ABSTRACT
Three methodologies, three very different stories. From the traditional socioeconomic and biographic method, a picture emerges of a well-respected and influential physician and medical writer living through, and indeed being a part of, an exciting and vibrant period of change in contemporary medical culture. From the textual analysis of the Shishan yi'an, a more human and more vulnerable physican emerges, confident of his abilities and healing strategies but struggling to win respect from fellow practitioners and loyalty from his patients. Finally, the results of the gender analysis suggest that contemporary culture shaped Wang Ji's perceptions and influenced his medical practice. Different but complementary dimensions to the life of a sixteenth-century Chinese physician.
