In a treatise on Chinese Medicine which I am translating from Spanish into English there is a very fundamental word for which I cannot find the proper translation into English. The word is a Spanish free translation of the Chinese phoneme "Qi" (or "Chi" depending on the transliteration used). I have translated it as SOUL, which is indeed acceptable in the more spiritual and philosophical contexts but rather awkward and even confusing when one come to talk of the "soul" of such or such organ or canal (meridian) (ej. "stimulate the soul in the Kidney channel by needling such or such acupunture point"). Other English translations could be vital spirit, vital force, vital breath, breath of life or energy.
The Spanish word that the author, Dr. José Luis Padilla, uses (and it is well off the beaten track of typical acupunture expressions in Spanish) to translate “qi” is “soplo” which has to do with the vital breath, with the breath that animates or gives life to a structure. "Solpo" in Spanish is derived from a verb (soplar)which could mean to blow or to inspire and is used in the Spanish Bible to express how God "blows" life into the earth or clay that he used to make Adam. This Biblical expression is what comes closes to the Chinese idea of Qi: it is the vital force that animates, gives vitality and spirit to all living things. That implies both philosphically, spiritually and mechanically-- which is what makes it a difficult term to find.
I could use any of the above translations (vital spirit, vital force, vital breath, breath of life) but they all are clumbsy since they are a term in two words..."Energy" is the commun translation for Qi, both in Spanish and other languages. If we use "soplo" instead of "energía", that is energy, it is because "energy" has too mechanical a connotation and the Chinese concept enters into much more considerations (philosophical, spiritual, etc) than just the mechanical. "Spirit" is no good since there is another Chinese phoneme which has the obliged tgranslation as spirit. "Soul" is also a problem since the soul, at least in the Chinese concept, is a manifestation of the spirit.
HELP!!!
Do you have any proposals for me? I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions. .
