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A Study on Benjamin Hobson's Contribution to the Translation Of ISSN 1712-8358[Print] Cross-Cultural Communication ISSN 1923-6700[Online] Vol. 15, No. 1, 2019, pp. 42-47 www.cscanada.net DOI:10.3968/10970 www.cscanada.org A Study on Benjamin Hobson’s Contribution to the Translation of Western Medicine in Modern China WANG Ruoran[a]; LI Changbao[b] ,* [a]MA student, School of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Hangzhou, China. INTRODUCTION [b]Ph.D., Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang University of Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), a British medical Finance & Economics, Hangzhou, China. * missionary, was born in Welford, Northamptonshire, Corresponding author. England. After graduating from London University with Received 15 November 2018; accepted 17 February 2019 a master’s degree in medicine, he came to China under Published online 26 March 2019 the designation of London Missionary Society. In 1839, Hobson started his medical practice in Macao, and then Abstract was transferred to Hongkong as the dean of the London Benjamin Hobson is a British medical missionary who Missionary Society’s hospital in 1842 and founded a came to China in the Qing Dynasty. Living in China for medical school. In 1848, Hobson founded Huiai Medical nearly twenty years, Hobson had quite a few translation Center, which was a church hospital in Guangzhou. Later works published, and he was not only the first one who in 1857, he took over William Lockhart’s work at Renji systematically translated various kinds of medicine Medical Center in Shanghai. In 1859, Hobson left China. theories into Chinese but also the pioneer of creating Due to his poor health, he died of disease at Forest Hill medical terms in Chinese. This paper first attempts near London in 1873. to make a thorough inquiry into Hobson’s medical During his time in China, Hobson compiled a number translation practice and his views on translation, and of representative western scientific works, and his then points out that Hobson’s major contributions to the achievements in the translation of western medicine are translation of western medicine in modern China are that particularly prominent. “In the process of diagnosis, his medical translation promoted the popularization of treatment and teaching, Hobson investigated the diseases western medicine in China, that the publication of Treatise in China, studied the theories and treatment methods of on Physiology set a milestone of translating medicine traditional Chinese medicine, and found that although works for modern China to learn from the West, and that descriptions about blood, bones, organs and meridians his compilation of A Medical Vocabulary in English and were contained in Chinese medical books, unfortunately, Chinese laid the foundation for the Chinese translation of their uses were not known by the Chinese people” (Ma, modern medicine terminology. Gao & Hong, 1993, p.372). Associating with his own experiences of medical education, Hobson began to Benjamin Hobson; Medical translation; Key words: translate medicine theories and clinical treatments step by Translation of western medicine; Treatise on Physiology; step: from anatomy to basic scientific knowledge required A Medical Vocabulary in English and Chinese by western medicine; to surgery practice; to gynecology; to internal medicine; to pharmacy; several translations Wang, R. R., Li, C. B. (2019). A Study on Benjamin Hobson’s of western medicine were published from 1851 to 1858. Contribution to the Translation of Western Medicine in Modern China. Cross-Cultural Communication, 15(1), 42-47. Available Wang (2015) points out that the “five kinds of Western from: http//www.cscanada.net/index.php/ccc/article/view/10970 medicine books” (Treatise on Physiology; First Lines on DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/10970 the Practice of Surgery in the West; Practice of Medicine and Materia Medica; Treatise on Midwifery and Diseases Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 42 WANG Ruoran; LI Changbao (2019). Cross-Cultural Communication, 15(1), 42-47 of Children; and Natural Philosophy) compiled by Hobson had Treatise on Physiology published in Guangzhou, systematically spread western anatomy, physiology, which was the first systematic translation of western surgery, internal medicine, gynecology and pediatric to anatomy. Xiong (1994) points out that this book has China for the first time. In addition, Hobson has made a made a thorough introduction about main organs and breakthrough attempt at the creation of medical terms. systems of the human body, including the movement Sun (2010) holds that A Medical Vocabulary in English system, the digestive system, the respiratory system, the and Chinese, which was compiled by Hobson, marked the circulation system, the urinary system, the endocrine beginning of the translation of medical terminology and system, the nervous system and the reproductive system. has rich research value. His translation of The Natural Philosophy was published In view of this, scholars introduced Hobson as an in 1855, introducing western scientific knowledge in indispensable figure in the history of western medicine’s three chapters: physics, astronomy, and zoology, which propagation to the East. Wylie (1867), in A Medical were all the basic knowledge required in the education of Vocabulary in English and Chinese, records the history of western medicine. In 1857, Hobson came to Shanghai to western missionaries in modern China, including a brief work at Renji Hospital and left China in 1858. However, introduction to Hobson and his translations. In Japan, during this short period, he cooperated with Chinese also influenced by western medicine’s propagation to the translators and had three translations published. The East, Shen (1996) at Kansai University makes a thorough first was First Lines on the Practice of Surgery in the list of translations of the western medicine since the Qing West, an introduction of illness and medicine; the second Dynasty, holding that Hobson’s medical translation was was Treatise on Midwifery and Diseases of Children, of great significance to the formation of modern Chinese introducing theories of obstetrics, gynaecology and medical terms. In China, Chen (1897) and Wang (1882) pediatrics; and the third Practice of Medicine and Materia discuss Hobson and his translations in the Qing Dynasty. Medica, which introduced theories of internal medicine. Later in the 1980s and 1990s, Hu (1982), Zhao (1991) and In addition, Hobson compiled the medical terminology Xiong (1994) probe into Hobson and his translation from used in his translation into A Medical Vocabulary in the perspective of the propagation of western culture. Ma, English and Chinese, a professional dictionary of English- Gao & Hong (1997) also elaborate on Hobson’s activities Chinese medical terms. in China and the process of his translation. Since the 21st 1.2 Hobson’s Views on Translation century, microscopic researches about Hobson and his translations have increased. Li (2005) analyzes Hobson’s 1.2.1 Trans-Editing Is the Means to Achieve Better translation of medical nouns, pointing out the important Translation role Hobson plays in the determination and unification of Chen, Luo & Kuang (2013) point out that Hobson has medical nouns. Wu (2009) discusses Hobson’s translation always defined his own translation as ‘trans-editing’, and from the perspective of dissemination and localization of he mentioned this in the preface of several translations. human physiology, pointing out that Hobson makes great Just as what “trans-editing” implies, Hobson’s translation efforts in the popularization of related knowledge. Sun refers to not only the transformation of language but (2012) explores the influence of A Medical Vocabulary in also the reorganization of contents, which are mainly English and Chinese from the perspective of the creation evidenced by two aspects. Firstly, when he was selecting of modern medical terminology, holding that Hobson’s the translation content, he chose various medicine works works have exerted a positive effect on the transmission in the same field, picked up several chapters, and put of western medicine. Wang (2015) analyzes Hobson’s them together as a book. For example, the original text compiling strategy, pointing out that the local language of Treatise on Physiology included William Benjamin and words from Confucianism or Chinese medicine Carpenter’s Animal Physiology, Jones Quain’s Elements of classics are constantly used in Hobson’s translations. Guo Anatomy, Erasmus Wilson’s The Anatomist’s Vade Mecum & Li (2015) discuss Hobson’s influence on the education and William Paley’s Natural Theology, Hobson, however, of western medicine in modern times, holding that his selectively translated the contents of different works and textbooks have promoted the development of western compiled them into one book, and the translation cannot medicine in China. be completed without “examinations; the reference of created models; and a lot of discussions”(Hobson, 1851: Preface). Secondly, when translating chapters, Hobson did 1. HOBSON’S MEDICAL TRANSLATION not translate the text word-by-word, but “summarize the AND HIS VIEWS ON TRANSLATION main idea and translate it into Chinese”(Hobson, 1858: Preface). It is obvious that trans-editing can effectively 1.1 Hobson’s Medical Translation serve Hobson’s translation purposes: First, to ensure that Hobson lived in China for less than 20 years, however, the translation has a high degree of acceptance. Wang the amount of his translations is
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