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 Lia...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.展开更多
Through long-term observations and repeated practices of human body structure,anatomical knowledge in ancient China has gradually developed from the sprouting period when ancient Chinese hunted animals for survival,to...Through long-term observations and repeated practices of human body structure,anatomical knowledge in ancient China has gradually developed from the sprouting period when ancient Chinese hunted animals for survival,to anatomical exploration,which breaks the shackles of fear and religious rites.For example,Hua Tuo(华佗),a famous doctor in the period of The Three Kingdoms,did exquisite abdominal surgery;Yan Luozi(烟萝子),a Taoist priest in the period of The Five Dynasties,drew a map of human anatomy;Wang Weiyi(王唯一),a medical official in Northern Song dynasty,was responsible for casting acupuncture bronze figures,an anatomical mold for practicing acupuncture;Song Ci(宋慈),a forensic expert in Southern Song Dynasty,wrote Xi Yuan Ji Lu(《洗冤集录》Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified);Wang Qingren(王清任),a physician in Qing Dynasty wrote Yi Lin Gai Cuo(《医林改错》Correction on Errors in Medical Works).Ancient Chinese anatomy is far ahead of Western anatomy in understanding and describing human body structures.It has made great contributions to the emergence of Huang Di Nei Jing(《黄帝内经》Huangdi's Internal Classic)and laid a solid foundation for the establishment of visceral manifestation theory and meridian and collateral theory.Even now,it has served the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine and clinical practices.Anatomical knowledges,such as relevant operation records,books,Atlas,models in ancient China,especially the names of Zangorgan and Fu-organ,bones and five sense organs,are still used in modern anatomy and modern medicine,making indelible contributions to the development of modern anatomy in China.展开更多
文摘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.
文摘Through long-term observations and repeated practices of human body structure,anatomical knowledge in ancient China has gradually developed from the sprouting period when ancient Chinese hunted animals for survival,to anatomical exploration,which breaks the shackles of fear and religious rites.For example,Hua Tuo(华佗),a famous doctor in the period of The Three Kingdoms,did exquisite abdominal surgery;Yan Luozi(烟萝子),a Taoist priest in the period of The Five Dynasties,drew a map of human anatomy;Wang Weiyi(王唯一),a medical official in Northern Song dynasty,was responsible for casting acupuncture bronze figures,an anatomical mold for practicing acupuncture;Song Ci(宋慈),a forensic expert in Southern Song Dynasty,wrote Xi Yuan Ji Lu(《洗冤集录》Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified);Wang Qingren(王清任),a physician in Qing Dynasty wrote Yi Lin Gai Cuo(《医林改错》Correction on Errors in Medical Works).Ancient Chinese anatomy is far ahead of Western anatomy in understanding and describing human body structures.It has made great contributions to the emergence of Huang Di Nei Jing(《黄帝内经》Huangdi's Internal Classic)and laid a solid foundation for the establishment of visceral manifestation theory and meridian and collateral theory.Even now,it has served the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine and clinical practices.Anatomical knowledges,such as relevant operation records,books,Atlas,models in ancient China,especially the names of Zangorgan and Fu-organ,bones and five sense organs,are still used in modern anatomy and modern medicine,making indelible contributions to the development of modern anatomy in China.
