This is the monthly live event, usually on the first Saturday of each month, that is an exclusive part of my Imperial Tutor mentorship. I either present a more formal lecture myself, followed by a lively discussion (what used to be called “History Train Lectures”), or I invite an important voice or two in Chinese medicine (practitioner of the East Asian healing arts, philosopher, anthropologist, historian, translator, author etc.) for a casual chat. While this is a members-only event, the general public can always join for a 9-day $9 trial to check it out. Imperial Tutor members always get access to the recordings right after the event and for three months back, in addition to many other benefits.

Details for this month:

• Topic: A Look Behind the Curtain

• Guest: Allen Tsaur

• Description: I have a special treat for all of us this month: Our guest will be Allen Tsaur, who is not only the most prolific translator in our field, but also incredibly well-read, skilled, and conscientious with his work. I have nothing but huge respect for him and only worry that his pace of book production (in addition to clinic and teaching work) just doesn't seem humanly possible. But hey, maybe I am just old and tired (:

  Anyway, I am so happy to get and offer this chance to all of us, to hear from Allen directly how he approaches his important work, which is such a lifeline in our profession for those of us unable to read these medical texts in the original. I hope you join me in honoring and learning from Allen.

  As I usually do, I asked Allen what he would like to talk about, and he gave me two answers:

  • As AI tools advanced rapidly during the span of this project, I have constantly tested and adapted AI tools. From my anecdotal experience, maybe I can touch on or discuss - what capabilities they have, what limitations there are, what the impacts they have on us as translators, and how we should properly handle this technology.

  • Another topic of interest is about interpretations of classical literature or landmark passages, whether there is any "authentic" interpretation. In this translation of Wenbing tiaobian, I had to look through about 60-70 historical texts due to the numerous references Wu Jutong brought up - I noticed something slightly troubling. Wu seemed to have misattributed, misquoted, or misinterpreted his predecessors' works from time to time. This is also something I saw in other historical authors like Liu Wansu, Zhu Danxi, and Zhang Jingyue. In addition, Wu adapted a very particular interpretation of the Neijing, making him sometimes contradict the interpretation of other classical Neijing annotators - so how should we translators deal with that? Because in translations, what is "authentic" in interpreting the original writing may not always reflect the interpretations of later commentators or scholars who cite, elaborate, further develop the concepts, or even outright repurpose/redefine them.