Acceptance of Translated Traditional Chinese Medicine Classics Overseas: A Survey of Five English Versions of Nan Jing

Abstract

Nan Jing is one of the four foundation texts of traditional Chinese medicine. The present study investigates the acceptance of the five English versions of Nan Jing overseas in terms of three parameters: number of worldwide libraries holding the copy, book reviews and citation amount in international journals, and customer reviews plus sales ranks on Amazon.com. The results show that Unschuld’s version is the best accepted among overseas readers and in the reading market, and that Flaws’s version comes the second, while the versions of Chinese translators are not widely accepted. It is inferred that the academic reputation and market influence of the translator and the publisher are essential for the acceptance of the translated text of traditional Chinese medicine classics.