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Translation and Foreign Language Learning

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ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2026.03.001

English Translation of TCM Medicated Diet Names—A Case Study of Chinese Medicated Diet

Siyan Li

Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang 110847, Liaoning, China.

*Corresponding author: Siyan Li

Funded Project: Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Project No.: 2023LNZYYM015).
Published: March 31, 2026

Abstract

This study, within the context of the international communication of TCM culture, guided by the theory of medio-translatology, and based on a qualitative case study of Chinese Medicated Diet, conducts a systematic analysis of the challenges in the outward English translation of TCM medicated diet names. In response to these challenges, the study proposes a solution: the translator should adhere to the translation principles of terminological consistency and functional transparency, adopt a domestication-oriented and foreignization-supplemented strategy, employ methods such as literal translation, free translation, and transliteration with annotation in accordance with the characteristics of the content, audience, and channel, and apply the amplification technique where appropriate, so as to optimize the reception of medicated diet names and thereby facilitate the broader internationalization of TCM.

Keyword

Medio-translatology; English Translation of TCM; Medicated Diet Names; Inter-national Communication of TCM Culture

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Copyright

© 2026 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

How to cite this paper

English Translation of TCM Medicated Diet Names—A Case Study of Chinese Medicated Diet

How to cite this paper: Siyan Li. (2026). English Translation of TCM Medicated Diet Names—A Case Study of Chinese Medicated Diet. Translation and Foreign Language Learning, 2(3).

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2026.03.001