What is it about?
This article is about how changes in Chinese medical texts to make them more accessible to a broader readership were reflected in changing metaphors in book titles from the fourth to the fourteenth century.
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Why is it important?
It was part of a research group on the history of handbooks meant for "Learning by the Book" from Greek antiquity to modern molecular biology. This article was one of three that contributed East Asian perspectives on the topic.
Perspectives
I wrote this article to contribute to the "Learning by the Book" research group but also as an introductory chapter for my book manuscript "Grasping Heaven and Earth: The Healer's Body-as-Technology in Chinese Medicine." Was a fun way to accomplish two things at the same time, though the book chapter version will likely need to be revised again.
Marta Hanson
Johns Hopkins University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From under the elbow to pointing to the palm: Chinese metaphors for learning medicine by the book (fourth–fourteenth centuries), BJHS Themes, January 2020, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/bjt.2020.6.
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