- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804777902
- eISBN:
- 9780804784627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804777902.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter concentrates on the process through which Itō Keisuke articulated the Linnaean system in textual representations. The centrality of the concept of the real (shin) in his articulation of ...
More
This chapter concentrates on the process through which Itō Keisuke articulated the Linnaean system in textual representations. The centrality of the concept of the real (shin) in his articulation of the Linnaean nomenclature is also examined. The practice of translation in the chapter investigates how the Shōhyaku-sha addressed the issues of naming and names in response to their particular needs through an active and strategic act of translation. It introduces Materia Medica in Japan by Kaibara Ekken. Keisuke's Nominal Differentiations in Western Materia Medica presented the Linnaean binominal scheme. In this scheme, Keisuke saw the possible elucidation of the confused nomenclature of materia medica that blocked the understanding of real plants. His decision to maintain the Roman alphabet in Nominal Differentiations helped in streamlining the process of untangling the mess of variant plant names and organizing the knowledge of materia medica.Less
This chapter concentrates on the process through which Itō Keisuke articulated the Linnaean system in textual representations. The centrality of the concept of the real (shin) in his articulation of the Linnaean nomenclature is also examined. The practice of translation in the chapter investigates how the Shōhyaku-sha addressed the issues of naming and names in response to their particular needs through an active and strategic act of translation. It introduces Materia Medica in Japan by Kaibara Ekken. Keisuke's Nominal Differentiations in Western Materia Medica presented the Linnaean binominal scheme. In this scheme, Keisuke saw the possible elucidation of the confused nomenclature of materia medica that blocked the understanding of real plants. His decision to maintain the Roman alphabet in Nominal Differentiations helped in streamlining the process of untangling the mess of variant plant names and organizing the knowledge of materia medica.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804777902
- eISBN:
- 9780804784627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804777902.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter concentrates on the importance of direct observation, and on how the exhibitions served as a site of contention and reevaluation of previously shared knowledge by privileging the actual ...
More
This chapter concentrates on the importance of direct observation, and on how the exhibitions served as a site of contention and reevaluation of previously shared knowledge by privileging the actual object. The Shōhyaku-sha did not “invent” the honzō kai gathering. The proliferating honzō kai confined in the latter half of the eighteenth century provided ideal venues for engaging in the study of materia medica as envisioned by Kaibara Ekken. The strategies of Shōhyaku-sha for discerning the real (shin) are explained. It is noted that heterogeneity distinguished the sources with which the real could be founded. The display of “unnamed” objects indicated the confidence in the process of inquiry. The notion of the real framed the heterogeneity of the natural world and the epistemological nomination derived from materia medica.Less
This chapter concentrates on the importance of direct observation, and on how the exhibitions served as a site of contention and reevaluation of previously shared knowledge by privileging the actual object. The Shōhyaku-sha did not “invent” the honzō kai gathering. The proliferating honzō kai confined in the latter half of the eighteenth century provided ideal venues for engaging in the study of materia medica as envisioned by Kaibara Ekken. The strategies of Shōhyaku-sha for discerning the real (shin) are explained. It is noted that heterogeneity distinguished the sources with which the real could be founded. The display of “unnamed” objects indicated the confidence in the process of inquiry. The notion of the real framed the heterogeneity of the natural world and the epistemological nomination derived from materia medica.
Andrew Edmund Goble
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835002
- eISBN:
- 9780824870317
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835002.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the pharmaceutical aspects of the new knowledge available in the East Asian macroculture and how Kajiwara Shōzen benefited from access to and information about materia medica ...
More
This chapter examines the pharmaceutical aspects of the new knowledge available in the East Asian macroculture and how Kajiwara Shōzen benefited from access to and information about materia medica transported along the so-called Pharmaceutical Silk Road. The chapter first considers the increasing availability of overseas materia medica as well as the technical challenges faced by Shōzen in trying to understand formulas and materia medica. It then discusses some of the changes in Chinese medicine between the Tang and Song eras and the influence of Islamic medicine on Song medicine. It also explores the new illness category of disorders of qi and how it was understood by Shōzen. It concludes with some examples of Shōzen's use of formulas to illustrate how the preceding elements converged to influence Japanese medicine.Less
This chapter examines the pharmaceutical aspects of the new knowledge available in the East Asian macroculture and how Kajiwara Shōzen benefited from access to and information about materia medica transported along the so-called Pharmaceutical Silk Road. The chapter first considers the increasing availability of overseas materia medica as well as the technical challenges faced by Shōzen in trying to understand formulas and materia medica. It then discusses some of the changes in Chinese medicine between the Tang and Song eras and the influence of Islamic medicine on Song medicine. It also explores the new illness category of disorders of qi and how it was understood by Shōzen. It concludes with some examples of Shōzen's use of formulas to illustrate how the preceding elements converged to influence Japanese medicine.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804777902
- eISBN:
- 9780804784627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804777902.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter describes copper etching and ink-rubbing prints, the fundamental key to the understanding of which was the idea of the real (shin, the second character of the compound shashin). The ...
More
This chapter describes copper etching and ink-rubbing prints, the fundamental key to the understanding of which was the idea of the real (shin, the second character of the compound shashin). The analysis of ink-rubbing prints determined the evaluation of materia medica as a pictorialized testament of both the existence of the represented object and the image maker's direct encounter with it. The capability of copper-etching technology to develop the original down to the frailest detail and the essential contact with the physical “original” in ink-rubbing prints merged with one another as both point to their upholding “shin form,” the real form of the represented plant. Furthermore, ink-rubbing prints manifested to and explained the existence of particular plants, while copperplate prints were viewed as a way to dependably duplicate the already mapped illustration.Less
This chapter describes copper etching and ink-rubbing prints, the fundamental key to the understanding of which was the idea of the real (shin, the second character of the compound shashin). The analysis of ink-rubbing prints determined the evaluation of materia medica as a pictorialized testament of both the existence of the represented object and the image maker's direct encounter with it. The capability of copper-etching technology to develop the original down to the frailest detail and the essential contact with the physical “original” in ink-rubbing prints merged with one another as both point to their upholding “shin form,” the real form of the represented plant. Furthermore, ink-rubbing prints manifested to and explained the existence of particular plants, while copperplate prints were viewed as a way to dependably duplicate the already mapped illustration.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804777902
- eISBN:
- 9780804784627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804777902.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter historically places Honzō shashin within the local context of Owari, and within the discursive context of medicine and materia medica. Honzō shashin, which served as a port of entry for ...
More
This chapter historically places Honzō shashin within the local context of Owari, and within the discursive context of medicine and materia medica. Honzō shashin, which served as a port of entry for reimagining the intellectual and social environment within which Mizutani Hōbun and his contemporaries functioned, illustrated the organization of knowledge, the observation of the real, and the exploration of new methods of representation. The promotion of vaccination by Itō Keisuke exhibited his conviction that efficacy was significant to the work of the physician. The importance of efficacy led to the approach to knowledge by Keisuke. The concept of shin brought the process of representation. In the cases of deployment of shin, the link between the existent subject of the representation and the representation itself is foregrounded as the primary value of the resulting image.Less
This chapter historically places Honzō shashin within the local context of Owari, and within the discursive context of medicine and materia medica. Honzō shashin, which served as a port of entry for reimagining the intellectual and social environment within which Mizutani Hōbun and his contemporaries functioned, illustrated the organization of knowledge, the observation of the real, and the exploration of new methods of representation. The promotion of vaccination by Itō Keisuke exhibited his conviction that efficacy was significant to the work of the physician. The importance of efficacy led to the approach to knowledge by Keisuke. The concept of shin brought the process of representation. In the cases of deployment of shin, the link between the existent subject of the representation and the representation itself is foregrounded as the primary value of the resulting image.
Federico Marcon
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226251905
- eISBN:
- 9780226252063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226252063.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter introduces the early history of materia medica in China and Japan before the seventeenth century. It focuses in particular on Li Shizhen’s Bencao gangmu, which after its publication in ...
More
This chapter introduces the early history of materia medica in China and Japan before the seventeenth century. It focuses in particular on Li Shizhen’s Bencao gangmu, which after its publication in 1596 became the most influential source of natural knowledge in East Asia. It presents its structure, philosophical assumptions, terminology, and classifying methodology, which constituted the unchallenged template of all Japanese works on natural history until the nineteenth century.Less
This chapter introduces the early history of materia medica in China and Japan before the seventeenth century. It focuses in particular on Li Shizhen’s Bencao gangmu, which after its publication in 1596 became the most influential source of natural knowledge in East Asia. It presents its structure, philosophical assumptions, terminology, and classifying methodology, which constituted the unchallenged template of all Japanese works on natural history until the nineteenth century.
Federico Marcon
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226251905
- eISBN:
- 9780226252063
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226252063.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan is a social and intellectual history of the creation, development, and apparent disappearance of a field of natural history ...
More
The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan is a social and intellectual history of the creation, development, and apparent disappearance of a field of natural history in Japan from the early seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. It introduces the field of honzōgaku—the original name of the discipline of materia medica introduced from China, which expanded in Japan into an eclectic field of natural history—and the changing views of the natural environment that accompanied its development. The book surveys the ideas and practices developed by honzōgaku scholars, and reconstructs the social forces that affected their work. These included a burgeoning publishing industry, increased circulation of ideas and books, the spread of literacy, processes of institutionalization in schools and academies, systems of patronage, and networks of cultural circles, all of which helped to shape the styles, practices, and goals of the study of nature in early modern Japan. The primary goal of the book is to introduce the field of honzōgaku—which developed into a sophisticated discipline of knowledge about nature analogous to European natural history but independently of direct influence—and the changing Japanese views on the material environment. It also aims to reconstruct the social forces that dominated the life of scholars and cultural producers in general in early modern Europe and Japan, showing how similar social processes produced similar forms of knowledge and similar interventions in the material reality that these knowledges mediated.Less
The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan is a social and intellectual history of the creation, development, and apparent disappearance of a field of natural history in Japan from the early seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. It introduces the field of honzōgaku—the original name of the discipline of materia medica introduced from China, which expanded in Japan into an eclectic field of natural history—and the changing views of the natural environment that accompanied its development. The book surveys the ideas and practices developed by honzōgaku scholars, and reconstructs the social forces that affected their work. These included a burgeoning publishing industry, increased circulation of ideas and books, the spread of literacy, processes of institutionalization in schools and academies, systems of patronage, and networks of cultural circles, all of which helped to shape the styles, practices, and goals of the study of nature in early modern Japan. The primary goal of the book is to introduce the field of honzōgaku—which developed into a sophisticated discipline of knowledge about nature analogous to European natural history but independently of direct influence—and the changing Japanese views on the material environment. It also aims to reconstruct the social forces that dominated the life of scholars and cultural producers in general in early modern Europe and Japan, showing how similar social processes produced similar forms of knowledge and similar interventions in the material reality that these knowledges mediated.
James A. Benn
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839635
- eISBN:
- 9780824868642
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839635.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter discusses claims for the great antiquity of tea drinking in China found in medieval sources such as the Classic of Tea (Cha jing). It analyses the mythology of the discovery of tea by ...
More
This chapter discusses claims for the great antiquity of tea drinking in China found in medieval sources such as the Classic of Tea (Cha jing). It analyses the mythology of the discovery of tea by the culture hero Shennong, the Divine Husbandman (traditional reign dates 2737–2697 B.C.E.) and evaluates the surviving evidence for early tea drinking. It discusses the different terminology used for the tea plant prior to the Tang dynasty.Less
This chapter discusses claims for the great antiquity of tea drinking in China found in medieval sources such as the Classic of Tea (Cha jing). It analyses the mythology of the discovery of tea by the culture hero Shennong, the Divine Husbandman (traditional reign dates 2737–2697 B.C.E.) and evaluates the surviving evidence for early tea drinking. It discusses the different terminology used for the tea plant prior to the Tang dynasty.
Calum Blaikie
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199486717
- eISBN:
- 9780199092093
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199486717.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the ways in which changing patterns of materia medica circulation have shaped Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) pharmacy, practice and social organization in Ladakh since the 1960s. ...
More
This chapter examines the ways in which changing patterns of materia medica circulation have shaped Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) pharmacy, practice and social organization in Ladakh since the 1960s. It argues that rapid growth in the availability of formerly limited raw materials was key to the emergence of larger scales of drug production and to the proliferation, complexification and commodification of medicines. These phenomena, in turn, allowed for the emergence of professionalized forms of medical practice, the enfranchisement of certain groups, ideas and practices, and the marginalisation of others. By charting the shifting material, social, economic and pharmaceutical dimensions of Ladakhi Sowa Rigpa in relation to one another, the chapter questions the constitution and boundaries of ‘the medical realm’.Less
This chapter examines the ways in which changing patterns of materia medica circulation have shaped Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) pharmacy, practice and social organization in Ladakh since the 1960s. It argues that rapid growth in the availability of formerly limited raw materials was key to the emergence of larger scales of drug production and to the proliferation, complexification and commodification of medicines. These phenomena, in turn, allowed for the emergence of professionalized forms of medical practice, the enfranchisement of certain groups, ideas and practices, and the marginalisation of others. By charting the shifting material, social, economic and pharmaceutical dimensions of Ladakhi Sowa Rigpa in relation to one another, the chapter questions the constitution and boundaries of ‘the medical realm’.
Andrew Edmund Goble
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835002
- eISBN:
- 9780824870317
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835002.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the emergence of wound medicine as a medical specialty in response to the eruption of violence and warfare in Japan in the early fourteenth century, with particular emphasis on ...
More
This chapter examines the emergence of wound medicine as a medical specialty in response to the eruption of violence and warfare in Japan in the early fourteenth century, with particular emphasis on factors that shaped the availability and reception of Song medical knowledge. It begins by discussing the new warfare environment from the 1330s that arose after the destruction of the Kamakura bakufu. It then provides an overview of wound medicine prior to the 1330s and goes on to consider sources of knowledge for wound medicine, along with various items of materia medica mentioned in wound medicine texts such as Sanyin fang. It also explores how Song-era Chinese medicine influenced Japanese wound medicine. The chapter shows that physicians in medieval Japan gained experience in treating wounds by extrapolating from generic knowledge and that Song medicine provided—courtesy of Sanyin fang—a conceptual basis for wound medicine where one did not exist before.Less
This chapter examines the emergence of wound medicine as a medical specialty in response to the eruption of violence and warfare in Japan in the early fourteenth century, with particular emphasis on factors that shaped the availability and reception of Song medical knowledge. It begins by discussing the new warfare environment from the 1330s that arose after the destruction of the Kamakura bakufu. It then provides an overview of wound medicine prior to the 1330s and goes on to consider sources of knowledge for wound medicine, along with various items of materia medica mentioned in wound medicine texts such as Sanyin fang. It also explores how Song-era Chinese medicine influenced Japanese wound medicine. The chapter shows that physicians in medieval Japan gained experience in treating wounds by extrapolating from generic knowledge and that Song medicine provided—courtesy of Sanyin fang—a conceptual basis for wound medicine where one did not exist before.
Zohar Amar and Efraim Lev
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780748697816
- eISBN:
- 9781474430418
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748697816.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
For more than one thousand years Arab medicine held sway in the ancient world, from the shores of Spain in the West to China, India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the East. This book explores the impact ...
More
For more than one thousand years Arab medicine held sway in the ancient world, from the shores of Spain in the West to China, India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the East. This book explores the impact of Greek (as well as Indian and Persian) medical heritage on the evolution of Arab medicine and pharmacology, investigating it from the perspective of materia medica — a reliable indication of the contribution of this medical legacy. Focusing on the main substances introduced and traded by the Arabs in the medieval Mediterranean — including Ambergris, camphor, musk, myrobalan, nutmeg, sandalwood, and turmeric — the chapters show how they enriched the existing inventory of drugs influenced by Galenic-Arab pharmacology. Further, they look at how these substances merged with the development and distribution of new technologies and industries that evolved in the Middle Ages such as textiles, paper, dyeing, and tanning, and with the new trends, demands, and fashions regarding spices, perfumes, ornaments (gemstones), and foodstuffs some of which can be found in our modern-day food basket.Less
For more than one thousand years Arab medicine held sway in the ancient world, from the shores of Spain in the West to China, India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the East. This book explores the impact of Greek (as well as Indian and Persian) medical heritage on the evolution of Arab medicine and pharmacology, investigating it from the perspective of materia medica — a reliable indication of the contribution of this medical legacy. Focusing on the main substances introduced and traded by the Arabs in the medieval Mediterranean — including Ambergris, camphor, musk, myrobalan, nutmeg, sandalwood, and turmeric — the chapters show how they enriched the existing inventory of drugs influenced by Galenic-Arab pharmacology. Further, they look at how these substances merged with the development and distribution of new technologies and industries that evolved in the Middle Ages such as textiles, paper, dyeing, and tanning, and with the new trends, demands, and fashions regarding spices, perfumes, ornaments (gemstones), and foodstuffs some of which can be found in our modern-day food basket.
Shellen Xiao Wu
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804792844
- eISBN:
- 9780804794732
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804792844.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In order to understand how and why a momentous change of the Chinese worldview occurred in the late nineteenth century, chapter 1 begins with a discussion of pre-modern forms of geological knowledge ...
More
In order to understand how and why a momentous change of the Chinese worldview occurred in the late nineteenth century, chapter 1 begins with a discussion of pre-modern forms of geological knowledge in ChinaLess
In order to understand how and why a momentous change of the Chinese worldview occurred in the late nineteenth century, chapter 1 begins with a discussion of pre-modern forms of geological knowledge in China
Andrew Edmund Goble
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835002
- eISBN:
- 9780824870317
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835002.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This is the first book-length exploration in English of issues of medicine and society in premodern Japan. The book expands the parameters of the study of medicine in East Asia and introduces the ...
More
This is the first book-length exploration in English of issues of medicine and society in premodern Japan. The book expands the parameters of the study of medicine in East Asia and introduces the dynamics of interaction and exchange that coursed through the East Asian macro-culture. It explores these themes primarily through the two extant works of the Buddhist priest and clinical physician Kajiwara Shōzen (1265–1337), who was active at the medical facility housed at Gokurakuji temple in Kamakura, the capital of Japan's first warrior government. Shōzen was a beneficiary of the efflorescence of trade and exchange across the East China Sea that typifies this era. His break with the restrictions of Japanese medicine is revealed in Ton'ishō (Book of the Simple Physician) and Man'apō (Myriad Relief Formulas). Both of these texts are landmarks. This book brings to the fore the range of factors that influenced the Japanese acquisition of Chinese medical information. It offers the first substantive portrait of the impact of the Song printing revolution in medieval Japan and provides a rare glimpse of Chinese medicine as it was understood outside of China. It is further distinguished by its attention to materia medica and medicinal formulas and to the challenges of technical translation and technological transfer in the reception and incorporation of a new pharmaceutical regime.Less
This is the first book-length exploration in English of issues of medicine and society in premodern Japan. The book expands the parameters of the study of medicine in East Asia and introduces the dynamics of interaction and exchange that coursed through the East Asian macro-culture. It explores these themes primarily through the two extant works of the Buddhist priest and clinical physician Kajiwara Shōzen (1265–1337), who was active at the medical facility housed at Gokurakuji temple in Kamakura, the capital of Japan's first warrior government. Shōzen was a beneficiary of the efflorescence of trade and exchange across the East China Sea that typifies this era. His break with the restrictions of Japanese medicine is revealed in Ton'ishō (Book of the Simple Physician) and Man'apō (Myriad Relief Formulas). Both of these texts are landmarks. This book brings to the fore the range of factors that influenced the Japanese acquisition of Chinese medical information. It offers the first substantive portrait of the impact of the Song printing revolution in medieval Japan and provides a rare glimpse of Chinese medicine as it was understood outside of China. It is further distinguished by its attention to materia medica and medicinal formulas and to the challenges of technical translation and technological transfer in the reception and incorporation of a new pharmaceutical regime.
Petros Bouras-Vallianatos
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198850687
- eISBN:
- 9780191885631
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198850687.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE, World History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter deals with the last two books of the Medical Epitome, which focus on pharmacology. John’s material presents a unique amalgamation of earlier Greek and Byzantine sources with recently ...
More
This chapter deals with the last two books of the Medical Epitome, which focus on pharmacology. John’s material presents a unique amalgamation of earlier Greek and Byzantine sources with recently introduced Arabic pharmacological lore. It is argued that, unlike the first four books, the last two books may be addressed not only to philiatroi but also to the expert reader, since they provide a revision of the subject that was much needed in late Byzantium. Special emphasis is given to the role of experience (peira) in the pharmacological part, which, unlike in the first four books, plays an important role in the selection process here, as it is often highlighted by John himself. The analysis then shifts to John’s sources, including Galen’s On the Composition of Drugs According to Places and also the Greek translation (Ephodia tou Apodēmountos) of the famous medieval Arabic medical text by Ibn al-Jazzār Zād al-Musāfir wa-Qūt al-Ḥāḍir, more commonly known by its Latin title Viaticum. A particular section is devoted to John’s adaptation of Arabic pharmacology, including his many recipes for sugar-based potions and his reference to oriental materia medica. In the first case, a potential unedited source ascribed to an otherwise unknown author, one Chariton, is identified. As regards oriental ingredients such as zedoary, galangal, cubeb pepper, and various kinds of myrobalan, a further contextualization is attempted by making use of other contemporary non-medical sources, especially merchants’ accounts, which show that many of these substances were readily available in Constantinople, although usually at a high price.Less
This chapter deals with the last two books of the Medical Epitome, which focus on pharmacology. John’s material presents a unique amalgamation of earlier Greek and Byzantine sources with recently introduced Arabic pharmacological lore. It is argued that, unlike the first four books, the last two books may be addressed not only to philiatroi but also to the expert reader, since they provide a revision of the subject that was much needed in late Byzantium. Special emphasis is given to the role of experience (peira) in the pharmacological part, which, unlike in the first four books, plays an important role in the selection process here, as it is often highlighted by John himself. The analysis then shifts to John’s sources, including Galen’s On the Composition of Drugs According to Places and also the Greek translation (Ephodia tou Apodēmountos) of the famous medieval Arabic medical text by Ibn al-Jazzār Zād al-Musāfir wa-Qūt al-Ḥāḍir, more commonly known by its Latin title Viaticum. A particular section is devoted to John’s adaptation of Arabic pharmacology, including his many recipes for sugar-based potions and his reference to oriental materia medica. In the first case, a potential unedited source ascribed to an otherwise unknown author, one Chariton, is identified. As regards oriental ingredients such as zedoary, galangal, cubeb pepper, and various kinds of myrobalan, a further contextualization is attempted by making use of other contemporary non-medical sources, especially merchants’ accounts, which show that many of these substances were readily available in Constantinople, although usually at a high price.
Peter Francis Kornicki
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198797821
- eISBN:
- 9780191839139
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797821.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter follows on from Chapters 8 and 9, which were devoted to Buddhist and Confucian texts, and applies a similar analysis to a variety of other texts with a focus on those that were subjected ...
More
This chapter follows on from Chapters 8 and 9, which were devoted to Buddhist and Confucian texts, and applies a similar analysis to a variety of other texts with a focus on those that were subjected to a process of vernacularization. The first genre discussed is that of primers, which initially existed solely to teach the young the elements of Sinitic. Second, medical texts are examined in some depth, for the botanic and linguistic diversity of East Asia necessitated the production of glossaries giving the local names for plants appearing in Chinese pharmacopoeia and later the development of local pharmacopoeia based on locally available plants. Third, conduct books for women are taken up, for the different expectations of women in East Asian societies made Chinese imports unsuitable. Subsequently, a Tang-dynasty manual of statecraft, a manual of forensic medicine, Chinese vernacular fiction, and books about the West are discussed.Less
This chapter follows on from Chapters 8 and 9, which were devoted to Buddhist and Confucian texts, and applies a similar analysis to a variety of other texts with a focus on those that were subjected to a process of vernacularization. The first genre discussed is that of primers, which initially existed solely to teach the young the elements of Sinitic. Second, medical texts are examined in some depth, for the botanic and linguistic diversity of East Asia necessitated the production of glossaries giving the local names for plants appearing in Chinese pharmacopoeia and later the development of local pharmacopoeia based on locally available plants. Third, conduct books for women are taken up, for the different expectations of women in East Asian societies made Chinese imports unsuitable. Subsequently, a Tang-dynasty manual of statecraft, a manual of forensic medicine, Chinese vernacular fiction, and books about the West are discussed.
Federico Marcon
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836924
- eISBN:
- 9780824871109
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836924.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the organizational effort behind the honzōgaku surveys under the aegis of Tokugawa Yoshimune in eighteenth-century Japan. Yoshimune enlisted scholars to produce a complete ...
More
This chapter examines the organizational effort behind the honzōgaku surveys under the aegis of Tokugawa Yoshimune in eighteenth-century Japan. Yoshimune enlisted scholars to produce a complete survey of all species of plants and animals that could be found in Japan. The survey campaign was led by the pharmacologist Niwa Shōhaku. State sponsorship of specialized scholars affected in particular the structure and stakes of the field of honzōgaku, usually translated as “pharmacology” or “materia medica.” This chapter considers early attempts to give a comprehensive classification of all existing species of plants and animals, with particular emphasis on Shobutsu ruisan by Inō Jakusui. It also discusses the impact of the honzōgaku surveys on the field of nature studies. It shows that honzōgaku practitioners and the study of plants and animals both acquired cultural value due to natural history's connection to matters of economic livelihood and national prosperity.Less
This chapter examines the organizational effort behind the honzōgaku surveys under the aegis of Tokugawa Yoshimune in eighteenth-century Japan. Yoshimune enlisted scholars to produce a complete survey of all species of plants and animals that could be found in Japan. The survey campaign was led by the pharmacologist Niwa Shōhaku. State sponsorship of specialized scholars affected in particular the structure and stakes of the field of honzōgaku, usually translated as “pharmacology” or “materia medica.” This chapter considers early attempts to give a comprehensive classification of all existing species of plants and animals, with particular emphasis on Shobutsu ruisan by Inō Jakusui. It also discusses the impact of the honzōgaku surveys on the field of nature studies. It shows that honzōgaku practitioners and the study of plants and animals both acquired cultural value due to natural history's connection to matters of economic livelihood and national prosperity.
Sienna R. Craig
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520273238
- eISBN:
- 9780520951587
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520273238.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
Chapter 6 examines how amchi interact with conservation-development practitioners, policies, and projects. The chapter draws on fieldwork from Yunnan Province, China—a region actually called ...
More
Chapter 6 examines how amchi interact with conservation-development practitioners, policies, and projects. The chapter draws on fieldwork from Yunnan Province, China—a region actually called “Shangri-La”—as well as ethnography from Nepal and Bhutan. Perhaps surprisingly, insights about the nature of health and illness, the social lives of medicines, and the political-economic possibilities and constraints for meeting global health needs rarely intersect with insights gleaned from political ecology. Much of what exists in both academic and popular literature tends to focus on the interface between ethnobotany and biomedicine, specifically around bioprospecting or biopiracy: namely, the search for “magic bullet” plants and the well-founded fears that indigenous knowledge will be appropriated and commodified without sufficient forethought or compensation. Some work has focused on the ways plant knowledge is also social knowledge—the sense that herbal remedies are biocultural phenomena whose meanings and value are at once medical and social. Other points of convergence have occurred around issues of environmental health and the bio-psycho-social effects of conservation-induced displacement, natural disasters, or otherwise environmentally prompted migrations on local populations. This chapter links medical anthropology and political ecology by examining connections between the commodification of nature and culture in the context of amchi involvement with conservation-development projects, and how this relates to their role as healthcare providers and transmitters of Tibetan medical knowledge.Less
Chapter 6 examines how amchi interact with conservation-development practitioners, policies, and projects. The chapter draws on fieldwork from Yunnan Province, China—a region actually called “Shangri-La”—as well as ethnography from Nepal and Bhutan. Perhaps surprisingly, insights about the nature of health and illness, the social lives of medicines, and the political-economic possibilities and constraints for meeting global health needs rarely intersect with insights gleaned from political ecology. Much of what exists in both academic and popular literature tends to focus on the interface between ethnobotany and biomedicine, specifically around bioprospecting or biopiracy: namely, the search for “magic bullet” plants and the well-founded fears that indigenous knowledge will be appropriated and commodified without sufficient forethought or compensation. Some work has focused on the ways plant knowledge is also social knowledge—the sense that herbal remedies are biocultural phenomena whose meanings and value are at once medical and social. Other points of convergence have occurred around issues of environmental health and the bio-psycho-social effects of conservation-induced displacement, natural disasters, or otherwise environmentally prompted migrations on local populations. This chapter links medical anthropology and political ecology by examining connections between the commodification of nature and culture in the context of amchi involvement with conservation-development projects, and how this relates to their role as healthcare providers and transmitters of Tibetan medical knowledge.
James A. Benn
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839635
- eISBN:
- 9780824868642
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839635.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter discusses tea culture during the Song dynasty with reference to developments in horticulture, state policy, urbanism, and changing tastes in elite and popular culture. It describes new ...
More
This chapter discusses tea culture during the Song dynasty with reference to developments in horticulture, state policy, urbanism, and changing tastes in elite and popular culture. It describes new tea growing areas in Fujian and the opening of new tea plantations. Changes in how tea was processed and consumed were also significant. The competition of tea with other popular medicinal decoctions is explored.Less
This chapter discusses tea culture during the Song dynasty with reference to developments in horticulture, state policy, urbanism, and changing tastes in elite and popular culture. It describes new tea growing areas in Fujian and the opening of new tea plantations. Changes in how tea was processed and consumed were also significant. The competition of tea with other popular medicinal decoctions is explored.