Translation Misunderstandings
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:30 am
Greetings,
In recent times, I have been considering how some translations into English can be misunderstood, when just taken as is without context and without thoughtful inquiry. I like to remove abstraction in Taiji sayings and descriptions wherever possible, so that it not only makes sense to me but also to others. No doubt I may sometimes get it wrong, as I am not a scholar or Chinese educated.
To give you an example, and perhaps elicit further discussion, here are a couple of instances of where I suggest a closer look might be beneficial.
The first is about the "waist" and what is meant by it. Following a discussion with another serious and more senior practitioner, he stated that in Chinese the actual wording is, yao kua, which not only means the waist but also the hips! So, when we emphasise the waist, we should actually also include the hips. In fact, it is that whole region around the pelvis. Too often, only the waist is emphasised which is, in my opinion, can be quite misleading and possibly incorrect. The yao kua is the commander, because it leads! It provides the link between upper and lower, and is the force multiplier when Jin is expressed.
Another example is, "Fair maiden threads the shuttle". I don't know about you, but this has always been somewhat puzzling for me, especially the word, shuttle. However, when I looked up the actual wording in Chinese, the words that caught my attention was, chuan suo. The translation that this gave was threading or piercing, and shuttle or back and forth. Shuttle was meant as the action of going to and coming back. It was the action done by the women when weaving cloth, where a shuttle was threaded in a loom to make the fabric. This also provided some sense of the movements that are part of this posture.
I hope that the above is of some interest and provide others with food for thought.
Take care,
Frank
In recent times, I have been considering how some translations into English can be misunderstood, when just taken as is without context and without thoughtful inquiry. I like to remove abstraction in Taiji sayings and descriptions wherever possible, so that it not only makes sense to me but also to others. No doubt I may sometimes get it wrong, as I am not a scholar or Chinese educated.
To give you an example, and perhaps elicit further discussion, here are a couple of instances of where I suggest a closer look might be beneficial.
The first is about the "waist" and what is meant by it. Following a discussion with another serious and more senior practitioner, he stated that in Chinese the actual wording is, yao kua, which not only means the waist but also the hips! So, when we emphasise the waist, we should actually also include the hips. In fact, it is that whole region around the pelvis. Too often, only the waist is emphasised which is, in my opinion, can be quite misleading and possibly incorrect. The yao kua is the commander, because it leads! It provides the link between upper and lower, and is the force multiplier when Jin is expressed.
Another example is, "Fair maiden threads the shuttle". I don't know about you, but this has always been somewhat puzzling for me, especially the word, shuttle. However, when I looked up the actual wording in Chinese, the words that caught my attention was, chuan suo. The translation that this gave was threading or piercing, and shuttle or back and forth. Shuttle was meant as the action of going to and coming back. It was the action done by the women when weaving cloth, where a shuttle was threaded in a loom to make the fabric. This also provided some sense of the movements that are part of this posture.
I hope that the above is of some interest and provide others with food for thought.
Take care,
Frank