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Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong: A Need for Pairing and Explaining
Open accessAbstract
<section class="abstract">Abstract This paper discusses some terminological consequences of the acceptance of a seemingly all-pervasive yin yang dualism by ancient Chinese naturalists, with a focus on the origin of certain technical terms introduced to designate morphological and functional items in the emerging Chinese medicine. These terms were selected from words not originally linked to morphological and physiological notions. They served as metaphors to illustrate both function and the yin yang nature of the items they were chosen to designate. How to translate these terms into Western languages is a complex issue not sufficiently discussed among philologists.In 79 CE, the historian Ban Gu (32‐92) published the Bai hu tong , based on contributions by an unknown number of participants in one of the first documented meetings of intellectuals in antiquity. Chapter 8 offers a discourse on the meaning of qing , ‘emotion’, and xing , ‘moral disposition’. Two terms were available that had been in long use in this arena of meanings, albeit without a clear-cut distinction along the lines of a Yin-Yang categorisation. No metaphors were required here. Rather, a redefinition of qing and xing was required to assign a yang nature to the former and a yin nature to the latter.The Bai hu tong is a telling example of a continuing heterogeneity of explanatory models in early Chinese life sciences. The following discussion offers an impression of the merger of what may originally have been a neutral attempt at a dualistic categorisation of all phenomena in terms of two natural categories of yin and yang with another doctrine. The second clearly valued yang phenomena more highly than yin phenomena and applied this distinction to more and less desirable moral categories. Also, the Bai hu tong offers evidence of different metaphorical usages of the term fu in physiological theory from as early as Han times. To the older meaning: ‘short-term storage facility’ a second meaning of ‘palace’ was added. The question of an adequate translation of such terms in modern languages is worth further thought.1 </section>
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“To the older meaning: 'short-term storage facility' a second meaning of 'palace' was added.”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Several pairings found in ancient Chinese morphology and physiology appear to owe their existence and designation to such requirements.”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Yin-yang categorisation and the choice of metaphors
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The following discussion offers an impression of the merger of what may originally have been a neutral attempt at a dualistic categorisation of all phenomena in terms of two natural categories of yin and yang with another doctrine.”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Abstract
hedgedstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Hence, Chinese naturalists who were convinced of the existence of two distinct groups of organs in the human body, i.e., one yin group and one yang group, were unable to resort to long-established precedents in designating these two groups.”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Yin-yang categorisation and the choice of metaphors
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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In the paper
“When the yin-yang categorisation was applied to the human organism, its outer and inner morphology and its presumed functions required firstly a division into yin and yang units, and secondly an appropriate nomenclature to make this division visible and, perhaps even more importantly, appear natural.”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Yin-yang categorisation and the choice of metaphors
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
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Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
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In the paper
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Abstract
“a redefinition of qing 清 and xing 性 was required to assign a yang nature to the former and a yin nature to the latter.”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Moral dispositions and emotions, 何謂也?
“Moral dispositions are manifestations of yang.情者, 陰之化也。 Emotions are transformations of yin.”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > Yin-yang categorisation and the choice of metaphors
“The text identifies the five fu as gong fu 宮府, 'palaces' of the zang”
§ Yin-Yang Theory, the Human Organism, and the Bai hu tong : A Need for Pairing and Explaining > 舌能知味,
“Six fu, what does that mean?謂大腸、小腸、 They include large intestine, small intestine, 胃、膀胱、 stomach, bladder, 三焦、膽也。 triple burner, and gall bladder”
Citations
Cites
A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China
Teng, S. Y., & Hucker, C. O. (1986) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1858260 · Cited by 555
What Is Medicine?Western and Eastern Approaches to Healing
Unschuld, P. U. (2009) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/california/9780520257658.001.0001 · Cited by 47
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Haverkamp, A. (ed.) 1990, Theorie der Metapher, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesell- schaft.
- Legge, J. 1991, The Chinese Classics, Vol. II. The Works of Mencius, Bk. II, Part 1, Chapter 6. Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc.
- Richter, S. A. 2009, Metaphorische Gedankenstrukturen in der Entstehung der medizinischen Fach- sprache in Europa, MD dissertation, Munich University.
- Tjen Tjoe Som (trans./ed.) 1952, Po Hu T'ung. The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, Leiden: Brill.
- Wu Zeyu (ed.), Chen Li (ed.) 1994, Bai hu tong shu zheng, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Cited by
Vijayan, S., & Thirumal, M. (2024) · Phytochemistry Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11101-024-09988-y · Cited by 4
Lebranchu, M. (2017) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/5a470199z1bf6z4e80z84f5z47d674578b46 · Cited by 2
Shen: a holistic psychology of traditional chinese medicine
Casadiegos, Y. P. (2015) · Investigación & Desarrollo · doi:10.14482/indes.23.2.6538 · Cited by 2
The importance of numerology, part 1
Woolf, D. J. (2022) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203740262-6
Metadata
- Authors
- Unschuld, P. U.
- Corresponding author
- Unschuld, Paul U.
- Venue
- Asian Medicine
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2009
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 19-38
- ISSN
- 1573-420X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-4218
- OpenAlex
- W2031776172
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Asian Medicine (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Chinese history and philosophy
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › History of Medicine Studies
- Keywords
- Ban Gu, qing (emotion), Chinese medicine terminology, metaphor, translation of Chinese terms, Han dynasty, human body
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