| The word"liaoxiao"widely used today is neither an ancient term nor a medical proper noun.It was reported that the word born out of noun phrases like"yiliao xiaoyan","jiuliao xiaoyan"or"zhiliao xiaoyan",as an overall derogatory comment on medical behavior,medicine’s effect,or on doctors’treatment skills.According to the data analysis of ancient acupuncture therapeutic narrative,it is found that the time expression about year or“年”in the modern sense can be divided into two main categories,marked by stems and branches,(“干支”in Chinese)or marked following the Chinese era name(“年号”).Based on relevant research on time cognition in ancient times,the paper believes that the chronological expressions of“year marked by stems and branches”can be attributed to the first sense of people’s cognition of“time”,ie,people marked certain node time in line with the seasonal change,as a kind of memorial dimension in marking fleeting years.While the other time expression of“year marked by Chinese era name”as a result of political time expression under the rule of the imperial dynasty,was a manifestation of ancient imperial autocracy’s influence on medical culture.On the paper,it is written that the word"Liaoxiao"was incorporated by missionaries when they translated and introduced Western medical works in the late Qing Dynasty.It was primarily used as a term to summarize,explain and clarify Western medicines’curing symptoms,dosage,administration,and efficacy.Later,its usage was established after the publication of a professional medical dictionary by the China Medical Missionary Association in their efforts to unify medical terms.Finally,people at that time recognized“liaoxiao”as a modifier with scientific meaning,so they attached it to Western medicine and advertised it frequently on the mass media Shun Pao and spread it out successfully.Through the analysis of historical materials of acupuncture therapeutic narration in the Republic of China,time expressions of acupuncturists at that time included both traditional,such as political ones,years marked by stems and branches and natural ones,years marked by Chinese era names,and new ones.The new time expression was“民国+数字年、古历新历+数字年”,which was a reflection of the acupuncturist’s updated time cognition,an outcome of the change of regime and times.In addition,there was also modern time expression like“number+clock/minutes/seconds”.Combined with some scholar’s research,this paper regards that though the traditional time expression like“year marked by stems and branches or by Chinese era name”and the new time expression of“古历/新历+xxxx year”can not be seen as a political stance or choose between old calendar and new calendar,it can be used as evidence of the coexistence of the old and new calendar accepted by the common people before the tradition of“changing calendar when the regime changed”caused by regime change finalized.And what accompanied the coexistence was people’s time cognition and their cultural memory and impression under the rule of the old regime.Besides,the coexistence also revealed the strong vitality of the traditional calendar after thousands of years of adjustment and adaptation to Chinese agricultural civilization as well as how familiar was the acupuncturist with the traditional calendar.Apart from the traditional time expression,the new time expression like the HMS(hour-minute-seconds)time system symbol,which was used as a mark in remarking curing process,can be seen as a revelation of acupuncturists’grasp of mechanical time cognition.It can be said that after the formation of mechanical time cognition and expression,time began to disintegrate with its cultural meaning and become a separate,pure numerical reference,not relevant to social culture or beliefs and taboos.The generation of the new mechanical time cognition is inseparable from the new timing instruments such as Western-style clocks,clock towers,and standard clocks,which were used as material carriers.In the 1930s and 1940s,an echoing time-display network was constructed through the buildings of various Western-style clock towers,officially authorized standard clocks,public clocks outside the clock shop for citizens to adjust the time,and Western-style clocks that could be seen everywhere in people’s daily life.What accompanied the formation of a Western modern time system was the HMS system as the core.So for people in the Republic of China to accept and recognize the new mechanical time cognition,what was needed was a changing attitude and conception towards the new time system.For the acupuncturist to foster the habit of marking the curing process with a new Western time unit like“clock”or“point clock”or“minute”,it only requires a new life movement initiated by the authorities and with“punctuality”being set as the goal,to change the commons’bad habits of neglecting time."Not keeping time" and "having no sense of time" had become long-standing social ills in the Republic of China,before the Nationalist Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek launched a new life movement.They set "punctuality" as one of the movement’s goals aiming to transform the national image of backward and establish a civilized country.In addition,many leading people at that time also publicly appealed.Together with the punctuality campaign launched by the rulers at the national level and the public appeals of many leading people,the factory economy that developed with the rise of national capitalism during the Republic of China also play a powerful role in forming and knowing the new time system.Since 1860,the traditional time unit has been gradually replaced by the "hour" unit of Western-style mechanical clocks.With the strengthening of national capitalism’s regulation of the work and rest time of factory workers,workers themselves are forced to be included in this time system,which requires workers to rest and work according to a particular time,due to the mandatory regulations on factory working hours.They also cultivated a new time cognition based on hours,minutes,and seconds since the price of watches and clocks gradually became affordable consumer goods after the 1920 s.Only after this new time system was formed in people’s time cognition through the popularity of new timekeeping instruments such as clocks and watches,the time system of working and resting with a clock in factories,and the punctuality movement launched by the politicians aiming to change social habits,it was then possible for the acupuncturist then to mark the curing process with new time units of hours,minutes,and seconds belonging to HMS time system in their narration of therapeutic effect.Only after time was just a purely physical variable,it was possible for people to judge the speed of medical curative effect based on the length of curing time. |
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