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A Comparative Study of Metaphor Translation in English Versions of Compendium of Materia Medica

Author(s)

Li Xiaohong, Jiang Zixuan

Affiliation(s)

College of Foreign Languages, North China University of Science and Technology, China

Abstract

This study applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory to analyze structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors in Compendium of Materia Medica, comparing the English translations by Luo Xiwen and Paul U. Unschuld. the findings show that both translators convey the source text’s basic meanings but adopt different strategies: Luo favors explanatory translation and explicitation, while Unschuld emphasizes preserving the original conceptual structure and cultural connotations. the study demonstrates the value of Conceptual Metaphor Theory in analyzing metaphor translation and promoting the international dissemination of Traditional Chinese Medicine culture.

Keywords

Compendium of Materia Medica; Conceptual Metaphor Theory; metaphor translation; Traditional Chinese Medicine; Luo Xiwen; Paul U. Unschuld

References

[1] Lakoff. G. and Johnson. M. Metaphors We Live By. the University of Chicago Press Chicago and London. 1980. [2] Luo, D. (2026). Research on strategies for translating metaphorical news headlines with ChatGPT-4o from the perspective of functional equivalence theory: A case study of the Economist, English Square, (13), 36-40. [3] Li, S. (2026). A study on the Chinese translation of the Economist from the perspective of conceptual metaphor. New Chu Culture, (11), 90-92. [4] Xu, C. L. (2026). A study on the English translation of animal metaphorical idioms from the perspective of embodied-cognitive linguistics. English Square, (12), 19-22. [5] Xie, Z. J. (2000). Metaphor: From rhetorical device to cognition. Foreign Languages and Teaching, (3), 9–12.