The Gentle And Frail Body

In this paper, focus of discussion will be on a complex concept:"WenRuo"(文弱).It is relatively difficult to regard the special word "WenRuo" as a simple concept. It was deeply connected to social environment and cultural background. There is no exactly modern concept equivalent to "WenRuo". In general concepts,"WenRuo" is often used to describe a gentleman, whose body and behaviour is gentle and frail. Through the analysis of its literal meaning, many scholars maintain that "WenRuo" is equivalent to Confucianism and Chinese Culture. As a matter of fact, this view lacks evidence. Since the late nineteenth century, many chinese enlightenment thinkers who accepted the western social theory tried to reflect national character, so the word "WenRuo" began to define national identity. This constructing started with the modernization process, and even affects until today.In general idea, the task of the development of modernization was change the weak, including both cultural sense and physical sense. In fact, this change was only use the word "WenRuo" to determine chinese character as related to ethnis body type, covering the complex and diverse challenges in ancient China.Under particular social conditions and against a particular cultural background, healthy habits and medicine were reflected by a complex concept "WenRuo " in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In this paper, discussion with begin by touching on the feeling of "Ruo"(å¼±)that affected the body sense of medical concepts in Ming and Qing Dynasties, at the same time, discussing the relationship between traditional culture and medical tradition. Through the research, we can find that the word "Wen"(æ–‡)and "Ruo"(å¼±)had a totally different connotation. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties,"WenRuo" became one word, so the concept and evolution of "WenRuo" reflected the formation of southern cultural characteristics. During Song Dynasty,"WenRuo" became a label of southern scholars and custom, it lasted at least nine centuries until the Late Qing Dynasty.The following chapter mainly discusses the standard of excellent doctors."Ming Yi"(明医)was an academic term for excellent doctors, but unlike "Ru Yi"(å„'医),this term first appeared in buddhist, sutras, and the connotation of "Ming Yi" originated from the health-preservation theories of daoism rather than Confucianism. So "Ming Yi" was not only an academic term for doctors with high specialized technical level, but also local doctors with nolble moral in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Most of the doctors who eventually be known as "Ming Yi" were come from regions bellow Yangtze River, some of them were born in w.ell-known medical families, yet others might be obscure and had no single faith. Any how, many gentlemen believed that "Ming Yi" were always come from this area, because "Ming Yi" emphasized strengthening the body resistance just as correct social issues, and the middle class approved of such diagnosis and treatment.Thus it can be see, there were so many complex, pluralistic and subjective factors hidden behind the medipal concepts in. Ming and Qing Dynasties. Furthermore, for the ancients, medical knowledge also had, deep meaning and values in their daily life. They believed that health might be always consistent with the lifestyle, and supported the arguments about the innate frail of body. So they advocated warmly invigorating and proposed that replenishing YangQ(阳气) could help to nurse someone back to health radically.The final chapter mainly discusses a kind of traditional chinese medicine: chinese rhubarb. Most doctors and patients regarded chinese rbubarb as a poisonous herb which should be taken; with caution in Ming and Qing Dynasties. On the contrary, they thought this drug could be used by foreigners, the reason was that they were barbarian who had a strong but rough stomach. Well, chinese rhubarb indeed be considered a panacea to cure various kinds of disease for the neighbor countries surrounding Qing Dynasty. So the formation of health and medicine habits were always constructed by distinguish cultural identity, and the different understanding of a drug was due to different body philosophy in ancient times. Not only that, many political factors e.g. the relationship with neighbor countries and the strategy of governing also affected people’s attitude about chinese rhubarb in Qing Dynasty.