<p>the verse is from the preface of the book "石室秘錄". the chinese text project has a copy of it:</p>

<p><a href="https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&amp;chapter=933206" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&amp;chapter=933206</a></p>

<p>this book is about chinese medicine, not related to taoism.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>立方固奇﹒而立論甚正</p>
</blockquote>

<p>i would interpret it as:</p>

<p>resolutely (固), the proposed prescriptions (立方) are unorthodox (奇), but (而) the rationales provided (立論) are very (甚) formal (正)</p>

<p>have fun :)</p>

<p>btw: the translation of "cube" is, very inventive :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-15T08:16:04.340Z
Thanks for the translation. The excerpt talked more about taoism but this part was about TCM indeed. For 立方, I searched but found nowhere its meaning for "proposed prescriptions" and always found "cube" for it. (https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E7%AB%8B%E6%96%B9). Would you be so kind as to let me know any English Chinese dictionary specialised in such terms for TCM terminologies ?
Mat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-15T10:59:15.943Z
for classical / literary chinese, meanings of characters / words are always depends on the context. no dictionaries can define / list all possible meanings. this is an example to demonstrate: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29690/do-chinese-poeple-have-the-same-structure-in-their-language
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-15T11:00:53.430Z
the meaning of "三五二八" are depended on the context. though these characters are listed in any dictionaries, none of them would give you the correct answer.
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-15T11:02:56.113Z
last, may i ask what excerpt you have, of the mentioned verse in the question? show us the original, maybe, most likely, one can get another meaning from it :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-16T08:02:07.453Z
No need to show you the excerpt. You got it right. I know each character depends on the context... But I need to know all the possible meanings first to be able to pick one. ^^ I just wondered if you knew some online chinese dictionary specialised in classical / literary texts. That would help me for future translations.
Mat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-16T17:22:31.553Z
no lah. no dictionaries could handle classical / literary chinese texts. to grep the meaning, it depends on the reader's knowledge :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-14T17:00:33.573Z
2018-05-14T17:00:33.573Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>This is a criticism from 金以谋 to 陈士铎, both are doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.</p>

<p>立: propose; present</p>

<p>方: 药方, remedy</p>

<p>固: definitely</p>

<p>奇: peculiar</p>

<p>而: but</p>

<p>论: 理论 theory</p>

<p>甚: indeed</p>

<p>正: reasonable</p>

<p>The remedy he presented are definitely peculiar, yet his theories are reasonable deeply.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-14T15:36:02.303Z
Alright thanks ! I was close enough then. Would you mind telling me how you found out who that was from and how this is a criticism ? I would like to know more about it. Indeed the text was about taoism and TCM. 先谢谢了!
Mat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-15T02:18:39.447Z
@Mat, I googled this sentence, found a long article, it is in the last paragraph,here is the link, https://www.douban.com/note/241750689/
sfy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-14T15:05:48.900Z
2018-05-14T15:05:48.900Z
sfy
<p>It is from 【石室秘錄】(序) <a href="http://www.theqi.com/cmed/oldbook/book67/b67_01.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.theqi.com/cmed/oldbook/book67/b67_01.html</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>忽有好學深思如遠公陳子者，聞風而慕，誠求而得，取淹沒久遠之遺文，表章而出，更闡揚其所未發，謂非曠代一抒已哉。第指迷自呂祖，啟函自天師，辨難參訂自真人，跡近怪異，或疑其說荒渺為不可據矣。乃吾三複斯篇，</em>[<strong>立方固奇，而立論甚正</strong>]<em>。聚數賢之心思，變古今之精靈，審疾疚之幾微，定醫治之龜鑒。自來醫書亦滋多一矣</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Basically it is a hard sale introduction to a medical book that based on supposedly rediscovered ancient text. It has nothing to do with Taoism</p>

<p>"立方固奇，而立論甚正" (The prescriptions are indeed unorthodox; but the theories are very formal) is just one of the many praises to the book</p>

<ul>
<li><p>方 means 药方 (prescription)</p></li>
<li><p>立方 means "to prescribe prescription"</p></li>
<li><p>固 = certainly</p></li>
<li><p>奇 = unorthodox; surprising</p></li>
<li><p>而 = however</p></li>
<li><p>立論 = establish argument/ theory</p></li>
<li><p>甚正 = quite formal/ mainstream</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-14T21:21:50.137Z
2018-05-14T21:27:33.200Z
2018-05-14T21:27:33.200Z
Tang Ho
<p>I want to translate 立方固奇，而立论甚正.
It is a metaphor used in a taoist context.<br/>
I think I caught the drift but I am seeking confirmation by a sinologist or a Chinese person.<br/>
In my opinion, a possible translation would be :</p>

<p>"Some things look odd, yet they work well".</p>

<p>(Translation of  立方固奇，而立论甚正: "Cubes may look odd, yet they are upright."...)<br/>
Thanks in advance for your input !</p>

<translation><meaning><simplified-characters>
Translation of 立方固奇，而立论甚正
# Translation of 立方固奇，而立论甚正

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-14)

I want to translate 立方固奇，而立论甚正.
It is a metaphor used in a taoist context.  
I think I caught the drift but I am seeking confirmation by a sinologist or a Chinese person.  
In my opinion, a possible translation would be :

"Some things look odd, yet they work well".

(Translation of 立方固奇，而立论甚正: "Cubes may look odd, yet they are upright."...)  
Thanks in advance for your input !

**Tags:** translation, meaning, simplified-characters

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-05-14. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

the verse is from the preface of the book "石室秘錄". the chinese text project has a copy of it:

<https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&chapter=933206>

this book is about chinese medicine, not related to taoism.

> 立方固奇﹒而立論甚正

i would interpret it as:

resolutely (固), the proposed prescriptions (立方) are unorthodox (奇), but (而) the rationales provided (立論) are very (甚) formal (正)

have fun :)

btw: the translation of "cube" is, very inventive :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the translation. The excerpt talked more about taoism but this part was about TCM indeed. For 立方, I searched but found nowhere its meaning for "proposed prescriptions" and always found "cube" for it. (https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E7%AB%8B%E6%96%B9). Would you be so kind as to let me know any English Chinese dictionary specialised in such terms for TCM terminologies ?  
> **username_1**: for classical / literary chinese, meanings of characters / words are always depends on the context. no dictionaries can define / list all possible meanings. this is an example to demonstrate: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29690/do-chinese-poeple-have-the-same-structure-in-their-language  
> **username_1**: the meaning of "三五二八" are depended on the context. though these characters are listed in any dictionaries, none of them would give you the correct answer.  
> **username_1**: last, may i ask what excerpt you have, of the mentioned verse in the question? show us the original, maybe, most likely, one can get another meaning from it :)  
> **username_0**: No need to show you the excerpt. You got it right. I know each character depends on the context... But I need to know all the possible meanings first to be able to pick one. ^^ I just wondered if you knew some online chinese dictionary specialised in classical / literary texts. That would help me for future translations.  
> **username_1**: no lah. no dictionaries could handle classical / literary chinese texts. to grep the meaning, it depends on the reader's knowledge :)  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-05-14. Score: 2

This is a criticism from 金以谋 to 陈士铎, both are doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.

立: propose; present

方: 药方, remedy

固: definitely

奇: peculiar

而: but

论: 理论 theory

甚: indeed

正: reasonable

The remedy he presented are definitely peculiar, yet his theories are reasonable deeply.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Alright thanks ! I was close enough then. Would you mind telling me how you found out who that was from and how this is a criticism ? I would like to know more about it. Indeed the text was about taoism and TCM. 先谢谢了!  
> **username_2**: @Mat, I googled this sentence, found a long article, it is in the last paragraph,here is the link, https://www.douban.com/note/241750689/  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-05-14. Score: 2

It is from 【石室秘錄】(序) <http://www.theqi.com/cmed/oldbook/book67/b67_01.html>

> *忽有好學深思如遠公陳子者，聞風而慕，誠求而得，取淹沒久遠之遺文，表章而出，更闡揚其所未發，謂非曠代一抒已哉。第指迷自呂祖，啟函自天師，辨難參訂自真人，跡近怪異，或疑其說荒渺為不可據矣。乃吾三複斯篇，*[**立方固奇，而立論甚正**]*。聚數賢之心思，變古今之精靈，審疾疚之幾微，定醫治之龜鑒。自來醫書亦滋多一矣*

Basically it is a hard sale introduction to a medical book that based on supposedly rediscovered ancient text. It has nothing to do with Taoism

"立方固奇，而立論甚正" (The prescriptions are indeed unorthodox; but the theories are very formal) is just one of the many praises to the book

* 方 means 药方 (prescription)
* 立方 means "to prescribe prescription"
* 固 = certainly
* 奇 = unorthodox; surprising
* 而 = however
* 立論 = establish argument/ theory
* 甚正 = quite formal/ mainstream


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