Translating Chinese medicine began, for Nigel Wiseman, with a love of language, and it has become a lifelong study of how meaning travels between worlds. His work asks that we stay faithful to what the Chinese actually says, even when it asks something of the reader.In this conversation, we visit with Nigel and trace the path from a young linguist in early 1980s Taiwan to some of the first English-language texts on Chinese medicine. We look at how terms like “disinhibit” and “deficiency heat” came from refusing to blur distinct concepts, and why a little Chinese goes a long way for any practitioner.We also explore the Confucian analogies at the heart of the medicine, from the liver as general to the spleen as granary official, and Nigel’s challenge to the idea that Chinese medicine is simply a Daoist art.Listen in for a discussion on language, metaphor, and translation, and what it means to meet a medicine on its own terms.

Acupuncture and East Asian medicine was not developed in a laboratory. It does not advance through double-blind controlled studies, nor does it respond well to petri dish experimentation. Our medicine did not come from the statistical regression of randomized cohorts, but from the observation and treatment of individuals in their particular environment. It grows out of an embodied sense of understanding how life moves, unfolds, develops and declines.

Medicine comes from continuous, thoughtful practice of what we do in clinic, and how we approach that work. The practice of medicine is more — much more — than simply treating illness. It is more than acquiring skills and techniques. And it is more than memorizing the experiences of others. It takes a certain kind of eye, an inquiring mind and relentlessly inquisitive heart.

Qiological is an opportunity to deepen our practice with conversations that go deep into acupuncture, herbal medicine, cultivation practices, and the practice of having a practice. It’s an opportunity to sit in the company of others with similar interests, but perhaps very different minds. Through these dialogues perhaps we can better understand our craft.