Link to WeChat Article: https://v.xiumi.

us/board/v5/3rELg/426501729

Though living in the post pandemic era, COVID-19 is still a problem that we have to cope with

considering the new strains that keep arising and the rather serious sequelae. In the foreseeable

future, COVID-19 will continue to exist and people have to figure out a way to get along with

this “bad company”. Chinese Traditional Medicine(TCM) will be one of the most universal

solutions.

What is TCM?

Traditional Chinese Medicine, abbreviated as TCM, is a complete system that has been existing

for thousands of years. Many other Asian countries' medical systems, such as Japan and Korea,

were developed on the basis of TCM. TCM regards the human body as the integral of Qi, form,

and mind on the basis of the theory of five elements and yin and yang(the two opposing

principles in nature). TCM values the balance of the human body and all illnesses are caused by

unbalance. Since the human body is in dynamic balance, TCM stresses on the daily effort to keep

the balance. Just as the old saying goes, the superior doctor prevents illness, the mediocre doctor

treats the impending illness, and the inferior doctor treats the actual illness. In a nutshell,

prevention is priority among priorities.

Why TCM?

 With a brief glimpse on TCM, you may now wonder why we should choose TCM. Are there any

proofs or evidence other than those fine words? Yes. From past experience, TCM performed well

in the treatment for SARS or MERS coronavirus, which has high genetic similarity compared to

COVID-19. During the pandemic of H1N1 influenza, a kind of respiratory infection,

experiments on the effectiveness of TCM have been conducted and results show that TCM

treatment significantly reduced the infection rate. More directly, according to the National Health

Commission and National Administration of TCM that integrated with western medicine, TCM

is effective in treatment of COVID-19. The Chinese government has also confirmed in a recent

announcement that TCM can effectively reduce the time to clean the virus, help to shorten

hospitalization period and alleviate symptoms and encourages the application of TCM in rural

areas.

How to apply TCM in life?

The TCM system doesn’t only include medicine and clinical treatment but also includes a large

part of daily fitness. As the pandemic bursts out, the Chinese government has dedicated itself to

promote “ba duan jin”, which is a kind of Qigong practice or could be thought of as mild

Chinese martial art. TCM believes that through certain movements, the Qi inside the human

body could be mobilized and to help restore the dynamic balance of the human body. Due to the

easy movement and non-drastic nature of such Qigong practice, even elders and children could

do it. The whole practice is about 10 minutes and it could help to build a stronger immune

system. Those who have practiced “ba duan jin” have given high comments on the effect.

 This article only provides a limited perspective on TCM. Some readers may still suspect the

scientific truth of TCM. Why don't you just give it a try? After all, seeing is believing.

Resources

http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2023-01/04/content_5734917.htm

https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/treatment/traditional-chinese-medicine

 Peggy Pan

Jan 25, 2023

Lopatko

WRIT 2

A Reflection on Genre Translation

The article I chose is “Traditional Chinese Medicine as a complementary therapy in

combat with COVID-19—A review of evidence-based research and clinical practice”. The genre

I chose to do this translation is WeChat Article. This is a wide genre that could vary differently

according to each author’s style and it acts perfect as a genre that faces the general public. It is

also a genre that has great propagation performance. I chose to use this format because I think

that Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) is greatly undermined and neglected by the global

community. Especially in the time that COVID-19 could normalize people’s life, I feel the

necessity to help propagandize TCM.

As a popular social and working application, WeChat has a large number of users, and

writing a post does not have many limitations, which is easily approachable. The audience of this

genre is primarily the general public, but also includes the business leaders and the policy

makers. Since the pandemic will continue to last for years, people need to get used to the

situation. Just like taking flu shots every year, having some knowledge on how to prevent

COVID-19 or to cure it at an early stage would be good for people. The potential publication of

such methods can bring up profits for business corporations and can provide publicity directions

for the policy makers. As Dirk has said, “genres usually come with established conventions”

(254). WeChat articles are short articles that are usually easy to read with graphs and pictures.

 The style of the article could vary with the author's choice. It could be fancy and contains gif or

videos, but it also could be of plain text. The business articles are usually colorful and have a

fancy layout. Thus, they could grab their audiences' attention at the first sight. The science

popularizing articles will be less fancy but usually have graphs, pictures and videos presented. So

that the audience could have a much more intuitive feeling on the subject. The wording won't be

too formal and won't contain too much jargon so it will be easy to understand. The shorter length

helps to retain the audience. Rhetorical devices such as similes and metaphors will be used to

entertain the audience but also help them to better understand the concept. Some authors will

keep a humorous tone to better engage the readers.

“Intentions…are essential to a good piece of communicative writing”(Giles 198). The

original essay no doubt faces other academics in the field of nursing or medicine while I hope

my translated article could face the general public. I value the idea of using TCM as prevention

and this is something practical to use in daily life not only in prevention for COVID-19 but also

for other diseases. I would like to extend the idea of the journal and convey it to the general

public that prevention is always of more importance than treatment. Due to the possible severe

sequelae of COVID-19 and the vulnerability of children and elders facing this virus, I believe

TCM is something one should pay attention to and will be attracted to. The effect of TCM is not

the actual problem—many of those who have experienced TCM won’t doubt that. The problem

is that under modern society, people tend to seek help from Western medicine more since it’s

more effective from appearance. A large number of people hold a neutral attitude towards TCM,

and I hope I could persuade this portion of people to take a step towards TCM with the journal

article and other evidence as backup.

 The differences between these genres are huge—one is academic and one is popular. The

WeChat article left me with a much looser writing environment but also requires me to make

extensions and subtractions on the original article. I need to extract the core idea from the

original article and make it into an easy understanding concept with some sort of evidence. As

Carroll said, “Rhetoric—the way we use language and images to persuade—is what makes

media work”(46). A great advantage of WeChat articles is that I could make use of this online

media and add not only pictures but also words into it. Adding video to my translation article

really helps the readers to visualize the concept that they are not used to familiar with. Audience

is also a problem I have to deal with. Since I decided to face the general public, which means I’m

writing to people not only from China but also from America or other places in the world.

Theoretically I have to explain the concepts about TCM that they are not familiar with. However,

as a system that has developed for over thousands of years, it’s not possible to make things clear

in a few sentences. Limited to the genre and the purpose of my translation, I won’t want to

include long text explaining those concepts. As a result, I chose to give those concepts as

definitions to the readers, and present them with evidence how the things work but not what

these things are. I also try to persuade the audience to practice TCM. If they are interested, they

would independently search for more information. Just as stated before. I hope my translation

could work as the firing line but not as the bomb itself.

I’m actually quite familiar with this genre because I used to write these kinds of articles

for my club as advertisements for our magazine. Even though it's the same genre I’m writing

about, they are still very different. Recognizing the difference between them and then addressing

them properly is what I have to think about as the author(Dirk 254-256). It’s also fun that I

should figure out a layout that fits the English words but not Chinese Characters. I think this

experience is quite useful, I could encounter situations like advertising for products or for events

in the future. Or it could be situations where I want to share experiences or write stories.

 Works Cited

Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis.” Writing

Spaces: Readings on Writing, edited by Charley Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, vol. 1,

2010, pp. 46.

Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, edited by Charley Lowe

and Pavel Zemliansky, vol. 1, 2010, pp. 254-256.

Giles, Sandra L. “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?”

Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, edited by Charley Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky,

vol. 1, 2010, pp. 198.