Studying Medicine and Seeking Immortality:Early Medical Cognition in Traditional Chinese Society
Chinese traditional medicine originated from human's observation and application of nature.Under the great power of nature people developed a faith and desire for immortals who didn't age or die,and they tried to be immortal by practicing in early traditional society.The two texts of"Qin Yueren Studied Medicine"in The Historical Records and"Fei Zhangfang Sought Immortal"in The History of the Later Han Dynasty reveal the conceptual parallel between early roles of doctors and immortals in terms of the identity of their social classes the characteristics of their behavior and the process of studying medicine/immortal.Medicine is aimed at curing diseases,while immortality is aimed at longevity.Curing diseases and maintaining wellness by replenishing qi without eating or taking medicine are necessary means of seeking immortality.In later development,the strict selection model for selecting talents and the selection criteria based on good deeds in the inheritance of immortality were combined with benevolence that Confucianism promotes,which gradually evolving to the ethical requirement for medical practitioners of traditional medicine in China,and it formed the core concept that healing people is benevolence subsequently.
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