Reflections on Bian Que in Religious and Medical Traditions in Early China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20237367 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shelley Ochs (0000-0002-4684-1556, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 123-147 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1573-420X • E-ISSN: 1573-4218 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15734218-12341530 |
| OpenAlex | W4391187896 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 4 |
Initial analysis of the contents of the Laoguanshan manuscripts shows there is an emphasis on a number of healing principles and techniques that have been associated with Bian Que: puncturing the mai -channels to heal disease; diagnosis based on examining the appearance and palpating multiple sites on the body; reverence for the mantic arts, and the superior physician who can correctly “determine whether [the patient] will live or die.” These characteristics have been ascribed to Bian Que across a number of domains: through non-medical texts that describe cases or anecdotes, passages in the received medical literature ascribed to a person or lineage with this name, and material evidence from Han dynasty mortuary art. Widespread references to Bian Que in medical and non-medical works indicate that citing the name constituted a recognizable and potent mode of establishing authority. Although we cannot completely reconstruct the medical practices of a person, clan, or mode of authority called “Bian Que,” the traces that remain substantiate claims that a set of ideas and practices associated with Bian Que was revered as efficacious healing worthy of study and transmission
Ancient history · Archaeology · Asian studies · China · Political science · Traditional medicine · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Medicine
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |