English translation of culture-loaded terms in traditional Chinese medicine from the perspective of creative treason--A case study of human-machine translation comparison
创造性叛逆视角下中医文化负载词英译——以人机翻译对比为例

摘要

中医药典籍包含大量文化负载词，其概念独特、文化内涵深厚，在英语中无对等表达，成为中医药国际传播的核心难点。本文以创造性叛逆理论为研究框架，构建“内核深挖、文化阐释、目标语适配”三维评估体系，选取《黄帝内经》中哲学思想、基础医学、病症诊疗、养生文化四类典型文化负载词，以李照国权威人工译本为参照，与ChatGPT-4o、KIMI两款AI译文开展平行对比研究。结果表明，人工翻译以异化策略为主，在文化保真、术语专业性与内涵完整性上表现突出；AI翻译以归化策略为主，目标语可读性更强，但易引发概念窄化与文化内涵损耗。二者的系统性差异源于译者的文化主体性与AI的语用适配逻辑差异。本研究拓展了创造性叛逆理论在数字翻译领域的应用，可为AI翻译文化适配优化、中医术语标准化建设及人机协作翻译实践提供实证依据与方法参考。

Abstract

Drawing on creative rebellion theory, this study constructs a three-dimensional evaluation framework—core excavation, cultural elucidation, and target-language adaptation—to examine four types of culture-loaded terms in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon: philosophical concepts, foundational medicine, disease diagnosis and treatment, and health cultivation. A parallel comparison is conducted between Li Zhaoguo’s authoritative human translation and the AI-generated translations of ChatGPT-4o and KIMI. The human translation, prioritizing foreignization, excels in cultural fidelity, terminological precision, and conceptual integrity. In contrast, AI translations favor domestication, enhancing readability but often narrowing concepts and eroding cultural nuances. These differences stem from the translator’s cultural agency versus AI’s pragmatic adaptability. This research extends creative rebellion theory into digital translation, offering empirical insights for AI cultural optimization, TCM terminology standardization, and human-AI collaborative translation.