Translation Studies of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China: Achievements and Prospects

Abstract

Given the accelerated pace of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) translation studies and their increasing popularity in China, it is necessary to make a comprehensive review. This study explores the recent development and hotspots on TCM translation studies, based on research articles published between 1992 and 2020 in key journals in China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, and it employs bibliometric methods to analyze the status quo, hotspots, and future trends of TCM translation studies. The study identifies the main researchers, their affiliations, and frequently cited papers and examined them from the perspective of keywords and burst terms. We find that TCM translation studies are rapidly increasing, topics and fields are increasingly covered, and cultural elements and their significance are increasingly considered. More perspectives and topics should remain to be considered. Thus, the TCM-related corpus should be expanded to enable in-depth studies. Further, more studies should be conducted on the training of TCM translators and interpreters.