DOCSLIB.ORG

FLUID BEING Yan Liu and Shigehisa Kuriyama

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
FLUID BEING Yan Liu and Shigehisa Kuriyama FLUID BEING Yan Liu and Shigehisa Kuriyama This essay should be referenced as: Yan Liu and Shigehisa Kuriyama, ‘Fluid Being: Mercury in Chinese Medicine and Alchemy’. In Fluid Matter(s): Flow and Transformation in the History of the Body, edited by Natalie Köhle and Shigehisa Kuriyama. Asian Studies Monograph Series 14. Canberra, ANU Press, 2020. doi.org/10.22459/ FM.2020 NOTES 1. The modern chemistry of this transformation is reviewed in Zhao Kuanghua 趙匡華, Zhongguo gudai huaxueshi yanjiu 中國古代化學史研究 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1985), 128–53. The process was described in the Divine Farmer’s Classic of Materia Medica, see Shennong bencao jing jiaozhu, juan 2, 16–17 (Ctext wiki). For the general background of this foundational classic, see Paul Unschuld, Medicine in China: A History of Pharmaceutics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), 11–28. 2. The fourth-century alchemist Ge Hong complained that such matters were far too profound for ordinary laymen to grasp, and he contrasted their bewildered scepticism to the deep insights gleaned by adepts. See Ge Hong, Baopuzi neipian, juan 4, 72 (Kanripo). 3. Guolong Lai, ‘Colors and Color Symbolism in Early Chinese Ritual Art’, in Color in Ancient and Medieval East Asia, ed. Mary M. Dusenbury (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015), 25–43. 1 FLUID MATTER(S) 4. If mercury enters the ears of humans or livestock, it will kill them. The antidote is silver or gold placed near the ears, which will draw the toxin out. See Zhang Zhongjing, Jingui yaolüe, juan 25 (Ctext). The opposite also holds, and mercury can be used to counter gold poisoning. See Ge Hong, Zhouhou beiji fang, juan 7, sec. 68 (Kanripo). 5. Zhao Yi 趙翼, Ershier shi zhaji 二十二史劄記 [Notes on Twenty-Two Histories] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1963), 398–99. 6. Donald Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts (London and New York: Kegan Paul International Press, 1998), 282–83, 287, 290, 296–97. 7. Shennong bencao jing jiaozhu, juan 2, 16–17 (Ctext wiki). 8. Ge Hong, Baopuzi neipian, juan 4, 72 (Kanripo). 9. For recent studies of poisons in classical Chinese pharmacy, see Yan Liu, ‘Poisonous Medicine in Ancient China’, in Toxicology in Antiquity, ed. Philip Wexler (London: Elsevier, 2019), 431–39; Yan Liu, Potent Matters: Poisons and Medicines in Early Imperial China (Seattle: University of Washington Press, forthcoming). 10. Sun Simiao, Beiji qianjin yaofang jiaoshi, juan 18, 652 (Kanripo). On the efficacy of mercury as a vermifuge, see also Tao Hongjing, Bencao jing jizhu, juan 2, 130 (Ctext wiki). 11. Lei Xiao, Leigong paozhi lun tongjie, 16–17 (Ctext wiki). The ‘Purple-back Heavenly Okra’ could refer to one of the following herbs: purple gynura, tea begonia, semiaquilegia, purple senecio. The ‘Nightly Entangled Vine’ is likely to be flowery knotweed stem. 12. Fan Xuanling et al., Jinshu, juan 72 (Ctext wiki). 13. Ge Hong, Shenxian zhuan jiaoshi, juan 2 (Kanripo). The story is discussed in Akahori Akira 赤堀昭, ‘Drug Taking and Immortality’ in Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, ed. Livia Kohn with Yoshinobu Sakade (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1989), 88. 14. Wang Chong, Lunheng jiaoshi, 7 (Kanripo). For studies of shijie, see Isabelle Robinet, ‘Metamorphosis and Deliverance from the Corpse in Taoism’, History of Religions 19 (1979): 37–70; Ursula-Angelika Cedzich, ‘Corpse Deliverance, Substitute Bodies, Name Change, and Feigned Death: Aspects of Metamorphosis and Immortality in Early Medieval China’, Journal of Chinese Religions 29 (2001): 1–68; Fabrizio Pregadio, ‘Which is the Daoist Immortal Body?’ Micrologus 26 (2018): 389–92. 15. Taishang lingbao wufu xu, juan 2 (Kanripo). 2 FLUID BEING BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources Buyi Lei Gong paozhi bianlan 補遺雷公炮製便覽 [Supplement to Lei Gong’s Guide to the Preparation of Drugs]. Edited by Zheng Jinsheng 鄭金生. Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 2012. Ge Hong 葛洪. Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi 抱朴子內篇校釋 [Inner Chapters of the Master Who Embraces the Uncarved Wood, Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Wang Ming 王明. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985. Kanripo Kanseki Repository (henceforth Kanripo). Ge Hong 葛洪. Shenxian zhuan jiaoshi 神仙傳校釋 [Biographies of the Immortals, Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Hu Shouwei 胡守為. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2010. Kanripo. Ge Hong 葛洪. Zhouhou beiji fang 肘後備急方 [Formulas for Emergencies to Keep at Hand]. Edited by Shang Zhijun 尚志鈞. Hefei: Anhui kexue jishu chubanshe, 1983. Kanripo. Jinshu 晉書 [History of Jin]. Edited by Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 et al. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974. Chinese Text Project Wiki (henceforth: Ctext wiki). Lei Xiao 雷斅. Leigong paozhi lun tongjie 雷公炮炙論通解 [Treatise on Drug Processing from Lord Thunder, Thorough Explanation]. Edited by Dun Baosheng 頓寶生 et al. Xi’an: Sanqin chubanshe, 2001. Ctext wiki. Shennong bencao jing jiaozhu 神農本草經校注 [Divine Farmer’s Classic of Materia Medica, Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Shang Zhijun 尚志 鈞. Beijing: Xueyuan chubanshe, 2008. Ctext wiki. Sun Simiao 孫思邈. Beiji qianjin yaofang jiaoshi 備急千金要方校釋 [Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand in Gold for Emergencies, Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Li Jingrong 李景榮 et al. Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1997. Kanripo. Taishang lingbao wufu xu 太上靈寶五符序 [Prolegomena to the Five Talismans of the Numinous Treasure of the Most High]. Daoist Canon 388 (DZ 388). Kanripo. Tao Hongjing 陶弘景. Bencao jing jizhu 本草經集注 [Collected Annotations on the Classic of Materia Medica]. Edited by Shang Zhijun 尚志鈞. Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1994. Ctext wiki. Wang Chong 王充. Lunheng jiaoshi 論衡校釋 [Discourses Weighed in the Balance, Collated and Explained]. Edited by Huang Hui 黃暉. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1990. Kanripo. 3 FLUID MATTER(S) Wang Shizhen 王世貞 and Wang Yunpeng 汪雲鵬. Liexian quanzhuan 列仙全 傳 [Complete Biographies of Collected Immortals]. Yangzhou: Guangling shushe, 2009. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Zhang Zhongjing 張仲景. Jingui yaolüe 金匱要略 [Essential Synopsis of the Golden Cabinet]. Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 2004. Ctext. Secondary Sources Akahori, Akira 赤堀昭. ‘Drug Taking and Immortality’. In Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, edited by Livia Kohn with Yoshinobu Sakade, 73–98. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1989. Cedzich, Ursula-Angelika. ‘Corpse Deliverance, Substitute Bodies, Name Change, and Feigned Death: Aspects of Metamorphosis and Immortality in Early Medieval China’. Journal of Chinese Religions 29 (2001): 1–68. doi.org/ 10.1179/ 073776901804774578 Harper, Donald. Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts. London and New York: Kegan Paul International Press, 1998. Lai, Guolong. ‘Colors and Color Symbolism in Early Chinese Ritual Art’. In Color in Ancient and Medieval East Asia, edited by Mary M. Dusenbury, 25–43. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015. Liu, Yan. ‘Poisonous Medicine in Ancient China’. In Toxicology in Antiquity, edited by Philip Wexler, 431-39. London: Elsevier, 2019. Liu, Yan. Potent Matters: Poisons and Medicines in Early Imperial China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, forthcoming. Pregadio, Fabrizio. ‘Which is the Daoist Immortal Body?’. Micrologus 26 (2018): 385–407. Robinet, Isabelle. ‘Metamorphosis and Deliverance from the Corpse in Taoism’. History of Religions 19 (1979): 37–70. doi.org/10.1086/462835 Unschuld, Paul. Medicine in China: A History of Pharmaceutics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. Zhao Kuanghua 趙匡華. Zhongguo gudai huaxueshi yanjiu 中國古代化學史研 究 [Research on the History of Chemistry in Pre-Modern China]. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1985. Zhao Yi 趙翼. Ershier shi zhaji 二十二史劄記 [Notes on Twenty-two Histories]. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1963. 4.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Laozi Zhongjing)
    A Study of the Central Scripture of Laozi (Laozi zhongjing) Alexandre Iliouchine A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts, Department of East Asian Studies McGill University January 2011 Copyright Alexandre Iliouchine © 2011 ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements......................................................................................... v Abstract/Résumé............................................................................................. vii Conventions and Abbreviations.................................................................... viii Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 On the Word ―Daoist‖............................................................................. 1 A Brief Introduction to the Central Scripture of Laozi........................... 3 Key Terms and Concepts: Jing, Qi, Shen and Xian................................ 5 The State of the Field.............................................................................. 9 The Aim of This Study............................................................................ 13 Chapter 1: Versions, Layers, Dates............................................................... 14 1.1 Versions............................................................................................. 15 1.1.1 The Transmitted Versions..................................................... 16 1.1.2 The Dunhuang Version........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Download Article (PDF)
    International Conference on Economics, Management, Law and Education (EMLE 2015) Shaping of Local City Image under New Media Context Shuo Chen School of Humanity and Law Nanyang Institute of Technology Nanyang, Henan, China 473004 Abstract—The globalization and information in 21st communication of city’s virtual image and positively has an century have brought unprecedented opportunities and influence on the public’s perception and overall evaluation of challenges to mankind. In order to stand out from the the city, it plays a leading role in construction and competition, cities around the world gradually begin to pay communication of city image and the “image competition” attention to city image construction and take it as an important between cities. bargaining chip in the competition between cities. It is well- known that city image construction has provided powerful The arrival of new media age makes media environment impetus and support for the development of the city and plays and public opinion environment of city image a vital role in the accumulation of human resources and social communication have earth-shaking changes, which provide capital. But under the impact of new media, the existing more abundant resources and wider space for the communication mode cannot meet the demands of city image construction and communication of city image, and bring any more. In order to realize the maximization of the more severe challenges. In current social trend of communication effect of city image, we must start from three informatization, the communication of city image must be aspects of communication subject, communication media and supported by new media.
    [Show full text]
  • Bian Que's Viewpoint on Medicine and the Preventative Treatment of Diseases
    Northeast Asia Traditional Chinese Medicine Communication and Development Base of traditional medicine in Northeast Asia, conduct academic seminars and collaborative innovation, and form annual report on development of traditional medicine in Northeast Asia. 2. Special Belt & Road scholarships for Northeast Asia: are ready to provide yearly funding support such as full & partial scholarships and grants for overseas TCM talents with medical background. 3. Exhibitions on traditional medicine in Northeast Asia: to held exhibitions on traditional medicine of northeast Asian countries, health-care foods, welfare In November 2016, the Northeast Asia Traditional equipments and service trade negotiations, and promote Chinese Medicine Communication and Development multilateral p roject cooperation. Base was established in Changchun University of Chinese Medicine being approved by the State 4. The forum on Traditional Medicine in Northeast Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Asia (Planning): to invite principals of traditional China. This foundation will serve as an important medicine departments from northeast Asian or platform for the spread of TCM in northeast China. relevant countries to make keynote speeches, and distinguished specialists and experts to participate in Distinct Regional Advantages Historically, this conference discussion. area is the core of the Northern Silk Road that extends to Russia, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea and 5. One journal and one bulletin: to issue restrictedly Democratic People’s Republic of Korean. The city of Northeast Asia Traditional Chinese Medicine (quarterly) Changchun aims to be a regional center in Northeast and Bulletin on Traditional Chinese Medicine Asia. The China-Northeast Asia Expo in Changchun Information in Northeast Asia (monthly). serves as an important window to open to the north.
    [Show full text]
  • QIGONG: Proper Growth and Development Helping One to Be ProliC, Bal - Anced and Healthful in a Multitude of Ways
    relate with others combined with the ability to honor their own uniqueness and healthy boundaries while doing so. Jing (vital essence) resides in the lower dantian. Cultivation of jing provides the physical strength and stamina needed for QIGONG: proper growth and development helping one to be prolic, bal - anced and healthful in a multitude of ways. The lower dantian is the energetic center of ph ysical healing of the body as well Chinese Yoga as an individual’s power center. It is also where the majority of vital energy is stored for the lasting resilience and centeredness for Energetic necessary to withstand the plethora of stressful situations in life. Chinese medicine practices such as Qigong strengthen the Momentum three treasures of jing, qi and shen as it nourishes an individual’s integral being. In terms of emotional and mental health this sup - ports full and appropriate expression of feelings and emotions as well as dev elopment of spiritual identity involving ones total by Shoshanna Katzman, L.Ac., M.S., being. It forges the ability to release negative emotions such as excessive anger, sadness, worry, grief and fear which in and of igong (pronounced ‘chee-gung’) is an ancient Chinese itself strengthens the vital health of the body’s organ system – exercise designed to balance and cultivate the ow of namely the liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney respectively. Q energy for health and healing purposes. Qigong is easy Qigong is easy to learn, simple to practice and readily avail - to learn and can be performed by anyone regardless of ability.
    [Show full text]
  • View Article
    OPEN ACCESS Freely available online Biology and Medicine Review Article Herbal Prescription for COVID-19 Enqin Zhang* Department of Medicine, UK Academy of Chinese Medicine, United Kindom ABSTRACT The clinical studies from China have proved that the use of herbal medicine has played a significant role in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. This article aims to introduce the six most effective herbal prescriptions in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating the coronavirus (COVID-19). Each formula has been described in detail including the name, source, indication, ingredients (Chinese Pinyin, English and Latin names), usage and discussion, etc. The first chief formula introduced in this article is the most popular prescription published by The National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China on 3/3 2020 for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus infection and pneumonia; and subsequent formulas are the modified classical herbal prescriptions and my experienced herbal formula I often use in the UK. Keywords: COVID-19; Herbal formulas; Ingredients, Indications; Usage; Discussion INTRODUCTION infected by COVID -19 in the UK. This is why I choose to write this article. The coronavirus (COVID-19) is highly contagious with a characteristic tendency to severely affect the respiratory tract and METHODS the lung in certain individuals .TCM classifies COVID-19 as an epidemic disease termed ‘Wen YI’ and considers both external and Here is detailed information on the anti-coronavirus herbal internal factors contributing to
    [Show full text]
  • Shen-Jing As a Chinese Medicine Concept Might Be a Counterpart of Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine
    • 64 • Chin J Integr Med 2019 Jan;25(1):64-70 Available online at link.springer.com/journal/11655 hinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Journal homepage: www.cjim.cn/zxyjhen/zxyjhen/ch/index.aspx C E-mail: [email protected] Academic Exploration Shen-Jing as a Chinese Medicine Concept Might Be a Counterpart of Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine REN Yan-bo, HUANG Jian-hua, CAI Wai-jiao, and SHEN Zi-yin ABSTRACT As the epitome of the modern regenerative medicine, stem cells were proposed in the basic sense no more than 200 years ago. However, the concept of "stem cells" existed long before the modern medical description. The hypothesis that all things, including our sentient body, were generated from a small origin was shared between Western and Chinese people. The ancient Chinese philosophers considered Jing (also known as essence) as the origin of life. In Chinese medicine (CM), Jing is mainly stored in Kidney (Shen) and the so-called Shen-Jing (Kidney essence). Here, we propose that Shen-Jing is the CM term used to express the meaning of "origin and regeneration". This theoretical discovery has at least two applications. First, the actions underlying causing Shen-Jing defi ciency, such as excess sexual intercourse, chronic diseases, and aging, might damage the function of stem cells. Second, a large number of Chinese herbs with Shen-Jing-nourishing effi cacy had been proven to affect stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Therefore, if Shen-Jing in CM is equivalent with stem cells in regenerative medicine, higher effective modulators for regulating stem-cell behaviors from Kidney-tonifying herbs would be expected.
    [Show full text]
  • The Daoist Tradition Also Available from Bloomsbury
    The Daoist Tradition Also available from Bloomsbury Chinese Religion, Xinzhong Yao and Yanxia Zhao Confucius: A Guide for the Perplexed, Yong Huang The Daoist Tradition An Introduction LOUIS KOMJATHY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 175 Fifth Avenue London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10010 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com First published 2013 © Louis Komjathy, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Louis Komjathy has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author. Permissions Cover: Kate Townsend Ch. 10: Chart 10: Livia Kohn Ch. 11: Chart 11: Harold Roth Ch. 13: Fig. 20: Michael Saso Ch. 15: Fig. 22: Wu’s Healing Art Ch. 16: Fig. 25: British Taoist Association British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 9781472508942 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Komjathy, Louis, 1971- The Daoist tradition : an introduction / Louis Komjathy. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4411-1669-7 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4411-6873-3 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-4411-9645-3 (epub) 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Daoist Meditation and the Origins of Inner Alchemy
    EARLY DAOIST MEDITATION 7 EARLY DAOIST MEDITATION AND THE ORIGINS OF INNER ALCHEMY Fabrizio Pregadio According to one of the scriptures belonging to the Taiqing, or Great Clar- ity, tradition, after an adept receives alchemical texts and relevant oral instructions from his master, he withdraws to a mountain or a secluded place to perform purification practices. He establishes the ritual area, demar- cates it with talismans for protection against demons and wild animals, and builds a Chamber of the Elixirs (danshi) at the centre of this protected space. To start compounding the elixir, he chooses a favourable day based on traditional methods of calendrical computation. When all ritual, spatial and temporal conditions are fulfilled, he may finally kindle the fire. Now he offers food and drink to three deities, and asks that they grant the successful compounding of the elixir: This petty man, (name of the adept), truly and entirely devotes his thoughts to the Great Lord of the Dao, Lord Lao and the Lord of Great Harmony. Alas! This petty man, (name of the adept), covets the Medicine of Life! Lead him so that the Medicine will not volat- ilise and be lost, but rather be fixed by the fire! Let the Medicine be good and efficacious, let the transmutations take place without hesitation, and let the Yellow and the White be entirely fixed! When he ingests the Medicine, let him fly as an immortal, have audience at the Purple Palace (Zigong), live an unending life and become an accomplished man (zhiren)!1 The Great Lord of the Dao (Da Daojun), Lord Lao (Laojun, or Laozi in his divine aspect) and the Lord of Great Harmony (Taihe jun) are not mentioned together in other alchemical texts.
    [Show full text]
  • The Paracelsians and the Chemists: the Chemical Dilemma in Renaissance Medicine
    Clio Medica, Vol7, No.3, pp. 185-199, 1972 The Paracelsians and the Chemists: the Chemical Dilemma in Renaissance Medicine ALLEN G. DEBUS* Accounts of Renaissance iatrochemistry have traditionally emphasized the con­ flict over the introduction of chemically prepared medicines. The importance of this cannot be denied, but the texts of the period indicate that this formed only part of a broader debate involving the relationship of chemistry to medicine - and indeed, to nature as a whole. The Paracelsian chemists argued forcefully that much - if not all - of the fabric of ancient medicine should be scrapped, and that a new medicine based on a chemical philosophy of the universe should be offered in its place. For them a proper understanding of the macrocosm and the microcosm would indicate to the true physician the correct cures for diseases. Others - who spoke with no less conviction of the benefits of chemistry for medicine - disagreed with the Paracelsians over the application of chemistry to cosmological problems. For these chemists the introduction of the new remedies and the Paracelsian principles were useful and necessary for the physician, but they were properly to be used along with the traditional Aristotelian-Galenic conceptual scheme. The purpose of the present paper is to give some indication of the deep divisions that separated chemical physicians from each other in this crucial period. By way of background it should be noted that most chemical physicians of the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries did not consider their work to be entirely new. They openly drew upon the writings of Islamic physicians and alchemists as well as a host of Latin scholars of the Middle Ages who had turned to chemical operations as a basic tool for the preparation of medicines.
    [Show full text]
  • Ge Hong's Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi). In: Extrême-Orient, Extrême-Occident
    Michael Puett Humans, Spirits, and Sages in Chinese Late Antiquity : Ge Hong's Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi). In: Extrême-Orient, Extrême-Occident. 2007, N°29, pp. 95-119. Abstract This paper attempts to answer the questions : What was Ge Hong trying to do when he wrote the Baopuzi ? What were his arguments ? And why, within the context of the time, were these arguments significant ? In answering these questions, the essay claims that there is a unified set of ideas concerning humans, sages, and the spirit world in the Baopuzi. Moreover, it is a set of ideas that underlies both the inner and outer portions of the text. Michael Puett m^nMMtanammm.mi «##»*, «KHira, «h»a. mxu Résumé Hommes, esprits et sages dans l'Antiquité tardive : Le Maître qui embrasse la simplicité (Baopuzi) de Ge Hong Le présent article s'efforce de répondre à la question de savoir quelle pouvait être la visée de Ge Hong lorsqu'il composa le Baopuzi. Quelles idées y a-t-il avancées et comment les a-t-il défendues ? Enfin, qu'est- ce qui à la lumière de son époque donne à ses arguments un tour si particulier ? Nous soutenons dans ces pages qu'il y a une réelle cohérence argumentative et une vision d'ensemble dans le discours de Ge Hong sur les humains, les sages et les esprits. Cette ensemble d'idées innerve aussi bien les chapitres intérieurs qu'extérieurs de l'ouvrage. Citer ce document / Cite this document : Puett Michael. Humans, Spirits, and Sages in Chinese Late Antiquity : Ge Hong's Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi).
    [Show full text]
  • Magic, Mysticism, and Modern Medicine: the Influence of Alchemy on Seventeenth-Century England
    Illinois Wesleyan University Digital Commons @ IWU Honors Projects History Department 4-2004 Magic, Mysticism, and Modern Medicine: The Influence of Alchemy on Seventeenth-Century England Lindsay Fitzharris '04 Illinois Wesleyan University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Fitzharris '04, Lindsay, "Magic, Mysticism, and Modern Medicine: The Influence of Alchemy on Seventeenth-Century England" (2004). Honors Projects. 16. https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj/16 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Commons @ IWU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this material in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This material has been accepted for inclusion by faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ©Copyright is owned by the author of this document. • ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY MAGIC, MYSTICISM, AND MODERN MEDICINE: THE INFLUENCE OF ALCHEMY ON SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND A THESIS PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY IN CANDIDACY FOR AN HONORS BACHELORS OF ARTS DEGREE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY LINDSAY A. FITZHARRIS BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS APRIL 2004 • [T]he historian of science can not devote much attention to the study of superstition and magic, that is, of unreason, because this does not help him very much to understand human progress.
    [Show full text]
  • Purpose and Variation in Religious Records of the Tang
    tang religious records nathan woolley The Many Boats to Yangzhou: Purpose and Variation in Religious Records of the Tang n Tang China during the seventh century, the official Dou Dexuan I 竇德玄 (598–666) was once travelling on government business to Yangzhou when he met an otherworldly being who warned Dou of his impending death. Fortunately for Dou, this fate was avoided and he went on become one of the highest officials in the empire. Four texts agree on this core narrative but differ in their descrip- tions and details. The four texts — an item from an otherwise lost Dao- ist collection, a work describing the lineage of Shangqing Daoism, an anecdote attributed to a Buddhist collection of evidential miracles, and an entry in the compilation of a late-Tang Daoist master — display contrasting priorities in how they depict religious experience and prac- tice. They all date to within a period of around two centuries, but their interrelations remain unclear. The contrasts, however, provide a win- dow for examining the purposes that lay behind the creation of certain types of religious text, as well as contemporary perceptions of religious culture. Although not sharply divergent in terms of format, there are in fact differences among them that point to fundamental processes in the production of narrative and religious texts in China. Through the history of Chinese writing and texts, a single nar- rative may occur in different guises. It may simply be that a writer imbued an existing narrative with a changed focus and thereby pro- duced a different rendering. Alternatively, a tale could be updated to fit new social circumstances and expectations, or new developments in genre and performance.
    [Show full text]