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History

历史沿革 〔歷史沿革 〕 lì shǐ yán gé

In China, knowledge of historical perspectives has always been important for the study of Chinese medicine. The classical medical literature composed and preserved from China’s early dynastic periods has been revered by medical scholars, studied and memorized by countless generations of students.

Despite the complexities of the original Chinese script, even today these early medical classics are quoted in modern literature as the texts of ultimate authority for questions and explications on any nuance of diagnosis and treatment. Notable in this regard are the Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng (黄帝内经 Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic), the Nàn Jīng (难经 Classic of Difficult Issues), and the Shāng Hán Lùn (伤寒论 On Cold Damage).

Chronological List of Dynasties
Chinese history has traditionally been divided into dynastic periods. The great number of dynasties, especially during periods of division when there were often several overlapping governments that ruled simultaneously, tends to be quite confusing for the non-specialist. Therefore, we offer here a simpler periodization into pre-imperial or ancient, early, medieval, late imperial, and post-imperial China.
Pre-Imperial (Ancient) Period 1600–221 BCE (BC)
  • Shāng 商 1600–1046 BCE
  • Zhōu 周 1046–256 BCE (ending with the Warring States Period)
Early China 221 BCE–220 CE (AD)
  • Qín 秦 221–206 BCE
  • Hàn 汉 206 BCE–CE 220
Medieval China 220–960 CE
  • Three Kingdoms 三国 220–280
  • Jìn 晋 265–420
  • Northern and Southern Dynasties 南北朝 420–589
  • Suí 隋 581–618
  • Táng 唐 618–907
  • Five Dynasties 五代 907–960
Late Imperial China 960–1911 CE
  • Sòng 宋 960–1279
  • Jīn 金 1115–1234
  • Yuán 元 1206–1368
  • Míng 明 1368–1644
  • Qīng 清 1644–1911
Post-Imperial (Modern) 1912–Present
  • Republic of China 中华民国 1912–1949 (–present on Táiwān)
  • People’s Republic of China 中华人民共和国 1949–present

Older knowledge, even if thought to be erroneous or irrelevant, is never categorically discarded. Thus, Chinese medicine has accumulated an extensive body of literature and a long tradition of practice. Its development has been directed and stimulated by diligent study of the classics and by the original insights of ancient sages. Successive generations have applied these classical insights to specific contexts and have furthermore contributed their own discoveries and clinical wisdom.

Chinese medicine as we know it today has a history of more than two thousand years. In that time, it has undergone constant refinement and development. The received body of knowledge and its historical development to the present have been described elsewhere by numerous Western scholars, e.g., Lu and Needham,[1] Unschuld,[2-3] Sivin,[4] Birch and Felt.[5]

In Western medicine, by contrast, a grasp of medical history is of limited benefit for understanding theory or developing clinical skills. Western science, especially over the past two centuries, has focused on ideals of progress and innovation, and has been driven by a relentless competition of ideas and a Darwinian logic of survival of the fittest. Ideas that fail the test of rational scrutiny and repeatable demonstration are losers. They are discarded, and no time is wasted looking back. Consequently, the entire literature of Western medicine is constantly being rewritten. Only the most recent version contains what is currently considered accurate and useful.

Chinese medicine has its roots in ways of thinking and understanding that arose and developed in a culture far removed from our own both in era and location. When modern Western students read statements such as the spleen is averse to dampness, and the liver holds the Office of General, they have no direct way of appreciating these meanings without an understanding of how the ancient Chinese conceived of health and sickness. The physicians of early China made sense of their naked-sense observations by metaphor and analogy. The basic principles of Chinese medicine were thus cast in rich imagery, which is, sadly, all too often absent from modern English-language presentations. The important topic of analogy is discussed in detail in cognitive features.

The following discussion presents the key ideas of Chinese medicine from the historical perspective of their development. In this process, readers should gain not only an understanding of the history of Chinese medicine but also begin to comprehend some of the essential features of this healing art in preparation for more detailed study.

Historical Periods

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