Abstract:

The concept of five spirits, “shen”“hun”“po”“yi ”and “zhi”, is found in Huangdi Neijing. In the full text of Huangdi Neijing, the frequency of “zhi” is just less than that of “shen” among the five terms, yet the study on the connotation and translation of “zhi” is quite inadequate. This study aims at analyzing the English translation of “zhi”. The authors firstly identified the connotation of five spirits, classified the meanings of “zhi” under different contexts, and then analyzed the English translation of one category—“qingzhi” in three English translation versions of Huangdi Neijing. There are some mistranslation of “zhi” due to misinterpretation; the same “zhi” has been translated differently in one version; the same “zhi” has been translated differently among the three versions. Correct translation of “zhi” should be based on accurate connotation and appropriate contexts of “zhi”. For the same connotation “zhi”, consistence should be kept in translation.

Key words: Huangdi Neijing, zhi, qingzhi, connotation, English translation