Synthesis and Medicalization in Early Han Views of Mental Illness

Abstract

Chapter 5 discusses the “syncretic” view of madness and mental illness in early Chinese texts. This view is mainly associated with the syncretistic texts of the early Han Dynasty, such as Huainanzi and Chunqiu Fanlu. The syncretists reject both the negative and positive views, arguing that a complex of nature, circumstances, and individual activity is responsible for most mental illness, and that the key to avoiding or eliminating mental illness is the undermining of conceptualization and elimination of desires. The syncretic view of mental illness and cultivation creates the groundwork for the development of naturalistic medical texts such as the Huangdi Neijing, constructed during the Han.