A Set of Acupuncture Needles in the Late Qing Dynasty Collected by George Souliéde Morant

In the early 20th century,French vice-consul George Souliéde Morant encountered acupuncture during his visit to China,and then brought it back to France.After more than a century,his collection was transported from Paris,France to Kunming,China,and later recognized as a Chinese national third-class precious cultural heritage.Currently housed in the Museum of Western Studies on Chinese Medicine at Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine,this set of instruments includes one needle holder converted from a fan-shaped holder,ten acupuncture needles,and eleven paper tags handwritten in English with names of diseases and body parts.This article attempts to present the foundational information and historical significance of this collection of this set of late Qing dynasty acupuncture instruments by reviewing the collection and related research on acupuncture instruments,consulting acupuncture professionals,measuring the detailed information of the set of instruments,and employing a method of translating and summarizing the content of the attached tags.

Case Records as Medical Stories: A Song-dynasty Doctor’s Narration of His Own Medicine-Xu Shuwei (1080-1154)

The key point in studying or teaching the history of Chinese medicine is on the doctrines underlying it and on its perception of the body,physiology,pathology,and its treatment.Namely,there is often a tendency to focus on reading and analysing the classical canons and therapy-related texts including formularies and materia medica collections.However,focusing on these sources provides us with a one-sided presentation of Chinese medicine.These primary sources lack the clinical down-to-earth know-how that encompasses medical treatment,which are represented,for instance,in the clinical rounds of modern medical schools.Our traditional focus on the medical canons and formularies provides almost no clinical knowledge,leaving us with a one-sided narrative that ignores how medicine and healing are actually practiced in the field.This paper focuses on the latter aspect of medicine from a historical perspective.Using written and visual sources dating to the Song dynasty,clinical encounters between doctors and patients including their families are depicted based on case records recorded by a physician,members of the patient’s family,and bystanders.This array of case records or case stories will enable us to narrate the interaction between physicians and patients both from the clinical perspective and from the social interaction.This paper will also discuss visual depictions of the medical encounter to provide another perspective for narrating medicine during the Song dynasty.Medical case records and paintings depicting medical encounters are exemplary of the potential of Chinese primary sources for narrative medicine.

Tea of Harmony Yaji Cultural Salon·Tang Dynasty Tea Ceremony Activity Held at China Cultural Center in Stockholm

An immersive Tang-dynastystyle tea ceremony interactive experience was performed before a full house at China Cultural Center in Stockholm in the afternoon of June 25,accompanied by the melodious tunes of Guzheng and bamboo flute.

Construction of the Genealogy of Eccentric Monks Based on the Historical Materials of Chan Buddhism in the Song Dynasty--From Enlightened Masters in Chan Buddhism,Sages,to Saints

Regarding the Chan Buddhism lamp records from the Song Dynasty and starting from Jing De Zhuan Deng Lu,the category of“enlightened masters in Chan Buddhism”禪門達者was listed separately,meaning a separate category was established for eccentric monks who pretended to be crazy,had unknown inheritance and miraculous deeds,and were difficult to classify.The following lamp records named this category of eccentric monks as“sages”散聖,or“saints”應化聖賢,which constructed another historical genealogy for the special Chan Buddhism eccentric monks.Moreover,the early lamp records included mostly idiosyncratic mad monks from previous dynasties.Since the Southern Song Dynasty,Chan Buddhism historical materials included many sages from the current dynasty.Therefore,this study mainly examines how the genealogy of Chan Buddhism eccentric monks was constructed in Song Dynasty Chan Buddhism lamp records,including quotations,and organizes the images of eccentric monks in the Song Dynasty,as written in Chan Buddhism historical materials,in order that the meaning of existence of these enlightened masters,sages,saints,etc.,included in the genealogy of Song Dynasty eccentric monks in the history of Chan Buddhism can be reflected.

Reacting to Epidemics:The Innovative Imperial Public Health System during the Late Northern Song Dynasty

Song China was a period in which China experienced a great increase in its population.Concurrently,the Song dynasty also experienced a rise in the frequency of epidemics and two major wars with the Western Xia and Liao dynasties during the 1000s and 1040s.The consequences of these changes were exacerbated by the increased geographical mobility of certain social groups such as traders and examinees attending civil service examinations.Thus,casualties of wars,epidemics,or disease,especially of people whose families were far away and could not care for them were left without care and“their corpses often lay bare along the roads.”This new social environment created a need for general relief.The Northern Song government(960-1127 CE),especially during the reign of Emperor Huizong,established an innovative public health system to address this issue.The public health system included poorhouses,public hospitals,and pauper’s cemeteries.The first were more of charity organizations,whereas the latter two promoted public health by providing medical services for the poor and burial for those that nobody cared for.In terms of rationale behind these institutions,on the one hand,they constituted an attempt to get the poor and homeless off the streets while providing them relief or burial.On the other hand,it seems that Huizong’s deep concern with medicine propelled him to design and implement a comprehensive public health system oriented to prevent contagion and outbreak of epidemics.This article depicts the background,the organization,and the functions of the system.The article also discusses the conditions and reasons that gave rise to such a unique undertaking by the Northern Song government.

Looking up Prescriptions to Treat Infectious Disease:Anti-epidemic Books of Medical Formularies and Epidemic Prevention and Control in the Qing Dynasty

Copying,compiling,publishing,disseminating,and referencing anti-epidemic books of medical formularies were common activities during the outbreak of epidemics in the Qing dynasty.Its emergence,motivated by epidemic disease again and again,was important component parts of epidemic prevention and control.They played a unique role as media on affairs such as treating patients suffering from infectious diseases,mobilizing peoples to make contributions to anti-epidemic activities,integrating and popularizing knowledge of epidemic prevention.Anti-epidemic books of medical formularies were important to link peoples,things,and substances related with epidemic prevention and control,and were a kind of motivation to actively deal with the infectious disease,control the epidemic,and maintain health.Compared to other common measures,anti-epidemic books of medical formularies participated in many prevention and control practices deeply,which actually built a low cost,spontaneous,dispersed and non-institutional system to respond to epidemic,and the system had characteristics of stronger conductibility,bigger coverage area,and better external benefits.

Functions of Karez to Xinjiang Agriculture in the Qing Dynasty from the Perspective of Historical Documents

Desertification is increasingly serious in Xinjiang,and the construction of water conservancy is a precondition for the development of agriculture.The main project for the development of agriculture and water conservancy in Xinjiang is to build Karez,which played a vital role in the development of Xinjiang agriculture in the Qing Dynasty.It has been recorded many times in historical documents of the Qing Dynasty,such as Lin Zexu s Diary,Tao Baolian s Diary,Xinjiang Atlas and Zuo Zongtang s Memorial to the Emperor,etc.,which recorded the situation and historical origin of Karez.Karez made a significant contribution to the development of agriculture in the Qing Dynasty.It increased the cultivated land in Xinjiang at that time,and increased the types and yields of crops.It is conducive to the stability and development of Xinjiang s economy.Until today,Karez is still an important water source for agricultural irrigation in Xinjiang.

Identification of 13th-14th Century Chinese Handmade Paper Fibers Collected in Yuan Dynasty Paper Currencies

The earliest paper currencies in existence in China were handcrafted during the Yuan dynasty.These currencies were scientifically excavated from different ruins or tombs,whereas scientific analyses of the papers are rare.This study used optical and scanning electron microscopy to examine the fibers collected in Yuan dynasty paper currencies in conjunction with the Herzberg staining method.Despite differences in circulation period,paper fibers in both Zhi Yuan Tong Xing Bao Chao(two Guan)and Zhong Tong Yuan Bao Jiao Chao(one Guan and 500 Wen,issued in Zhi Zheng period)were identified as similar papermaking materials,bast fibers of mulberry bark.The results indicate that mulberry bark,a durable papermaking material used since ancient times,was mainly utilized as a raw material in these Yuan dynasty paper currency.This fiber identification work solved the critical problem of papermaking material in the Yuan dynasty paper currency and provided important information for conserving these precious cultural relics.

A New Inquiry Into the Contents of the Late Qing Dynasty Pictorial News Publication-The Core of “Entertainment Life” in Dianshizhai Pictorial

After the opening of ports in the late Qing Dynasty,Western culture was introduced into China.The local entertainment life presented the phenomenon of the coexistence of the East and the West.A large number of folk entertainment activities were recorded in the Dianshizhai Pictorial which have the function of cultural choice and value dissemination as well as current affairs.This research attempts to use literary analysis and case study to collate the entertainment life in the Dianshizhai Pictorial,combing the characteristics of the late Qing dynasty,and summarizing the value of entertainment in Dianshizhai Pictorial publishing.

Contribution and Modern Public Debt:On the Nature of Patriotic Public Debt in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China

There are different opinions about the first modern domestic debt in China.The theorists judge whether a certain public debt has modernity according to whether it has modern public debt form,ignoring the inconsistency between form and content,institutional provisions and actual implementation.The modern nature of public debt must have both the form and content of modern public debt.Based on the analysis of the issuing background,system design,collection and repayment of patriotic bonds in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,it is considered that the part of patriotic bonds subscribed by the Qing royal family is still the nature of donation and return,while the part subscribed by ordinary businessmen and people in the early Republic of China has a modern nature.The dual nature of patriotic bonds is closely related to the social background when the bonds are issued.

Structural Carpentry in Qing Dynasty-A Framework for the Hierarchically Modularized Chinese Timber Structural Design

This article, by using mathematical expressions, offers a scientific framework for understanding how the grading system of Qing′s structural carpentry determines the design and construction in the grand style timber architecture.The Qing′s grand style timber structure, which is ready for prefabrication and assembly, is extremely hierarchical oriented and significantly standardized. The general procedure in designing a grand style timber structure is to start with the grade that defines the basic module (dou kou); next comes with the number of bracket set (cuan), the number of longitudinal bays and the number of purlins which affect its plan and cross section; thirdly choose a roof type that determines its longitudinal section and the facade as well. A series of formulae are conducted to help depict the layout, cross sectional roof curvature and special longitudinal treatments in 4 sloped and 9 spined roofs respectively.

Garden Features in Tang Dynasty and Urban Planning and Construction of Xi'an City

By taking gardens in Tang Dynasty which play an important historical role in Chinese garden development history as case study,garden features in Tang Dynasty had been described from the aspects of cultural,ecological and planning characteristics,so as to explore the development trace of Tang garden culture,based on which relevant problems in urban planning and construction of Xi'an were discussed;and some countermeasures and suggestions on cultural,ecological and planning construction in the preservation of this ancient city were put forward.

The Research on the Battle of Yanmen Pass

During the war between Liao Dynasty(907-1125)and Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127),there was a classic battle that happened in Yanmen Pass(located in today’s Dai County,Xinzhou,Shanxi Province,China).It was a well known battle of ancient China because a commander of the Song army named Yang Ye(?-986)was really famous in both classical Chinese fictions and Chinese war history.He is the early protagonist of a famous Chinese classic fiction named The Romance of the Yang family’s generals(written in the 16th century,Ming Dynasty of China).The story of his family also appears in other novels.Besides,in history,he was a general who was active in the early stages of the war between Liao Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty.The battle of Yanmen Pass(980)was one of the most important battles of Yang’s military career.His combat style especially his cavalry tactic can be summarized through researching this battle.

Old Traditions of Making Huangyao Douchi

THE ancient town of Huangyao located in Zhaoping County,Hezhou City,south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,is renown for its time-honored Douchi processing techniques.Douchi is a kind of popular Chinese food made from fermented and salted black beans,which is commonly used as a condiment or seasoning for a variety of dishes.The history of Huangyao’s Douchi processing techniques can be traced back to the late Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368)and the early Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).According to a historical record of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911),“Huangyao is famous for its Douchi and has no rivals.”

Techniques of Making Suzhou Fans

SUZHOU fans are a special traditional handcraft of Suzhou City,east China’s Zhejiang Province,having a history of several hundred years.Suzhou fans can be categorized into three main types:folding fans,sandalwood fans,and Tuan(round-shaped)fans.Fans were widely used in Suzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty(1127-1279).Later in the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644),numerous fan-making workshops appeared in the city,then during the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911),Suzhou fans became royal tributes.Many fans found today in the collection of the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City were made in Suzhou.In 2006,the techniques of making Suzhou fans were included in the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Huangyao Ancient Town

HUANGYAO Ancient Town is located in the northeast of Zhaoping County in Hezhou City,south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.Around 60 kilometers from downtown,the ancient town covers an area of over 3.2 square kilometers.It traces its origin to the early days of the Song Dynasty(960-1279).The town expanded during the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644)and flourished during the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911).

An Overview of the Achievements of Modern Research on the Flying Shadow Pavilion Pictorial

The current academic research on the Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial founded in 1884 has been perfected,but there is very little research on the Flying Shadow Pavilion Pictorial,which can be said to be derived from Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial terms of both content and form,and which was founded by the Haiist painter Wu Youru in 1890 in order to reward the increasing number of admirers,but it is still in the initial stage.Flying Shadow Pavilion Pictorial consisted of four parts:pictures of ladies in Shanghai costumes,news about current affairs,pictures of animals,and compilations of women,each of which was accompanied by the then popular notebooks,which were popular at the time among the then readers because of the matching of pictures with text and the mixing of narratives and discussions.This paper takes Flying Shadow Pavilion Pictorial as the main object,summarizes the existing literature about Flying Shadow Pavilion Pictorial,points out the deficiencies of the current research on this basis,and points out the development trend of Flying Shadow Pavilion Pictorial in the future research.

Old Beijing Hot Pot

The origin of Old Beijing hot pot dates back to the Yuan Dynasty.It is said that Kublai Khan,during his expedition,craved his hometown cuisine.The chef had a clever idea:He cut lamb into slices,put them in a pot for a quick rinse,and sprinkled some salt.Kublai Khan found it very delicious.This way of eating quickly spread,and the history of hot pot has been around for 700 years now.

Treasures in the Museum

This is the armor bestowed by the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty to the leader of Sagya sect in Xizang.It is composed of a helmet and an armor.With a chest circumference of 112 cm and a length of 8o cm,the armor is formed by more than 1,000 pieces of iron armor woven and connected together with leather laces.This set of armor illustrates the relationship between the central court of the Yuan Dynasty and the local authority of Xizang,and serves as a testament to the unity of the country during the Yuan Dynasty.