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Medicine in China: A History of Ideas (Comparative Studies of Health Systems & Medical Care)
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Manufacturer: University of California Press
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 610
EAN: 9780520062160
ISBN: 0520062167
Label: University of California Press
Manufacturer: University of California Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 434
Publication Date: 1988-10-14
Publisher: University of California Press
Studio: University of California Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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In the first comprehensive and analytical study of therapeutic concepts and practices in China, Paul Unschuld traces the history of documented health care from its earliest extant records to present developments.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Social, Philosophical and Political Basis of Chinese Medicine
Comment: On the face of it, a book on the history of Chinese medicine may sound about as interesting as watching paint dry. But this excellent book is riveting.
It tells a story with many parallels in the West: medicine is heavily influence by the society in which it is practiced. How we think about people, how to keep them healthy and how to heal them, is a reflection of the prevailing understanding of the time. If you believe that the world is a magical place containing angels and demons then illness may be seen as demonic and its cure as the action of an angel. If, as is common today, the human being is thought of as no more than a biochemical machine, then that's the way that medicine operates.
Paul Unschuld is a remarkably erudite historian from the Institute for the History of Medicine at the University of Munich. The book is a largely successful attempt to explain the history of Chinese medical theories by positioning them within the belief systems in which they developed. Beginning with beliefs rooted in demonology, traditional Chinese medicine continued to evolve as Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist and the Marxist beliefs held sway. What is remarkable abut Chinese medicine is its resilience: each new wave of theory became incorporated and complemented everything that came before.
The book's central theme is expressed through three elements that have informed the theory and practice of Chinese medicine. First is the idea of magical correspondences. So an illness may occur because an albino calf was born in the village. The second is the empirical, practical medicine that has been developed by every culture: folk knowledge of herbs and other remedies that aid in the treatment of disease. The third is the construction of a body of professional knowledge by physicians and pharmacists. This includes the medicine of systematic correspondences that is used by many traditional practitioners to this day, when they speak of five elements, the twelve organs and different forms of Qi. Over the last five decades this system has continued to evolve in China, with the introduction of ever more Western concepts into the traditional framework of medicine.
If you are interested in the history of ideas and the development of an extraordinary system of healing, this book is an excellent and surprisingly readable resource.
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Summary: Good intellectual history
Comment: I realy don't know what book the above reviewer read before writing their review, but it certainly appears not to have been this one. Unschuld's premise is that any medicine MUST be understood within the context of the intellectual and cultural history out of which it arises, and not judged or even atempted to be understood from the intellectual and cultural framework of another culture seeking to understand the medicine only. Therefore, students of Traditional Chinese Medicine MUST study Chinese culture, history, and intellectual thought in order to fully understand the emdicine itself. Otherwise it is just a haphazard grab bag of clever techniques, at best. He intends his book to be a start n that direction, giving an overview of Chinese political, cultural, religious, and intellectual history, and attempting to show how this rich history of ideas manifested within the field of Chinese medicine from the earliest oracle bones and shamanic healers to the current attempt under Communism to develop a pragmatic system of primary care totally divorced from the spiritual context that gave birth to its world view and concepts. This is not a book for the casual reader who wants to learn a little bit about acupuncture. It is, however, a book serious students of Chinese Medicine ought to be thoroughly familiar with.
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Summary: All the facts, in English, but not flattering to Chinese med
Comment: Unschuld has a deep fascination for Chinese medicine, as can be seen by his scholarly works in the field. This book is the best compilation of historical facts available in English that I know of. However, Unschuld has a deep bias toward the Western concept of the world and the result is not flattering to the science of China. Chinese science is as scientific in its rigor as Western medicine, matching experience and observation with theory and trial-and-error. It is just that the area of study is not limited to the physical body, but includes the energy body and the spiritual body as well: with no rigid demarcation of the three.
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