Anatomy

David Luesink

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Chapter 19 Anatomy

In: The Making of the Human Sciences in China

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David Luesink

David Luesink
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 405–423

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004397620_021

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Abstract

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Chinese elites have come to believe in a universal human anatomy confirmed through dissection. But this was not always the case, and a history of anatomy reveals that the methods and purpose for pursuing knowledge of the physical structure of humans has varied widely across time and according to cultural priorities. The diverse schools of Chinese medical theory and practice have long been more interested in a functional anatomy and physiology that describes bodies in constant flux. First-hand dissection practice remained illegal until Chinese medical leaders petitioned the new Republican government in 1912. After this, a small but growing group of elite Chinese physicians and scientists began to build the institutions of an expansive anatomy that extended beyond medical schools and into biology and physical anthropology programs. By the 1930s school children were regularly taught mechanistic anatomy. As a reductionist anatomical view of the body became more widespread, Chinese medicine began to come to terms with it, most notably with a revival of acupuncture. By the Maoist and post-Maoist eras, despite official support for a dual medical system, anatomical medicine has increasingly become the standard by which human bodies are evaluated.

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The Making of the Human Sciences in China

Historical and Conceptual Foundations

Series: China Studies, Volume: 40

Cover The Making of the Human Sciences in China

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004397620

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 02 Apr 2019

Subjects
- Asian Studies
  - China
- History

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Chapter 19 Anatomy

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The Making of the Human Sciences in China

Historical and Conceptual Foundations

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