Terminology of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Etymology and Historical-Cultural Context

Medicine is one of the oldest and at the same time one of the most dynamically developing fields, having undergone an evolutionary path from magic to modern high-tech science over many millennia. The vocabulary of this sphere is the focus of attention for researchers in terminology. The subject of this study is the traditional terminological units of medical concepts from ancient China and their translation into Russian. The purpose of this work is to analyze the ways of word formation and semantics of the terms of the Cultural Circle of the Yellow River, represented in the fundamental work "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine." The layer of traditional Chinese medical terms presented in "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine" is of interest. Various methods have been applied for material selection and research, including text analysis, etymological analysis, semantic analysis, and the study of scientific literature. The methodological foundation of the research consists of the works of Soviet and Russian scholars in terminology, who have formed an understanding of the special lexeme and its properties. The research also considers the studies of Chinese scholars on this issue. As a result of the terminology analysis, it was established that the conceptual picture of medical knowledge in ancient China is permeated by the idea of the unity of the world and man, which is reflected in the naming of the components of medicinal preparations by analogy with the hierarchical structure of society. The philosophical concept of the cosmos as Yin and Yang, as well as the teachings on the life energy Qi, had a direct influence on the formation of the terminological system of the Cultural Circle of the Yellow River, resulting in the emergence of compound terms representing a series of names for human organs designated by a single word. The novelty of the research lies in the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of traditional Chinese medicine terms, which reflect both practical healing experience and philosophical views on the structure of the world. For the first time, compound terms have been described, representing a unique experience of understanding the physiological processes of a living organism. The conducted research led to the following conclusions: equivalent and non-equivalent terminological units such as Yin, Yang, and Qi were identified, the translation of which requires linguocultural commentary; a terminological model of the mutual generation and overcoming of the five elements—fire (), water (), wood (), metal (), and earth (), which relate to internal organs, emotions, and disease symptoms, was presented.