History of sickness and medical art ２７: China ２

 

＜　１．　Medical treatment scene of doctor Bian que　＞

This time, I look at the change of medicine through the activity of the doctor.

今回は、医者の活躍を通して医術の変遷を見ます。

＜　2.  Capital's remain of Yin dynasty　＞

Doctor

In the entire world, the medical treatment by fortune telling or prayer was in the mainstream in ancient times.

Similarly, medicine man (witch doctor) was most valued in the royal palace of Yin that occurred in the 16th century B.C.

However, a portent of experience medicine was seen also in Yin dynasty, and, in Western Zhou Dynasty in the 8th-11th century B.C., the tendency further was progressing more.

医　師

どこの世界でも、古くは占いや祈祷による治療が中心であったが、前１６世紀に始まる殷・周時代の王宮でも巫医（ふい）が最重視されていた。

しかしその殷王朝でも経験医学の萌芽が見られ、前１１～前８世紀の西周ともなると、その傾向はさらに進んだ。

＜　3.  Duke of Zhou is a Prime Minster of Yin dynasty and seemed to have written ”Rites of Zhou” ＞

According to ”Rites of Zhou” in which the administrative organization of Western Zhou Dynasty is described, there was a medical special department that separated from magic and religion.

It included the disease prevention, the treatment, the management about medicine and medical appliances, and the accountancy.

The ranking of medical person was indicated in that order: the doctor (he collected medicine and superintended inferior doctors), food doctor (he prescribed food and drink), internist, surgeon, and veterinarian.

The doctor had been classified by the results and was obliged to report his failure or his success as the judgment data.

In the middle of next chun qiu Zhan guo shi dai (end of the 8th-3rd century B.C.), the change appeared furthermore.

As we had looked a famous physician of the King of Qin last time, doctors like Bian Que (the 5th century B.C.) came to play an active part among many thinkers (Hundred Schools of Thought) that went around feudal lords of each country.

西周の行政組織が記されている「周礼」（前３世紀頃）によると、呪術や宗教から分離した医療専門部署があり、病気予防、治療、薬剤と医療器具管理、会計事務が設置されていた。

その治療を担当する医師には医博士（薬を集め、医師を監督）、食医（食物と飲料を処方）、医師、傷医（外科医）、獣医の順で記載されていた。

医師は成績により格付けされ、その判断資料として、失敗成功の報告が義務づけられていた。

続く春秋戦国時代（前８～３世紀末）の中期になるとさらに変化が現れた。

前回に見た秦王の侍医医爰は傑出していたが、諸侯の間を遊説して渡り歩く諸子百家に混じって遍歴医、扁鵲（へんじゃく、前５世紀）などが活躍するようになる。

＜　4. a relief engraving(hua xiang shi) in the 2^nd century A.D. showed Bian Que carrying out acupuncture.　＞

The bird expresses the doctor, and his name means the magpie of a wise bird.

He visited main five countries of those days.

He was skillful at pulse diagnosis and also was excellent in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, five senses (eye, ear, nose, mouth, and tongue), acupuncture and moxibustion.

He was dealt with in “Records of the Grand Historian”, and it was written that he cured the diseases of from feudal lords till common people of each country.

In his words, there was “there are six cureless sickness", and one of that was " a person believes pythoness and does not believe medical art."

This shows a firm belief in medical art of those days, and it shares similarity with Hippocrates of Greece of the same period.

However, the experience medicine did not replace magic medicine.

In the preceding paragraph story of the famous physician of the King of Qin last time, the King was divined by pythoness as “King was cursed as that king had killed two men by his hand, therefore he must die.”

扁鵲は鳥で表現されているが、名前の鵲は賢い鳥のカササギを意味している。

この扁鵲は、当時の主要5ヶ国を巡り、東西両端の地を訪れた。

彼は脈診が巧みで、内科、外科、婦人科、小児科、目・耳・鼻・口・舌の五感、鍼灸科の医術全般にわたって優れていた。

後の淳于意（ジュンウイ）と共に「史記・列伝」（前1世紀）に取り上げられおり、各地の王侯・官吏から庶民までを治療した事が書かれている。

扁鵲の言葉に、「病気には六つの不治が有り」、その一つに「巫女を信じて医を信じない」がある。

これは当時の医術への確信を示しており、ギリシャの同時代人ヒッポクラテスに通じる。

しかし経験医学が呪術に取って代わったわけではない。

前述の医爰逸話の前段階において、晋王は巫によって占われており、「自らの手で二人の大夫を殺害した祟りであり、・・・、帝の死は避けられない。」と宣告されていた。

＜　5.　 “Shennong Ben Cao Jing” is a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants　＞

Sickness

The sick classification was hardly based on cause of disease, but was based on "proof” of the condition or pulse diagnosis.

Therefore, the ancient name of disease is uncertain.

As for the oldest specialized book of materia medica, there is “Shennong Ben Cao Jing”(the 1^st century B.C.).

The disease names being written in this book covered 170 different types including jaundice, malignant tumor, cold, etc.

And it explained each disease of internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and dentistry.

病　気

病気の分類はほとんど病因によらず、もっぱら症状や脈診による「証」によった。

したがって古代の病名は判然としない。

最古の薬物学の専門書に「神農本草経」（前１世紀、後漢以降の編纂）がある。

ここに出てくる病気は黄疸、悪性腫瘍、風邪などを含む１７０種に及び、内科・外科・婦人科・眼科・耳鼻咽喉科・歯科の各疾患にわたっている。