The Science of Oriental Medicine ; Its principles and Methods
Book Details
Author(s)Foo and Wing herb company
ISBN / ASINB006Q6PLN8
ISBN-13978B006Q6PLN0
Sales Rank2,320,650
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION.
Some Facts About the Oriental System of Medicine—Its History and
Principles.
For the benefit of those who do not understand the principles underlying the true Oriental system of medicine, as practiced in China, its use of herbal remedies and its theories of disease and anatomy, its method of diagnosis, its treatment and care of patients, we shall offer a brief discussion of the principles upon which this system is based, and shall tell something of its history and the reasons for its existence and adoption by the great Chinese nation. Some of the earliest mentions of Chinese medicine are found in an article upon China contained in the revised edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, an authority which no one will dispute, from which we quote as follows:
" The spacious seat of ancient civilization which we call China has loomed always so large to- western eyes,- and has, in spite of the distance, subtended so large an angle of vision that, at eras far apart, we find it to have been distinguished by different appellations, according as it was reached by the southern sea route or by the northern land route, traversing the longitude of Asia. In the former aspect, the name has nearly always been some form of the name Sin, Chin, Sina, China. In the latter point of view, the region in question was known to the ancients as the land of Seres; to the middle ages as the Empire of Cathey. (Page 1539).
" Cathey is the name by which the Chinese Empire was known to mediaeval Europe, and is in its original form (Kitai) that by which China is still known in Russia and to most of the nations of Central Asia. (Page 1540).
" The notice of Rubruk runs thus: 'Further on is great Cathey, which I take to be the country which was anciently called the Land of the Seres, for the best silk stuffs are still got from them. The sea lies between it and India. Those Cathayans are little fellows, speaking much through the nose, as in general with all those Eastern people, their eyes are very narrow. They are first-rate artists in every kind of manufacture, and their physicians have a thorough knowledge of the virtue of herbs, and an admirable skill in diagnosing by the pulse.'"
Now Rubruk, quoted above by the Encyclopedia Britannica, was a celebrated traveler of the twelfth century. The evidence is undisputed, and it necessarily follows that in the twelfth century, the Chinese were practicing their herbal system of medicine, were diagnosing diseases by their pulse diagnosis, a method entirely distinct from that practiced in Europe at that time or since, and were very skillful in the treatment of disease. It is needless to ask what was the state of medicine in Europe at that time. All students of history are aware that it was in a very primitive and barbarous condition. The Chinese, therefore, had their system perfected and in successful operation long before there were doctors in Europe worthy of the name, and centuries before the discovery of America.
Such was the report of Chinese civilization and particularly of Chinese medicine brought back by Rubruk, the daring adventurer and explorer who had ventured into strange and unknown lands. But Chinese civilization was old when Rubruk saw it—^centuries old, and Chinese medicine was as old as Chinese civilization. In fact, this system was spread throughout Asia at least 3000 years ago. Hence it was more than 2000 years old when Rubruk saw it and recorded the ' results of his observations, and the peculiar thing about it is that it has been consistent and unchanging from the beginning.
When the Chinese commenced to study medicine they went at once to the root of the different questions involved by practicing vivisection. Thousands of condemned criminals were taken and cut to pieces for the benefit of the living. In this way the functions of the vital organs, such as the kidneys, the liver, the stomach, the spleen and the heart were studied in the living person....
INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION.
Some Facts About the Oriental System of Medicine—Its History and
Principles.
For the benefit of those who do not understand the principles underlying the true Oriental system of medicine, as practiced in China, its use of herbal remedies and its theories of disease and anatomy, its method of diagnosis, its treatment and care of patients, we shall offer a brief discussion of the principles upon which this system is based, and shall tell something of its history and the reasons for its existence and adoption by the great Chinese nation. Some of the earliest mentions of Chinese medicine are found in an article upon China contained in the revised edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, an authority which no one will dispute, from which we quote as follows:
" The spacious seat of ancient civilization which we call China has loomed always so large to- western eyes,- and has, in spite of the distance, subtended so large an angle of vision that, at eras far apart, we find it to have been distinguished by different appellations, according as it was reached by the southern sea route or by the northern land route, traversing the longitude of Asia. In the former aspect, the name has nearly always been some form of the name Sin, Chin, Sina, China. In the latter point of view, the region in question was known to the ancients as the land of Seres; to the middle ages as the Empire of Cathey. (Page 1539).
" Cathey is the name by which the Chinese Empire was known to mediaeval Europe, and is in its original form (Kitai) that by which China is still known in Russia and to most of the nations of Central Asia. (Page 1540).
" The notice of Rubruk runs thus: 'Further on is great Cathey, which I take to be the country which was anciently called the Land of the Seres, for the best silk stuffs are still got from them. The sea lies between it and India. Those Cathayans are little fellows, speaking much through the nose, as in general with all those Eastern people, their eyes are very narrow. They are first-rate artists in every kind of manufacture, and their physicians have a thorough knowledge of the virtue of herbs, and an admirable skill in diagnosing by the pulse.'"
Now Rubruk, quoted above by the Encyclopedia Britannica, was a celebrated traveler of the twelfth century. The evidence is undisputed, and it necessarily follows that in the twelfth century, the Chinese were practicing their herbal system of medicine, were diagnosing diseases by their pulse diagnosis, a method entirely distinct from that practiced in Europe at that time or since, and were very skillful in the treatment of disease. It is needless to ask what was the state of medicine in Europe at that time. All students of history are aware that it was in a very primitive and barbarous condition. The Chinese, therefore, had their system perfected and in successful operation long before there were doctors in Europe worthy of the name, and centuries before the discovery of America.
Such was the report of Chinese civilization and particularly of Chinese medicine brought back by Rubruk, the daring adventurer and explorer who had ventured into strange and unknown lands. But Chinese civilization was old when Rubruk saw it—^centuries old, and Chinese medicine was as old as Chinese civilization. In fact, this system was spread throughout Asia at least 3000 years ago. Hence it was more than 2000 years old when Rubruk saw it and recorded the ' results of his observations, and the peculiar thing about it is that it has been consistent and unchanging from the beginning.
When the Chinese commenced to study medicine they went at once to the root of the different questions involved by practicing vivisection. Thousands of condemned criminals were taken and cut to pieces for the benefit of the living. In this way the functions of the vital organs, such as the kidneys, the liver, the stomach, the spleen and the heart were studied in the living person....
