The Research On Kouchi In Ancient China

Kouchi (clicking the teeth) is an old health preserving alchemy which was popular in China and played a role in strengthening teeth and teeth disease prevention. In the process of generation and development of Kouchi alchemy, people’s cognition on teeth and dream of strong vitality reflected by the rebirth of fallen teeth are important foundation, on the other hand, dealing with teeth and related diseases in Chinese traditional medicine is a direct impetus.From the teeth protection technique recorded in early medical book to Gehong’s method of strengthening teeth and Shangqing Sect’s meditation, the function of Kouchi had a drastic change which was reflected in the absorption and transformation by Daoism. This transformation was in two ways:the first was absorbing Kouchi in Daoist health preserving alchemy, the second was the ritualization of Kouchi, in which the core was integrating the idea of body gods with Kouchi to attach the function of health preserving to it. With the development of the idea of body gods and meditation, the religious function and theological connotation of Kouchi was enriched continually, and then, the sanctification and ritualization of it was achieved by normalizing its use. In addition, using the cultural connotation of bell, drum and chime stone for reference was important in the process of transformation of Kouchi.After the Six Dynasties, there were two different development trends of Kouchi, on the one hand, Daoism put it in an important position for its rituality; on the other hand, as a theotherapy which was actually a half witchcraft losing its previous function and connotation, Kouchi was integrated with medicine in the folk.In a word, the process of the generation and development of Kouchi fully expressed the influence of the concept of diseases to medical technology, and the interaction between Daoism and medicine.