{"title":"Looms of Life","authors":"Vivienne Lo","doi":"10.1163/15734218-12341531","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\nThe classics of Chinese medicine are redolent with allusions to weaving as they describe a new imperial anatomy and physiology of the medical body. The superior physician in the Yellow Emperor’s corpus manipulated ji 機, the trigger mechanisms at strategic points on the surface of the body, which provided remote relief from the symptoms of illness. Through stimulating these points, medical practice with needle and moxibustion could control the many spirits that inhabited the body, weaving them into a numinous fabric. This paper explores the spatiotemporal geographies of meaning expressed in the manuscripts and artifacts excavated at the Laoguanshan tomb sites. In particular, an analysis of the medical texts, models of mechanical pattern shaft looms, and a tiny lacquered medical figurine recovered there suggest that local translational knowledge transfer between medicine, weaving, and water technologies occurred in the upper reaches of the Yangzi Valley. The resulting innovations were at the heart of a new imperial Chinese medicine.","PeriodicalId":34972,"journal":{"name":"Asian Medicine","volume":"20 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15734218-12341531","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The classics of Chinese medicine are redolent with allusions to weaving as they describe a new imperial anatomy and physiology of the medical body. The superior physician in the Yellow Emperor’s corpus manipulated ji 機, the trigger mechanisms at strategic points on the surface of the body, which provided remote relief from the symptoms of illness. Through stimulating these points, medical practice with needle and moxibustion could control the many spirits that inhabited the body, weaving them into a numinous fabric. This paper explores the spatiotemporal geographies of meaning expressed in the manuscripts and artifacts excavated at the Laoguanshan tomb sites. In particular, an analysis of the medical texts, models of mechanical pattern shaft looms, and a tiny lacquered medical figurine recovered there suggest that local translational knowledge transfer between medicine, weaving, and water technologies occurred in the upper reaches of the Yangzi Valley. The resulting innovations were at the heart of a new imperial Chinese medicine.
Asian MedicineArts and Humanities-Arts and Humanities (all)
CiteScore
2.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
12
期刊介绍：
Asian Medicine -Tradition and Modernity is a multidisciplinary journal aimed at researchers and practitioners of Asian Medicine in Asia as well as in Western countries. It makes available in one single publication academic essays that explore the historical, anthropological, sociological and philological dimensions of Asian medicine as well as practice reports from clinicians based in Asia and in Western countries. With the recent upsurge of interest in non-Western alternative approaches to health care, Asian Medicine - Tradition and Modernity will be of relevance to those studying the modifications and adaptations of traditional medical systems on their journey to non-Asian settings.
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