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.

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.

On the legal systems of the overseas trade in the Song Dynasty

The golden period of the development of China＇s overseas trades is most significant in the Song Dynasty, which established the legal mechanisms of the overseas trades with the perfect systems. These legal regulations made clear the subjects of the overseas trade to a large extent, stipulated the procedures for the overseas trade, and at the same time, established the related legal liabilities and regulation means and methods of the governments. Although it met the huge demands of the development of the foreign trade, and had brought the economic income for the governments, yet because the governments had adopted the strict control measures, to a certain extent, it also restricted the rapid development of the foreign trade. This paper starts from the analysis of the legal subjects of the overseas trade in the Song Dynasty, and conducted the specific analysis of the trade procedures and other related contents of the legal systems of the overseas trade in the Song Dynasty.

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.

A Preliminary Study on the Spherical Bombs(Huolei)of the Southern Song Dynasty,Unearthed in Chongqing

The military situation of the thirteenth century required that the Song and the Mongols construct a great number of defensive works,relying on the mountains or facing the rivers,in the mountainous Sichuan Province and Chongqing.In recent years,a special kind of explosive firearms,huolei火雷(bombs),was unearthed in the large-scale excavations of the site of Diaoyu Fortress钓鱼城in Hechuan District合川and the Baidicheng白帝城in Fengjie County奉节,both of which were defensive works constructed in this mountainous area during the Southern Song dynasty.In addition,the ruins of kilns and the clay molds that were relevant to the casting of iron huolei have been discovered at the site of Baidicheng,indicating that these huolei might have been produced locally.The Southern Song iron huolei unearthed in Chongqing are the most direct evidence of the evolvement of gunpowder and firearms,and are of great significance to the history of science and technology,in particular the history of military technology.

Analysis of Style of Rockery Building and Stone Stacking Technique in the Royal Garden of the Song Dynasty: A Case Study of Genyue Royal Garden

Rockery building and stone stacking is a technique commonly used in building of classical gardens.Its emergence allows the fairy thought of"one pond and three mountains"to be reflected in different classical gardens.In the Northern Song Dynasty,the style of rockery building and stone stacking in the royal garden was an artistic climax in the history of the garden,and the technique of rockery building and stone stacking in Genyue Royal Garden was considered as the beginning of specialization.Through sorting out the records of the royal gardens in the Song Dynasty,this paper summarized the content of studying the royal gardens of the Song Dynasty,and systematically sorted out the development history of the techniques and styles of the royal gardens of the Song Dynasty and applied them into construction of some gardens.

Artistic Features of Gardens in Southern Song Dynasty

Based on the discussion of gardens in song dynasty,the artistic characteristics of gardens in southern song dynasty are analyzed from the four perspectives of poetry and painting style,stone piling and water designing,architectural form and plant cultivation.The gardens of southern song dynasty embody the regional and cultural characteristics of Jiangnan.The aesthetic appreciation of gardens infl uenced by the style of poetry and painting highlights the artistic characteristics of false or true complement,soft and elegant,and tends to be popularized.Mountain stones are stacked into peaks and waters are designed according to local conditions.The architectural forms are strewn at random,exquisite and elegant.Landscape plants present varying sceneries with changing view-points,and naming echo with scenes to enhance the artistic value of landscape.It is hoped that the status of garden art of southern song dynasty in the history of Chinese classical gardens can be evaluated more scientifi cally and objectively through the research,and some reliable theoretical basis can be provided for modern garden design.

The Influence of Thesis Writing of Imperial Examinations on Prose in Tang and Song Dynasty

The imperial examination system not only has profound influence on prose development in Tang and Song Dynasty, but also has an important influence on the whole Tang and Song Dynasty and even the later literature and cultural development. In the feudal autocratic rule, any system implemented by the state will have an important influence on all aspects of the whole society~ especially it is related with the imperial examination system of education and talents. Once it becomes a ＂basic national policy＂ , the role in social development is incalculable. This paper takes the relationship between imperial examination system and Tang and Song prose development as the breakthrough point, analyzing the influence of thesis writing of imperial examination on the prose in Tang and Song Dynasty and ＂Eight great men in Tang and Song Dynasty＂ .

The Artistic Styles of Ceramic Censers in Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty was very significant in Chinese feudal history, and ceramic industry boomed during that time： all kinds of kilns were scattered all over the country, and ceramic art achieved great success. Among those achievements, ceramic censers were a very typical one which features unique styles in patterns, decorations, and glaze colors. This paper covers the developing process and artistic characteristics of censers in Song Dynasty.

Different Views on the Historical Status of Song Dynasty

The purpose of this research is to identify the historical status of Song Dynasty of China.The historical status of Song Dynasty has been a controversial topic for a long time.Song Dynasty has been remembered in different ways in China and in the West at different times.This study will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Song Dynasty and evaluate Song Dynasty real istically and fairly.

“Commercial Revolution” in the Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty has been known in history for its great commercial success due to a series of events in the dynasty.In order to explain the reasons for economic success,this paper attempts to use factors such as political stability,discovery of new rice species in the South,the introduction of paper money by merchants from Sichuan in the South of China,and the increase in iron production especially in the North.Specialisation of products is also discussed separately but into details.A further mention of characteristics of the internal and international trade is also highlighted in this paper.An introduction of how the Song dynasty was founded and its distinct political,social and cultural characteristics,are delved into.Also the separation of northern Song Dynasty from the southern Song dynasty will be discussed.The paper concludes with combined interpretations from the famous“Qing Ming Shag He Tu”painting.This painting gives a somewhat illustrated evidence of the vibrancy of the Song Dynasty’s commercialisation recorded in history.

A Study on Imitating Activities ,ofHanshan Poems by Chan Buddhist Monks in SONG Dynasty

Although we have no clear picture of the life of Hanshan, a legendary TANG monk and in Collected Poems of Hanshan （Hanshan Sho＇i）, we can find either unclear ideas regarding his major thoughts or different ideologies from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Hanshan poetry was broadly read by people belonging to various social statuses during the SONG Dynasty. His poetry was also frequently cited in Chan Buddhist literature of the period. Furthermore, SONG Chan Buddhist monks invited Hanshan into their own genealogy and regarded him as a ＂San Sheng＂ （a Free Sage）. Many Chan Buddhist monks of the SONG Dynasty used Hanshan poetry in various Chan Buddhist texts. Numerous Chan Buddhist monks even wrote so-called ＂ni Hanshan shi＂, which imitated Hanshan poetry as a kind of personal literary creation. It is understandable that when a monk imitated Hanshan poetry, he would simultaneously be both the reader and the creator of Hanshan poetry, and as we understand that every writer produces their works through their own cultural outlook, a newly-formed correlation occurred naturally between the original poetry and imitated poetry through the SONG Chan Buddhist monk＇s version. By observing this correlation, this paper will deeply analyze the dissemination and acceptance of Hanshan poetry, within Chan Buddhist society in the SONG Dynasty, as based on Chan Buddhist literature, in order to learn more about image creation and the recreation of Hanshan during the period

Writing and Criticism on the Zen Buddhism in Zen Notes During the Song Dynasty

Zennotes in the Song Dynasty are based on the use of scattered essays to record trivial fragments of Zen Buddhistmonks’ daily life, including Hui Hong’s Lin Jian Lu, Da Hui Pu Jue Chan Shi Zong Men Wu Ku edited by DaoQian, Xiao Ying’s Luo Hu Ye Lu and Yun Wo Ji Tan, Dao Rong’s Cong Lin Sheng Shi, and Huan Wu’s Ku YaMan Lu. Through Zennotes, it is possible to learn more about the life of Zen Buddhist masters in the SongDynasty and the actual development of Zen Buddhism, which were seldom investigated in past studies. Firstly,this study explains the cultural environment generated by Zennotes and the creative development of Zennotes inthe Song Dynasty, and then discusses the main content of Zennotes. Zennotes highlight the characters through thedescription of specific events and make the images and characters of Zen Buddhist monks become vivid on paper.They are the most direct historical material for mastering Zen Buddhist monks in the Song Dynasty. Secondly,Zennotes in the Song Dynasty record anecdotes about Zen Buddhist monks and the literati talking about Zen atthat time, demonstrating the lively and witty interactions between the two. Lastly, the authors of Zennotes oftenrevealed their personal concerns about the growth and decline of temples in the narrative. Based on the above,Zennotes have the value of historical recordings of trivia, and they are first-hand historical materials forconstructing the history of Zen in the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Sixun and the Prosperous Astronomy in the Song Dynasty

Chinese astronomy reached its pinnacle in the Song Dynasty(960-1279)as culture continued to prosper to a new height.The invention of the“Taiping Armillary Sphere”by Zhang Sixun,who was from Bazhong in the Shu area(today’s Sichuan province),marked a milestone in the astronomical development in China.This article delves into the driving forces behind Zhang Sixun’s outstanding contributions to astronomy from the perspectives of the important role of astronomy in the politics of the Song Dynasty,the great attention the imperial court paid to astronomy,and the influence of the Shu culture,which centers on the belief“Tian Shu Zai Shu”(the rule of the universe is best observed in Shu).

The“Emperor’s Edict”and the Emperor’s power in the Southern Song Dynasty

“Emperor’s Edict”refers to the writing of emperor himself.In the context of serving as official document,it refers to the special writ issued by emperor for sake of administering national affairs.In the official document system of Song Dynasty,“Emperor’s Edict”had always been an attention of the scholars and officials at that time due to its unusual functions in terms of drafting,promulgation and power.The Southern Song Dynasty was generally conceived by academic circles as a period when the“Administration by Emperor’s Edict”was gradually phased out.We did observe,however,with“Emperor’s Edict”placed in historical panorama of the early years of Southern Song Dynasty,an ever-strengthened power and prowess of“Emperor’s Edict”as backlit by several historical incidents such as Emperor Gaozong’s controlling and manipulating by“Emperor’s Edict”of the national armies.It reflects the political truth of strengthened imperial power in the Southern Song Dynasty.Hence,we can have access to another facet of the politics of the Southern Song Dynasty.

The Evolution Characteristics of Spatial Layout of Ancient Chinese Capitals: A Case Study of Sui,Tang and Northern Song Dynasties With Important Changes in the Historical Development of Feudal Society

Imperial city and outer city are the most important differentiation of the spatial structure of ancient Chinese capitals.The relationship between city and Guo changed from the original spatial structure mode of "respecting the west" and "sitting in the west and facing the east" to the spatial structure mode of "sitting in the north and facing the south" and the three outer cities in the east,south and west surrounding the imperial city after the Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties,and gradually changed from the original "multi palace" system to the "single palace" system.Finally,a "heavy city" capital spatial structure with the outer city around the imperial city and the imperial city around the palace city,and the central axis of the chessboard format was formed.During the Tang and Song Dynasties,it was a period of great change in the history of feudal society in China.Through the investigation of the evolution characteristics of the spatial form of capital cities in the Tang and Song Dynasties,the track of the transformation of social ideology,political system,economic structure and many other fields in the Tang and Song Dynasties was made clear.

Nyang River Valley: A Land of Arrow Songs

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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.

Walking into the world of Li Yu

Li Yu is a failure as emperor,but as a ci writer he is considered to be the indisputable emperor to take the crown.A brief life of Li Yu is first presented to account for his failure as emperor and success as a ci writer.Then some of his ci poems are analyzed according to the categories of court life,love and lamentation over past splendor.In the end,his achievements in ci writing are summarized by citing Wang Guowei's words from his Comments on Ci in the Human World.