Last Saturday I had the opportunity to visit my college professor, Nigel Wiseman, a world-class translator who is best known for his source-oriented approach to translating Traditional Chinese Medicinal texts. One of his most famous translations is Shang Han Lun: On Cold Damage, Translation & Commentaries (傷寒雜病論). While studying at Fu Jen Catholic University I took his courses on translation and biomedical terminology. His obsession for accuracy and improvement influences me to this very day.
Having spent almost 40 years in Taiwan, many of his observations of Taiwanese society gave me a lot of insight into the value of our culture. For example, he observed that Confucianism maintains social harmony without prescribing religious doctrines, thereby preventing religious conflicts which is prevalent in the West and in Muslim countries.
From his lectures I learned that translation is essentially a deep form of cross-cultural communication. Through good translation we can learn immensely about other cultures and even transcend the boundaries of time. Thank you Dr. Nigel Wiseman for your insightful lectures! Hope to see you soon next time!
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