New study on anatomical terms of the human form in the Nei-Jing -- by example of the region of head and face

• Main Authors: Chang Wei Lin, 林倡葦
• Other Authors: H. H. Chang
• Format: Others
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/3pztfq

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 傳統中國醫學研究所 === 96 === Anatomy is the basis of medicine and the naming of the body parts reflects that the traditional Chinese medicine has its own view of regarding the human body structure. It is worth for the academia of the TCM to find out the original meaning of the anatomical terms by which the thinking mode of the TCM can be understood. This study takes the region of the hand and face as an example. The main texts used for study were Gu Cong-De’s version of Huang-Di Nei-Jing Su-Wen (“The Yellow Emperor’s Canon – Plain Questions”) and Zhao Family’s Ju-Jing Tang version of the Ling-Shu (“Magic Pivot”), both of the Ming Dynasty. Consulting ancient medical books and dictionaries, we determined the possible meanings of each individual anatomical term in the Nei-Jing and then determined its probable meaning in the context of each occurrence. Finally, we establish correspondences with modern anatomical concepts. The region of head included the skull region and the face region in Nei-Jing. There are 17 anatomical terms for the skull and 43 anatomical terms for the face. These body parts are understood in terms of characteristics relating to the five offices (eyes, ears, nose, mouth and tongue) , the five body constituents (skin, vessels, flesh, sinew, bone) and the hair. The relations of each body parts are multi-faceted and involve holistic correspondences. For example, facial anatomical terms reflect correspondences to palace construction. The five offices are understood in terms of their internal correspondences with the five viscera. Parts of the face are understood in terms of their correspondences with the human form. The unique characteristic of Chinese medicine is that each of the facial parts were understood to reflect changes of the form, essence, qì, and spirit in the corresponding limbs and organs and provided the key to understanding physiology and pathology and performing diagnosis and treatment.