“天人合一”与中国古代的精神疾病观

“Universe and Human in One” and the View of Mental Illness in Ancient China

当西方近代医学对精神疾病做出生理性的解释之后,精神疾病不再同道德问题联系在一起。然而在中国,虽然以天人合一为思想基础的中医学始终对精神问题给出生理性的解释,但是精神疾病在中国传统文化中却一直被视为一种道德上的失败。与唯物主义疾病观相伴的对待精神疾病的文化态度在中西历史上显示出截然不同。儒家的道德哲学可以为这种不同提供一种解释。在天人合一思想的基础上,身体不仅承载着自然规律,也承载着道德含义。这种观念不仅反映在社会文化之中,也反映在中国古代的医学思想和法律体系之中。

Greatly influenced by the philosophical proposition ＂universe and human in one＂, Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） explained mental illness in a materialistic way. In ancient China, mental illness was viewed as a physical disorder. When western medicine began to explain mental illness physically, mental illness then has nothing to do with morality. However, in China, Confucius moral philosophy endowed biological conditions with moral meanings, contrary to western medical history, mental illness still had been viewed as a failure of morality even though it was explained in a physical way. This special notion of mental illness embodied both in social culture and legal rules.