The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800Buck, Albert H. (Albert Henry)
History
The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800
Buck, Albert H. (Albert Henry)
Medicine -- History
The preceding remarks must not be interpreted as signifying that,
during the long ages of the past, China has not been developing and
is not able at the present time to show a record of very creditable
work accomplished in many departments of human activity. In her early
history, many centuries ago, she accomplished great things, and all--so
far as we now know--without aid from neighboring nations; but there
came a time when all this creative activity ceased, and then, for long
periods of years, she appeared to rest satisfied with the advances
which she had already made, and to have no further ambition to add to
the stock of her possessions.
Among the valuable things which should be credited to the Chinese
are the following: the discovery of the compass (about 1100 B. C.),
the making of porcelain, the invention of printing, the raising of
silkworms, the manufacture of glass and of paper, the successful dyeing
with purple, embroidering with gold, working in metals, the artistic
cutting of precious stones, enameling, the making of “India ink,” etc.
Furthermore, it is a fact most creditable to the Chinese that in no
other country in the world have scholars been held in such high esteem,
or assigned so high a rank, as they have been and still are in China.
Chinese medicine possesses a very rich literature. The first medical
treatise, which deals with plants that possess medicinal virtues, is
ascribed to the Emperor Schin-Nung, who flourished about 2800 B. C.
This is the monarch who taught his people from which springs they
should drink, and who tested all the plants of his vast empire with
reference to their healing properties. According to the legend the
wall of his stomach was so thin that he could look through it and see
everything that was going on in the interior of that organ. In this way
he was able to carry on a large series of experiments upon himself in
regard to the action of different poisons and their antidotes. It is
also related that medical knowledge was still further advanced by the
yellow Emperor Hoang-Ti who lived about 2650 B. C., and who is credited
by the Chinese with having invented arithmetic and music. The treatise
called “Noi-King,” which deals with the subject of internal diseases
and gives a systematic account of human anatomy, is also credited
by the Chinese to this monarch; but Neuburger maintains that this
book, which is still in common use in China, is of much more recent
origin. There are several other medical treatises which deserve to be
mentioned. Such, for example, are the following: the celebrated book on
the pulse, written by Wang-Schu-Scho in the third century B. C.; two
very important books written by Cho-Chiyu-Kei--one bearing the title
“Schang-Han-Lun” (On Fevers) and the other that of “Kin-Kwéi” (Golden
Casket);--the different treatises written by Tschang-Ki (tenth century
A. D.) and published in the collection called “The Golden Mirror of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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