For a little historical perspective, here is Dr. Schaefer’s article from the 1950’s: Non-Translation and Functional Translation: Two Sinological Maladies. Functional translation, is a type of paraphrase promoted under different names such as “Clinical” or “Reproductive” translation. It is not the first choice for the translation of specialist literature for specialists, rather it produces texts aimed at lay persons. Here, Dr. Schaefer is talking about names and titles, a direct parallel of patterns, formulas, and other terms in Chinese Medicine.
Nigel Wiseman’s Ph.D. Thesis is the core document for translation of Chinese medical Chinese in academic linguistics: Translation of Chinese Medical Chinese: A Source Oriented Approach. Although few people in the C.M. field have read this paper, it has been widely-circulated in linguistic and professional translation circles. Please note that some of the notions in C.M. circulation have not withstood anything like the degree of peer review their refutation in this paper has survived. Put bluntly, there is no question that source-oriented translation is the method of choice for the transmission of specialized information to specialist readers.
Eighty Years of Chinese Medical Lexicography is a paper on the directions of Chinese lexicography (the principles and procedures of writing and editing dictionaries).
The Introduction to the People’s Medical Publishing House version of the Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine is provided here: Compilers’ Preface to the People’s Medical Publishing Edition. The most interesting thing here is the degree to which co-compiler Feng Ye is recognized in the East but not in the West. “Wiseman” is used to typify this work, but in China Feng Ye’s clinical perspective is much more often recognized. Although Feng Ye’s clinical experience is second to none in the West, his participation is typically ignored by those who promote “clinical translation” or who criticize Wiseman as a “non-clinician.”
This paper describes the translation of Chinese medical terminology in relation to modern translation theory: English Translation of Chinese Medical Terminology : The Viewpoint of Translation Theory. This is a shorter and earlier version of the material covered in Wiseman’s Ph.D. Thesis.
The Glossary of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Points was the first significant publication of a work listing and defining terms. It is out of print, having been replaced by the Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine. It is the first English language publication to look deeply at the metaphors of Chinese medicine and to present a substantial term list. The Introduction To the Glossary of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Points Much of this material remains unanswered by critics even two decades later.
Marnae Ergil shares her scholarly insights in “Considerations For the Translation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Into English:” Considerations For the Translation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Into English
This is a Chinese-English paper discussing the integrated principles of translation: 中医名词英译：应用系统化原则的翻译模式
The “Lessons of History” are discussed in the bilingual Chinese Journal article: 中医西传:历史的教訓
In “The Role of Metaphor in Culture, Consciousness, and Medicine” Sonya Pritzker brings scholarship to bear on the topic of metaphor and culture, and its role in the transmission of Chinese medicine: The Role of Metaphor in Culture, Consciousness, and Medicine. The metaphors, the pictures resident in the words, has long been like the songs and poems of C.M. a way to order, organize and remember principles and their relation to one another.
“Translation of Chinese Medical Terms: Not Just a Matter of Words” details how successful transmission of translated information depends upon a literal approach: Translation of Chinese Medical Terms: Not Just a Matter of Words
Although not strictly fitting this category, this Rotenberg Conference lecture on the “Education and Practice of Chinese Medicine in Taiwan” provides a useful context for the term debate. One key point is that while acupuncture terminology has been the emphasis of early English language works, internal medicine with its much larger store of concepts is more to the point in Taiwan. Originally prepared as a web article prior to advances in rendering Chinese characters, it has experienced some problems in the display of Chinese characters and some symbols in the translation to PDF format. It is nonetheless readable. Education and Practice of Chinese Medicine in Taiwan
In the “Extralinguistic Aspects of the English Translation of Chinese Medical Terminology” Wiseman discusses methods of translation and how they are influenced by factors other than linguistic research or theory: Extralinguistic Aspects of the English Translation of Chinese Medical Terminology.