Article on Jill Donberg, Class of '06
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First Chinese Translation Puzzler
Welcome to the First Chinese Translation Puzzler. We will be posting these periodically and after a week or two, we will post an English translation of the text. Some will be hard and some will be easy, but hopefully they will be of some interest.
#1: A quote from the 金匮要略. Check back in a while to see if your translation agrees with ours...
問曰：上工治未病，何也？師曰：夫治未病者，見肝之病，知肝傳脾，當先實脾，四季脾王不受邪，即勿補之；中工不曉相傳，見肝之病，不解實脾，惟治肝也。
Question: How is it that the superior physician treats before there is disease?
Answer: She who treats before there is disease sees disease of the liver and knowing that liver transmits to the spleen, knows that she should first make the spleen replete. Through the year, when the spleen is exuberant it will not receive the evil; thus, do not supplement it. The mediocre physician does not understand this transmission and upon seeing liver disease, she does not understand about making the spleen replete and simply treats the liver.