Medicine in China

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Western fascination with Chinese medicine -- especially with the therapeutic technique of acupuncture -- first arose in the 17th century, yet a systematic investigation of its history, theoretical foundations, and the practical applications of Chinese medicine has only been undertaken in the recent past. Very few of the more than 13,000 Chinese medical texts known today have been translated into European languages. This volume explores the wealth of sources providing today's researchers with an ever more accurate and widening knowledge of health care in Chinese history. Historical manuscripts and printed texts, artefacts used by physicians and pharmacists, such as beautifully decorated medicine flasks, works of fine art and illustrations for teaching purposes, and other items show the attention paid to aesthetic values in China's everyday culture in the past. At the same time they offer often surprising insights into the reality of a long-standing medical tradition that, only recently, has been profoundly remodelled in the course of China's modernization.