Techniques of the Supramundane
Physician-Monks' Medical Skills during the Early Medieval China (220-589) in China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3597174 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dawei Wang (0000-0002-3763-482X, Sichuan University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 1044 |
| Publication date | 2022-11-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel13111044 |
| OpenAlex | W4307869019 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 2 |
Hagiographical tales tell us that some Buddhist monks who lived during the Early Medieval China (220-589) possessed considerable medical skills. Some were proficient in foreign medicine, while others had mastery over traditional Chinese medicine. The outstanding medical practitioners among these monks included Yu Fakai 于法開, Zhi Facun 支法存, Sengshen 僧深, and Shi Daohong 釋道洪. In addition to having a background in traditional Chinese medicine, these individuals are said to have had access to foreign medical knowledge due to their status as monks. However, the literature on these physician-monks' medical skills is limited, which is why the present paper aims to explore this matter further, especially by introducing and elaborating upon some modern Chinese research which has generally gone unnoticed in international scholarship. To this end, this paper critically analyzes various historical records detailing these monks' lives. It shows that, in addition to having extraordinary medical skills, some of these physician-monks mastered methods to cure specific diseases (such as beriberi [jiaoqi bing 腳氣病] (This is the name of the disease in traditional Chinese Medicine. It refers to a disease characterized by numbness, soreness, weakness, contracture, swelling, or muscle withering in the legs and feet.)). It also shows that they were usually more accurate in syndrome differentiation, while the treatments they prescribed were unique. However, given the lack of information, further research is required to clarify how these physician-monks learned methods as well as the impact of their foreign medicine knowledge on their methods
Alternative medicine · Buddhism · China · Family medicine · Medical education · Medical knowledge · Medical literature · Pathology · Political science · Scholarship · Traditional Chinese medicine · Traditional medicine · Chinese history and philosophy · Healthcare and Venom Research · History · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |