ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the early modern Japanese transformation of Chinese medical thought through the medium of translation, specifically the translation of European works into Japanese from the late eighteenth through the early nineteenth centuries. It explores the textual discourses and visual representations of the brain at the intersection of anatomical art and medical thought at two junctures: in the earliest context of Chinese medical theories and, later, the appropriation of them by rangaku scholars. Japanese medical thought developed within the framework of Chinese medicine and was organized around the pillars of blood and qi. In modern interpretations of Chinese and Japanese medical thought, the five core organs would consist of the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, and spleen, alongside six major viscera made up of the gall bladder, urinary bladder, large intestines, small intestines, stomach, and triple burner. The chapter describes the role of illustrations in the mediation of medical knowledge in the rangaku lineage.
