ABSTRACT
One of the most noticeable changes in medicine during the Northern Song dynasty was its rising prestige. For the first time in Chinese history, members of the imperial family and the scholar-official elite took personal interest in medicine, compiled medical treatises, and even took practice in treating patients. Prior to the Song dynasty, elite families did not consider medicine a desirable occupation for their sons.1 The Tang dynasty (618-907 ce) serves as a good example for the lowly status of medicine. For example, when discussing possible career paths for the sons of the elite the famous Tang scholar, Han Yu (768-824 ce) grouped together physicians, spirit-mediums, and musicians. He stresses that both the common people and the gentlemen despised these arts and regarded them as an unworthy.2
