Science and civilisation in China. / Volume 6, Biology and biologicial technology. Part VI, Medicine

280 Pages·2004·9.013 MB·English

by  Joseph Needham, Gwei-Djen Lu, Nathan Sivin

SCIENCE AND CIVILISATION
IN CHINA
Thesubjectofdiscourse,brieflyput,isthefreetravelandinwardandout-
wardmovementofthedivinech’i;itisnotskin,flesh,sinewsandbones.
H T N C, L S
Firstcentury
Chinese medicine heals in a world of unceasing transformation. This con-
dition of constant change, this fluidity of material forms, stands in sharp
contrast to a (modern Western) commonsense world of discrete entities
characterizedbyfixedessences,whichseemtobeexhaustivelydescribable
in structural terms...In the early Chinese sciences, by contrast, where
generation and transformation are intrinsic to existence, fixity and stasis
occuronlyasaresultofconcertedactionandthereforedemandexplanation;
motionandchangeareagivenandseldomneedbeexplainedwithreference
totheircauses.OneconsequenceofthisdynamicbiasinChinesemedicine
isthatthebodyanditsorgans(i.e.,anatomicalstructure)appearasmerely
contingenteffectsorby-productsofphysiologicalprocesses.
J F


THEPICTUREOFTHETAOISTGENIIPRINTEDONTHECOVER
ofthisbookispartofapaintedtemplescroll,recentbuttraditional,giventoMrBrianHarland
inSzechuanprovince().Concerningthesefourdivinities,ofrespectablerankintheTaoist
bureaucracy,thefollowingparticularshavebeenhandeddown.Thetitleofthefirstofthefour
signifies‘HeavenlyPrince’,thatoftheotherthree‘MysteriousCommander’.
Atthetop,ontheleft,isLiuThienChün,Comptroller-GeneralofCropsandWeather.Before
hisdeification(soitwassaid)hewasarain-makingmagicianandweatherforecasternamedLiu
Chün,bornintheChindynastyabout+.Amonghisattributesmaybeseenthesunand
moon,andameasuring-rodorcarpenter’ssquare.Thetwogreatluminariesimplythemaking
ofthecalendar,soimportantforaprimarilyagriculturalsociety,theefforts,everrenewed,to
reconcilecelestialperiodicities.Thecarpenter’ssquareisnoordinarytool,butthegnomonfor
measuringthelengthsofthesun’ssolstitialshadows.TheComptroller-Generalalsocarriesa
bellbecauseinancientandmediaevaltimestherewasthoughttobeacloseconnectionbetween
calendricalcalculationsandthearithmeticalacousticsofbellsandpitch-pipes.
Atthetop,ontheright,isWênYuanShuai,IntendantoftheSpiritualOfficialsoftheSacred
Mountain,ThaiShan.HewastakentobeanincarnationofoneoftheHour-Presidents(Chia
Shen),i.e.,tutelarydeitiesofthetwelvecyclicalcharacters(seeVol.,pt,p.).Duringhis
earthlypilgrimagehisnamewasHuanTzu-YüandhewasascholarandastronomerintheLater
Han(b.+).Heisseenholdinganarmillaryring.
Below, on the left, is Kou Yuan Shuai, Assistant Secretary of State in the Ministry of
Thunder.Heisthereforealateemanationofaveryancientgod,LeiKung.Beforehebecame
deifiedhewasHsinHsing,apoorwoodcutter,butnodoubtanincarnationofthespiritofthe
constellationKou-Chhen(theAngularArranger),partofthegroupofstarswhichweknowas
UrsaMinor.Heisequippedwithhammerandchisel.
Below,ontheright,isPiYuanShuai,CommanderoftheLightning,withhisflashingsword,
adeitywithdistinctalchemicalandcosmologicalinterests.Accordingtotradition,inhisearly
lifehewasacountrymanwhosenamewasThienHua.Togetherwiththecolleagueonhisright,
hecontrolledtheSpiritsoftheFiveDirections.
Suchisthelegendaryfolkloreofcommonmencanonisedbypopularacclamation.Aninterest-
ingscroll,ofnogreatartisticmerit,destinedtodecorateatemplewall,tobelookeduponby
humblepeople,itsymbolisessomethingwhichthisbookhastosay.Chineseartandliterature
havebeensoprofuse,Chinesemythologicalimagerysofertile,thattheWesthasoftenmissed
other aspects, perhaps more important, of Chinese civilisation. Here the graduated scale of
Liu Chün, at first sight unexpected in this setting, reminds us of the ever-present theme of
quantitative measurement in Chinese culture; there were rain-gauges already in the Sung
(+thcentury)andslidingcalipersintheHan(+st).ThearmillaryringofHuanTzu-Yübears
witnessthatNaburiannuandHipparchus,al-NaqqashandTycho,hadworthycounterpartsin
China.ThetoolsofHsinHsingsymbolisethatgreatempiricaltraditionwhichinformedthework
ofChineseartisansandtechniciansallthroughtheages.

SCIENCE AND CIVILISATION IN CHINA
Joseph Needham
(–)
‘Certain it is that no people or group of peoples has had a monopoly in
contributing to the development of Science. Their achievements should be
mutuallyrecognisedandfreelycelebratedwiththejoinedhandsofuniversal
brotherhood.’
ScienceandCivilisationinChina ,.
*
Joseph Needham directly supervised the publication of seventeen books in the
ScienceandCivilisationinChinaseries,fromthefirstvolume,whichappearedin
,throughtoVolume.,whichwasinpressatthetimeofhisdeathinMarch
.
Theplanningandpreparationoffurthervolumeswillcontinue.Responsibility
for the commissioning and approval of work for publication in the series is now
takenbythePublicationsBoardoftheNeedhamResearchInstituteinCambridge,
under the chairmanship of Dr Christopher Cullen, who acts as general editor of
theseries.

S C I E N C E A N D
C I V I L I S A T I O N I N
C H I N A
VOLUME 
BIOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL
TECHNOLOGY
PART VI: MEDICINE
BY
JOSEPH NEEDHAM
withthecollaborationof
LU GWEI-DJEN
editedandwithanintroductionby
NATHAN SIVIN
         
  
         
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
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http://www.cambridge.org
©Cambridge University Press 2004
First published in printed format 2000
ISBN 0-511-01863-0 eBook (netLibrary)
ISBN 0-521-63262-5 hardback
To the memory of
LU GWEI-DJEN
Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge
DOROTHY NEEDHAM
Founding Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge
JOSEPH NEEDHAM
Sometime Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
and splendid days in many parts of the world shared in a
quest for understanding