Contribution of India and South East Asia to Chinas Medical Tradition - Essay Example

? Compare and contrast the relative contribution of India and South East Asia to China’s medical tradition. Compare and contrast the relative contribution of India and South East Asia to China’s medical tradition. 1. Introduction The development of medical systems worldwide is usually differentiated in accordance with the local culture and ethics. The access to education and scientific research has been another factor influencing the medical tradition of countries worldwide. China is considered as a significant country in terms of the quality and the effectiveness of its medical practices. The country’s medical tradition can be characterized as a combination of knowledge and belief. The above view can be made clear through the following fact: Chinese medical tradition has been divided into two, major, parts: ‘the Confucian school of thought and the Daoist context’ (Elm and Willich 2009, p.77). The differences between these two frameworks have been significant, a problem that influenced the development of the country’s medical tradition. Apart from the local culture and scientific development, the Chinese medical tradition has been influenced by the culture and the trends of the South East region and India. The level at which South East Asia and India affected the Chinese medical tradition is difficult to be precisely identified mostly because the views included in the literature published on this issue lead to different assumptions. In any case, it is clear that South East Asia and India influenced the Chinese medical tradition, a fact reflected in the incorporation of many substances, through India and South Eat Asia, in the country’s medical tradition. The specific issue is set under examination in this paper. Emphasis is given on the ways that various medical substances entered China through India and the South East Asia. Particular reference is made to tobacco and opium, two medical substances that have highly affected the Chinese medical tradition, as verified through the studies developed in this field. 2. China’s medical tradition as influenced by India and South East Asia 2.1 The influence of India and South East Asia on China medical tradition The medical tradition of China has been highly differentiated from those of the West; the country’s medical tradition presents also significant references to the similar frameworks of other countries in the South East region. Reference should be made, for example, to the study of Selin (1997). In accordance with the above researcher, food therapy has been a common element of medical traditions in Europe, India and Near East (Selin 1997, p.676). It is noted that in China, food therapy has been related to ‘the yinyang philosophy and the Five Phases theory’ (Selin 1997, p.676). In this context, the medical history of China has been strongly related to philosophy, a trend, which is not, developed in India and the other South East Asia countries. In accordance with a report published by the World Health Organization in 2003, the Chinese medical system has a history of around 5000 years and it is highly based on the use of plants (Singh 2011); in fact, in China more than 7000 species of plants have been identified; most of these are key elements of the country’s medical system (Singh 2011). In the study of Arnold (2000) reference is made to the contribution of India in the development of medicine and other scientific sectors of China, as also in other regions of the South East Asia. It is explained that due to the long presence of British in India, the country’s technology and scientific knowledge was benefited, a fact that also influenced neighboring countries, such as China (Arnold 2000). Leslie (1976) notes that the revival of traditional medical system is highly promoted in China today, a trend, which is not reported in other countries of the Near East and the South East Asia, apart from India. From this point of view, the Chinese medical history can be considered as strongly related to the medical history of India, which also supports the development of methods of traditional medicine, meaning especially the Arabic-Persian medicine (Leslie 1976). From another point of view, the influence of India and the South East Asia on China’s medical tradition can be characterized as negative. Reference can be made to the case of the increase in the use of heroin, as reported the last years, across the country’s southwest regions (Lu, Miethe and Liang 2009). The relevance of the above trend with the Chinese medical history is significant: in these regions, the smoking of tobacco and opium has been highly developed; the replacement of these substances with another substance, like heroin, has been developed quite rapidly (Lu, Miethe and Liang 2009); if no such trend would existed in the particular regions, the incorporation of heroin, as a popular narcotic, could be easier controlled by the authorities. The involvement of the South East Asia and India in the specific problem is explained as follows: drugs tend to enter a country mostly through the neighboring regions, a fact indicating the responsibility of the countries surrounding China in the development of the problem described above. The exchange of substances among countries can have a negative aspect, even if these substances were primarily produced for serving medical purposes, as in the cases of tobacco and opium described below. The influence of the Chinese medical tradition from India and the South East Asia is reflected at the following fact: heroin first introduced in China in the beginning of the 20th century; the above substance was combined with other substances and were incorporated in a pill, known as ‘the red pill’ (Laamann, Xun and Dikotter 2004, p.156). This pill was extensively used for medical purposes across the country – in an effort to replace opium, the use of which has been set under the close control of the country’s authorities (Laamann, Xun and Dikotter 2004). The red pills were based on heroin, morphine or other similar substances, and their color was differentiated – in accordance with the substances used (Laamann, Xun and Dikotter 2004). It is not clear whether these pills entered the Chinese market through India or another country of the South East Asia. In any case, it is assumed that a neighboring country introduced the pills, so that potential constraints in regard to the standards set were easier confronted. The red pills were prohibited in China after the development of the Hague Convention; in the meantime, the harm on the country’s medical tradition, especially in regard to the supervision of the substances used, have been severe (Laamann, Xun and Dikotter 2004). 2.2 Which was the role of India and South Asia in the incorporation of tobacco and opium in China’s medical tradition? Particularly interest seems to be the development of tobacco as a popular substance in Chinese medicine. In accordance with the most common beliefs, tobacco is related to the American plant ‘nicotiana’ (Griffith 1847). However, the research developed on the particular issue led to the assumption that in 1200 tobacco has been already popular in Asia. More specifically, it is noted that at that period, tobacco was cultivated in Persia (Griffith 1847). Regarding China, the time at which the specific substance entered the country cannot be clearly defined. Indeed, at 1660, Bells visited China and reported that smoking was already developed across the country – even if it was not clear whether the substance used was purely tobacco or a synthesis between tobacco and other, similar, substances (Griffith 1847). In accordance with other researchers, tobacco entered India from Portugal approximately at 1600s (Griffith 1847). From there, tobacco entered China and Persia (Griffith 1847). In accordance with Goodman, the development of tobacco in China has been different compared to other South East Asia regions; reference is made particularly to India where the use of tobacco was based on ‘the combination of Indian Ayurvedic and Arabic theories’ (Goodman 1994, p.53). On the contrary, in China the incorporation of tobacco in the country’s medical system was quite easy, being based on ‘the Chinese yang-yin medical system’ (Goodman 1994, p.53). In any case, tobacco entered China from India but the journey of the substance in South East Asia seems to be different – compared to that described in the study of Griffith (1847), as presented above. More specifically, Goodman (1994) notes that tobacco entered the Near East Asia in 1600s; it is noted that it was England that promoted the expansion of this substance both the Near East Asia and the South East Asia. At this point, a differentiation seems to exist in regard to the use of tobacco in the above two regions: in the Near East Asia, for instance in Persia, tobacco was mainly used as a means for social intervention, combined with coffee (Goodman 1994). On the contrary, in South East Asia, tobacco was primarily considered as a substance valuable for medicine, apart from its other uses (Goodman 1994). In the study of Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein (2011) the development of tobacco in China is related to the discovery of the New World. It is explained that it was around 1599 that the French ambassador in Portugal promoted the use of tobacco for smoking (Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein 2011, p.332). It is noted that during the 150 years that followed, tobacco entered Europe and South East Asia, including India and China (Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein 2011). The long history of tobacco in China is further verified in a report published by the Asiatic journal and Monthly Register for British India and its dependencies. In accordance with the above report, which was published in 1826, tobacco was already popular in China when the New World was discovered (The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its dependencies 1826). In other words, the appearance of tobacco in the country is not related to the New World. It is assumed that the use of tobacco for medical reasons in China was already extended in 1600s – when the appearance of the specific substance in Europe and the Near East Asia took place, as explained in the study of Goodman (1994) above. In any case, the development of certain substances, like tobacco, within the Chinese medical tradition, has proved the following fact: in West and other South East Asia regions, certain substances may be primarily considered as appropriate for social purposes; however, in China, the potential use of a substance for medical purposes has been verified in advance; then the use of this substance for social reasons would be reviewed. In accordance with Wang and Chen (1999) the medical history of China is closely related to the country’s political and social history. Reference is made specifically to the Opium War of 1840 and the Second Opium War of 1856, which were initiated by western countries, especially Britain and France. These two wars led to severe social conflicts across China, ‘from 1840 to 1919’ (Wang and Chen 1999, p.258), leading to the establishment of communism in China. Thus, opium, a substance quite popular in the Chinese medical tradition, has become a reason for severe social and political turbulences in China. It is clear that substances, as elements of a medical system, can have various roles in the context of international community. In accordance with the study of Zheng (2005), the role of opium within the Chinese medical tradition has been significant. In fact, in the context of the specific tradition, opium was believed as being able of ‘soothing the body and the soul’ (Zheng 2005, p.39), a characteristic similar to that of tea. It is explained that opium has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine for ‘the prevention and treatment of many diseases’ (Zheng 2005, p.39). At this point, the Chinese medical system was aligned with the medical systems of other countries worldwide, such as India and Egypt, where opium was considered as ‘an indispensable part of the treatment of diseases’ (Lee 2006, p.170). Baumler (2007) notes that the use of opium for medical purposes has been quite common in China; even after the constraints imposed by the government in regard to the use of the specific substance, opium continued to be used for the treatment of certain diseases (Baumler 2007). It is not made clear whether the specific substance was introduced by other countries; it can be assumed that it was rather produced locally, a fact verified by the Opium wars initiated by Western countries across China. At this point, it is made clear that the influence of the Chinese medical tradition from India and South East Asia regarding the use of opium has been limited. The use of the specific substance has been developed in China, possibly quite earlier than in its neighboring countries. 3. Conclusion The framework of the Chinese medical tradition, as related to the use of certain substances, seems to be highly related to the medical and social ethics of Europe and South East Asia. India has also played an important role in the development of Chinese medical tradition, at the level that many of the substances used in Chinese medicine have entered China through India, as explained above. There have been, also, different views promoting the idea that the Chinese medical tradition has been autonomous, meaning that all substances used in the local medical system have been developed locally, a view that cannot be fully justified, as it is opposed to most of the studies developed in this field. In any case, it has been made clear that Chinese medical tradition has been highly differentiated from other similar frameworks developed in countries worldwide; the unique combination of science and beliefs, on which the Chinese medical tradition has been based can explain its uniqueness compared to the similar traditions of other countries in the South East Asia region. At the same time, it has been made clear that social events, like the opium war, as highlighted above, have affected the medical tradition of China, proving that the country’s medical system has been strongly based on the social and political conditions, another critical trend of the Chinese medical tradition compared to the medical systems of other countries internationally. References Arnold, David, Science, technology, and medicine in Colonial India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Baumler, Alan, The Chinese and Opium Under the Republic: Worse Than Floods and Wild Beasts. New York: SUNY Press, 2007. 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