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Chinese medicine transcends time, space

Author  :  Yu Wusong,Jiao Bing     Source  :    Chinese Social Sciences Today     2014-08-20

Jing Tianlin

Jing Tianlin was gratuated from the Department of Philosophy at Peking University and has served the member of Party Committee,minister of Publicity Department of Tibet Autonomous Region and the editor-in-chief of Guangming Daily. Currently, he is a visiting scholar and honorary professor of the School of Chinese Classics at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine has significant historical and contemporary value. Recently, CSST interviewed Jing Tianlin, a visiting scholar and honorary professor of the School of Chinese Classics at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, on the history and significance of Chinese medicine.

CSST: Chinese medicine has a history as ancient as Chinese civilization itself. Could you please first introduce briefly its evolution and current situation?

Jing: Research on Chinese medicine shows the earliest records of it were found on the oracle bones. Based on in-depth research on the oracle bones by renowned philologists, including Wang Yirong, Guo Moruo and Hu Houxuan, we have access to significant articles on early Chinese medicine, including primitive medical cases and clinical knowledge as well as the earliest records of infectious diseases, medical isolation, surgery, massage, moxibustion, dental care and deliveries.

The later bronze scripts recorded a wide range of areas in Chinese medicine, including diseases, medicine, physical knowledge, healthcareand food. We can find even more records in Confucian texts, such as the Thirteen Classics.

A systematic record of Chinese medicine was first laid out in the Huai-nan Tzu and the Shih Chi from the Han Dynasty. The first biography of renowned Chinese doctors was Gan Boxiong’s Biography of Famous Doctors in Previous Dynasties from the Tang Dynasty. The concept of a medical history was first put forth in Li Lian’s Medical History in the Ming Dynasty, but it was not until the Qing Dynasty that a historical review of Chinese medicine came into being, and Xu Lingtai’s On the Origin of Medicine was one such work. Chen Bangxian’s A History of Chinese Medicine, written in the 1920s, was the first systematic attempt to compile a general history of Chinese medicine.

In modern Chinese society, attitudes about traditional Chinese medicine have vacillated between abolishment and preservation. As an important part of Chinese civilization and a great contribution from the Chinese people to the world, Chinese medicine has always been connected to the destiny of our nation and civilization. The history of Chinese medicine has recorded it faithfully.

Today, historical research on Chinese medicine has entered the best stage ever. A variety of historical works and textbooks on Chinese medicine are published and used in classes. New findings on Chinese medicine are being published in various journals, such as the Chinese Journal of Medical History, covering the origin of medicine, division of medical history, medical systems, history of diseases, history of medical exchanges, medical education and medicine of different ethnic groups, medical figures, classics of traditional Chinese medicine and historical works on medicine.

I would especially like to mention the Intellectual History of Chinese Medicine, edited by Li Jingwei and Zhang Zhibin; the History of Chinese Medical Culture, written by Ma Boying, and Qian Chaochen’s reexamination of the Inner Canon of Huangdi, Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and research on eminent ancient doctors as well as Chen Yajun’s History of the Philosophy of Chinese Medicine, all of which achieved new heights with their elaborate examinations and profound argumentation.

CSST: The Chinese civilization is the only one among the four greatest ancient civilizations that has survived to this day, transcending time and space. As a treasure of Chinese civilization and ancient Chinese science, Chinese medicine is regarded as the Fifth Greatest Invention of Ancient China in addition to the four greatest inventions, including the compass, gun-powder, paper-making and printing. What are some universal features that Chinese medicine possesses that enable it to transcend time and space?

Jing: The History of Chinese Civilization, edited by Yuan Xingpei, noted that more than 2,000 years of practice has demonstrated the vitality and lasting value of Chinese medicine as a disciplinary system, and so much of the Chinese tradition is alive today. Suffice it to say, Chinese medicine is a miracle of ancient Chinese technology and civilization. I think this is exactly the transcendental feature of Chinese medicine.

The history of Chinese medicine also transcends time and space. According to the Dictionary of Chinese Herbal Medicine, edited by Li Jingwei, “The mission of historical research on Chinese medicine is to explain the dialectical relations between medical practice and theory, to demonstrate medical achievements in different historical periods and reveal the relations between medical situations and development as well as the impact of socialideology on medical development by using a dialectical approach and viewpoints of historical materialism.” This indicates its transcendentality is determined by its disciplinary feature and mission.

CSST: The exchange between different civilizations has always been a motive for mankind’s progress, so how do we see Chinese medicine in terms of cultural exchange?

Jing: Experts have shown us a lot of such examples in works on the history of Chinese medicine, especially the history of exchanges between Chinese and international medicine. The Silk Road witnessed many of these exchanges. The exchange was out of people’s respect for life. People exchanged food, medicine, as well as medical knowledge and culture.

Li Xun’s Pharmacopoeia of Foreign Drugs from the Tang Dynasty recorded 124 medicines introduced to China from abroad. Avicenna recorded 48 pulse diagnoses in The Cannon of Medicine, 35 of which were similar to that of the Maijing by Wu Shuhu in Western Jin Dynasty. Some research has shown that Avicenna indeed drew on Wang’s book and many Chinese therapies. Indian medicine and Arabic astronomy also had an impact on Chinese medicine.In addition, as China had closer exchanges with Japan, Mongolia, Korea and Vietnam, scholars began doing even more research on this.

CSST: What achievements has the scholarship made in terms of the research on exchanges between Chinese medicine and the world?

Jing: First of all, works and textbooks on the general history of Chinese medicine have provided comprehensive and systematic elaboration on exchanges between Chinese medicine and the world. Next we have A History of Exchange Between China and the World, with its rich content and deep thought,as well as emerging volumes and works speciallizing in this topic.

Third, various medical journals have set up regular columns for works on this topic to be published. In addition, writers and translators have been committed to research on the medical development in China’s neighboring nations and the rest of the world as well as how Chinese medicine exchanged with the world. Suffice it to say that such exchanges concur with exchanges between human beings and different civilizations.The spirit of Chinese medicine to go beyond national borders is driven by its inner quality and the actual practice of exchange, making great contribution to medical development and humankind’s civilization.

CSST: What still needs to be done in the field of Chinese medicine and historical research on the subject?

Jing: There is still some fundamental and epoch-making work to do. First we need to clarify the place and role of Chinese medicine in realizing the Chinese Dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese people.

Second, we need to carry out in-depth research on relations between Chinese medicine and Chinese civilization. Third, we need to know the relations between Chinese medicine and socialist core values. Fourth is the progressiveness of Chinese medicine. Fifth is the inheritance and innovation of basic theories of Chinese medicine. Sixth, we need to attach importance to the new problems posed to Chinese medicine by the new situations and changes. Seventh, modernization of Chinese medicine. Eighth, institutional innovation of Chinese medicine and its intellectual property in history and now. Ninth, contemporary exchange of Chinese medicine. Tenth, how to protect great masters in Chinese medicine and how to nurture future talent in this field.

 

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 632, August 11, 2014.  

Chinese link: http://sscp.cssn.cn/xkpd/dh/201408/t20140811_1286014.html

 

Translated by Jiang Hong

  

  

Editor: Yu Hui

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