ABSTRACT
Chinese medicine at the end of the twelfth century was strikingly different from Chinese medicine of the late tenth century. During the intervening two centuries, a profound transformation had reshaped medical theory, medical practice, and even the status of medicine. Some aspects of this sea of change are obvious to the modern observer. For example, during this period, the number of medical books on record increased greatly.1 Technological advances in printing account for some of this increase; the rest should be attributed to a growing interest in medicine among emperors and the elite, which sponsored projects of book collection, revision, and printing during the Northern Song dynasty. Another aspect, contributing to the increase in the number of publications, was the revival of ancient medical theories, doctrines, and associated practices that had fallen out of use since the third century ce. The availability of these newly reprinted classics created a need to explain them on the one hand and tie them to contemporary medical practice on the other. How did medicine become a field of interest among the literate elite? Why did these doctrines reappear during the Northern Song? Since China faced major interpenetrating changes in culture, society, and environment during this period, these questions call for a more detailed multi-dimensional analysis.
