China’s world class universities and global players

About the Author

Orwellian Rules of Writing at The New York Times

What is Language Imperialism?

10 Reasons Why You Should Apply For Yenching Academy

US Imperialism 1800-1900

Roger T. Ames – The Class of Ru

Tu Weiming – The World’s Leading Confucian Scholar

There’s just NO WAY Kevin Rudd is 1.79 m tall

Is China’s Mistress Culture a Role Model for the West?

About The East-West Dichotomy

World Congress of Philosophy 2018 in Beijing: More Than A 1000 Philosophers

Western Media Manufactures Chinese Biblical Leader: “Joshua” Wong Chi-fung

Political Theory: Daniel A. Bell: “I don’t believe that democracy is the best way.”

Why I liked Loser Laowai in China

Daniel A Bell did it again: A “Chinese-free” China report in the NY Times (Teaching Western Values)

Chapter 18 – Ideology

Shengren – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Induction and Deduction

Livia Kohn – Professor Dao

How the “philosophers” conquered the world | Philosophy is a Syndicate

The Cyclops as Metaphor for the West?

KANG Yikun – Renmin University’s Website Girl Stirs Debate about Beauty, College Girls, and Idol Worship in China

Ji Xianlin – Thirty Years East of the River…

New Yorker Think Tank Cracks Down on Foreigners’ Freedom of Expression

Michael Witzel – World History and The Origins of Mythologies

Most educated Westerners may have no idea of what such terms as ren, datong and tianxia mean

Cyber Attacks on The East-West Dichotomy – We are here to stay! (Update June 2015)

About Shengren

Criticism of US Media Draws Massive Cyber Attacks

It is impossible for us, at this stage of our investigation, to say where the attacks originated from, as most hackers (or groups of hackers) use proxy to disguise their seats anyway. However, the recent ambushes suspiciously "coincided" with our critical postings about Orwellian Rules of Writing at The New York Timesand related criticism of Western biased media reporting on China (whereas when we criticize China, it seems we are totally save.) Naturally, this has convinced us about the importance and the relevance of media critique, and, needless to say, has encouraged us to dig even deeper into the subject matter in the near future.

The East-West Dichotomy is here to stay!

Pattberg considera que el "conocimiento es políglota" y que conocer un único idioma, el del propio país de origen, es ahora una enorme carencia

Esta es mi opinión de experto

El lenguaje global del futuro podría consistir en una combinación de palabras clave de varios idiomas y culturas. El experto cree que hay que elaborar un método científico que permita convertir esto en una realidad.

Pattberg considera que el "conocimiento es políglota" y que conocer un único idioma, el del propio país de origen, es ahora una enorme carencia. Ni siquiera las lenguas de los pueblos más influyentes de la Tierra son suficientes en un mundo globalizado.

El lingüista no es partidario de continuar la guerra terminológica por ver qué idioma se impone sobre el resto. Para Pattberg la solución es crear un lenguaje global que unifique los vocabularios de muchas lenguas en una sola. Este idioma universal estaría formado por los términos clave de múltiples culturas. Antes, dice Pattberg, hay que inventar un método científico que lo permita.

Mediante las traducciones se pierde la originalidad y la capacidad de inventiva de culturas que existen de siempre. Pattberg ve esto como una especie de desprecio por parte de la cultura imperante.

“El mundo está preparado y los hombres de hoy receptivos a adoptar terminología que no sea europea u Occidental. Es el momento.”

De algún modo este proceso sería algo así como ‘liberar’ algunas palabras nuevamente a su idioma original, adoptarlas y así evitar la traducción. Ciertos términos clave, algunos conceptos técnicos tendrían que pasar por este proceso.

Este experto en cultura china reconoce, a su vez, que las traducciones no pueden desaparecer del todo: son necesarias en la comunicación entre personas de distinto origen. Sin embargo, la posibilidad de mantener términos en su ‘versión original’ es para Pattberg el camino más “bello, auténtico, genuino, sofisticado y preciso.”

El caso de China es una clara muestra de cultura que tendrá que aportar vocabulario original al idioma global del futuro. Pattberg es consciente de que muchos considerarán esta idea una locura y que no se puede hacer algo así como: “poner en libertad” términos de otros idiomas.

Source: http://www.dontknow.net/punto-de-vista/thorsten-pattberg-apoyar-creacion-lenguaje-universal-mundo-globalizado-si

The bias of American empire is the media lens through which international events are perceived and interpreted

Great piece by Tench Phillips on bias and empire in the US media:

"Reportage on U.S. foreign policy is even worse. The bias of American empire is the media lens through which international events are perceived and interpreted. Whether it’s coverage of the fighting in the Ukraine, the war on ISIS, the numerous civil wars fueled by American interventionism which are raging throughout the Middle East, the coverage of democratic movements in South America, or negotiations of trade agreements like the Trans Pacific Pact – egregious examples of media spin and disinformation occur daily in the corporate press as well as NPR and public media." 

READ FULL ARTICLE AT VEER MAGAZINE.

One remark about the paradoxes of today's so-called 'media monopoly' and its opposition, the self-proclaimed 'independent press': Despite the fact that there are hundreds of 'New media' outlets, independent journalists, and websites such as Democracy Now! and FAIR, the existence of such oppositional forces only seems to   r e i n f o r c e    the power of the mainstream media.

Why, because the more people cry "corruption" and "misinformation" on, say, a piece of gratuitous warmongering against China or Russia in The New York Times of The National Interest, the more 'free advertisement' and 'controversy' that piece will generate, thereby becoming ever more truer, and relevant and significant. Top tier journalists know very well that they   m u s t   create "new realities." They are writers after all. Only after having penned a sensational report about, say, some "famous teen dissident who's ready to take on the Chinese government" will that dissident become truly notable. Hence the notion of targeting journalism or press soldiery. They are effectively scoring against their ideological enemies.

What I am saying is this: The existence of so-called 'New media' is somehow   c o m p l i m e n t a r  y to the success of the Media Monopoly. The hierarchy is maintained, if not cemented permanently, precisely by the existence of lesser news outlets, conspiracy websites, and tens of thousands of news pundits on the fringes of the internet. If you want to have proof of this, just look at the past 50 years of civil rights movement and libertarian make-belief that changed nothing in reality. If anything, the 'New Media' were partly complicit in creating monopolies. After all, that's how the Big guys in the media business, just like all businesses really, are protecting themselves from the nasty insects all around them: by growing in size and crushing them.

But back to the US media bias and ideological agenda against foreign nations.I know a couple of journalists who hope every day that some social justice warriors or free the media wackos criticize their work, because that way they will attract more attention, which amounts to getting more expose and cross-referencing, which translates into journalistic fame and promotion, public speaking engagements, book contracts, perks and sinecures. In a way, the ultimate step toward their profession's path to final 'self-actualization' is for the journalist to become the story himself.

This strategy works best when writing about foreign people, because if, say, 10 million Chinese feel offended by an anti-China campaign, that is fantastic for the journalists and their editorial rooms. People of color and foreign people in general are expected to protest by the millions. The New York Times employs 6 'China correspondents', one for every 200 million Chinese. They try every day with China bashing reports to provoke a response, hopefully a physical one, that would cause even more US media retaliation against the Chinese people.

For the US media monopoly and empire bias: the more they offend foreign nations, their governments, and their people, the better. We see this with the Western press on Islam, the Middle East, Iran, China, Russia and the Ukraine, India, whatever suits the agenda of the day. They only way to stop this media madness is to ignore it. Yet, that is precisely what the 'Free Press' is NOT allowing to happen, I claim; on the contrary, they are driving traffic to the mainstream by pointing fingers. They are saying THIS and THAT is NOT TRUE! And people are looking. If history has taught us anything about "reality", it is that attention triumphs over the truth -all the time. When Jesus Christ some 2000 years ago declared himself the King of Jews and the Son of the Jewish God, that wasn't the truth. But people got so upset about his dishonesty, and the lies he and his fellows were making up, that it become a mass movement resulting the most powerful religion of all today.

Every writer knows this: The more fantastic and sensational the story, the more likely it is to disrupt the lives of the people. I have yet to meet a single journalist who isn't fully aware that he creating "disturbances" that will -hopefully- have serious consequences. In fact, some newspapers seek to actually influence foreign leaders and countries, or at least the perception about them. And for that they need thousand of lesser media outlets and freelance writers who spread the word and syndicate the message. It's a perfect symbiosis. All the people who criticize FOX News watch FOX News every day. And then they pretend to not like it.

The only way to battle the mass media bias against foreign nations, naturally, is by ignoring the mass media. But as I just explained, not even the critics are doing that. They can cry all the want; in the end might is always right.

Pattberg: Most Westerners have no idea of what ren, datong and tianxia mean

"Even the most educated Westerners may have no idea of what such terms as ren, datong and tianxia mean," said Thorsten Pattberg, a German philosopher and cultural critic.

The first book of a new series titled Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture is expected to shed light on the aforementioned issue.

The book, which is scheduled to be published by Beijing-based Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) in early June, translates 100 terms in ancient Chinese literary, philosophical and historical writings into English and explains them in both Chinese and English. Below each item, there are short citations extracted from ancient writings to illustrate how the expressions used to be employed.

The Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture Project was launched in December 2013, when the Ministry of Education, the State Language Commission and 10 other departments jointly rolled out the initiative. Over 70 renowned domestic and foreign experts in history, philosophy, literature and translation were involved in the process. [...']

http://www.bjreview.com.cn/culture/txt/2015-05/18/content_688355.htm

Plato had always designed for the philosophers to rule. Soon we might be looking at their dictatorship.

"Plato had always designed for the philosophers to rule. Soon we might be looking at their dictatorship."

German scholar Thorsten J. Pattberg explains the beginnings, the rise, and the future dictatorship of the 'philosophers:

Philosophy is a Syndicate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj0TGAsurhc
At Big Think: Philosophy is a Syndicate http://bigthink.com/dragons-and-pandas/philosophy-is-a-syndicate

The Rise of the Western Press Soldiers in China (Part I) - Michael Forsythe

SINCE it got so ridiculous and militant in the Western press related to China, your author decided to put up a miniseries ‘Western Press Soldiers in China’ that will offer a satirical look at the most hopelessly sadistic and prolific anti-China propagandists in the US media...

Western Press Soldiers Michael “the Knife” Forsythe (NY Times)

[GO TO PART I - Michael Forsythe]

Big Think in the censorship business: Big Brother and 'Orwellian Rules of Writings'

NEW YORK - BIG THINK censors censorship article, suppresses unpleasant research: http://www.east-west-dichotomy.com/big-think-censorship-censors-orwellian-rules-of-writing-at-the-new-york-times/ #bigthink #nytimes #orwell #china

Article on US media censorship (style guides still advise: avoid foreign words) taken down by Big Think. Account closed. Profile deleted. Twitter blogged. More like Big Brother:

Critique of the NY Times's practice of Orwellian Rules of Writing and institutionalized suppression of foreign terms apparently isn't tolerated in New York media circles. New York Big Think, the knowledge platform, engaged in revisionism, took down the article, closed the long-time contributor's account, and terminated his profile. Censorship is wrong!

Philosopher Bazon Brock on the Hypocrisy in Western Media (MUST WATCH)

"The disgrace of 1989, 1991 (the fall of the Soviet Union), is that we thought we could do away with reality: Anything goes. We'll do what we want. The world is ours. They can do shit. We are doing the globalization. We are forcing anyone to submit to our point of view. And don't they ever dare to..." --Bazon Brock, philosopher

[GO TO QUOTE I]

Happy times with Xu Guangqi and the MPG-CAS Scientists at PICB in Shanghai 2007

SHANGHAI - 今年是徐光启和意大利人利玛窦合作翻译的《几何原本》中文版出版400周年，为纪念这一重要历史事件，中国科学院、上海市徐汇区人民政府、中国科学院上海生命科学研究院联合发起纪念徐光启的活动，于10月14日至19日由我所承办“徐光启《几何原本》中文译本出版400周年纪念会暨《计算生物学中的异同》国际学术研讨会”。来自德国、法国、英国、意大利、日本、韩国、美国、中国等国家，涵盖数学、天文、农业、社会学等研究领域的近30位科学家共聚上海，与上海地区的学生们一起，纪念徐光启的科学贡献，探讨现代前沿科学。这是国内首次举办国际性的徐光启纪念活动。[...]

作者：Susan Xu    新闻时间：2007-10-17
Source: http://www.picb.ac.cn/picb-dynamic/Desktop/news/news.jsp?ID=110&ntype=institute

Why is the US media so afraid of Chinese words?

Daniel A Bell, the China professor at Tsinghua University, had a golden opportunity, I claim, to break through the wall of ignorance about China and to inform the US public, which still believes that learning a foreign language is a character flaw, or even a job killer, about the most important Chinese key terminologies in political theory. You know. The names the Chinese gave to their political ideas, movements, and brands.

But no! This is The New York Times. In here we use clean and pure English, the only language that matters in the world.

If you disagree, well, you won't get published. Not in journals, not in magazines, and certainly not in The New York Times which practices Orwellian Rules of Writing -meaning that its writers will avoid foreign words and find English replacement for them.

Remember the stories from the old days in America when colored people were not supposed to sit in a public bus together with whites because it looked so unpleasant to the white man's eyes?  Well, same with words: if they are foreign, that means they also look unpleasant to the white man's eyes. No differences. Same prejudices.

I love it when stupid Americans tell me that New York is so multicultural, when in fact it is full of Americans. America may have fought for racial equality, but they are intolerant toward those foreign terms. Avoid foreign words. Write English.

Imagine an op-ed article in The Times sprinkled with Hexie Shehui, Si Ge Quan Mian, or Zhongguo Meng. Those editors would feel insulted. Do you expect us to look this shit up in a dictionary? Yes, because it is Chinese. But I don't know Chinese. Exactly. So keep that in mind when writing a piece on a people who don't quite yet understand. Otherwise, if he simple used English words for Chinese ideas, the piece would read like the usual NY Times report: talking down on them as if a viceroy explaing

Isn't the world insulting to Americans? All those crazy languages. And we forbid them in our classrooms, papers, publishers, and academia. No big deal. If you have a great idea, I will find an appropriate English name for it. This will make it easier for me to define your idea for our audiences. Yes, I stole your idea, basically. But, hey, there's no such things as intellectual property theft in China, right? Anyway, we Westerners do this for the last 350 years: translating Chinese words into what we already know.
No wonder that nobody in American wants to study a foreign language any more. It's like a handicap in the professional world. Yes, you can talk to Chinese in the streets, but not use Chinese words in your writing career. It's worse than racism.