The introduction of acupuncture in the West - Historical Profile References (1) Bibliography
In centuries past, stunning or inaccurate information on acupuncture and Chinese traditional medicine of this immense country or that of Japan, had arrived in the West through various channels, some of which are very old (dating back, according to some authors, the time of Marco Polo), others more recent. Among them, include references to Chinese and Japanese medicine in the works of the Jesuits, spintisi on a mission to the ends of Asia, and in the accounts of employees of the Dutch East India Company, who, alone among the Westerners, had the good fortune to keep long been a commercial basis to Deshima, Japan.
Although it is now difficult to attribute to people like Marco Polo or Gerolamo Cardano some knowledge of the techniques of which we are dealing with, it is conceivable that, at least at the level of individual travelers, doctors, businessmen and groups of missionaries, there were knowledge, also quite extensive, on traditional medicine in Asian countries. Due to the closure of China to what was not Chinese, the first reliable information on acupuncture and moxibustion mainly came from Japan.
missionaries and medical knowledge
History of the Jesuits in the Far East is particularly useful for understanding the spread of oriental medicine in the West, at least until the internal provisions of the Order forbade teaching the art Western medical the Oriental or learn from their traditional medicine.
Since the mid-sixteenth century there were in Japan for cooperation between Western medicine and oriental medical practice in hospitals, leper colonies and managed jointly by Japanese and Iberian Jesuits converted: Western missionaries so they could practice their techniques and observe as doctors premises. (2) In support of this thesis points out in a dictionary of the Portuguese Japanese language (vocabulary for Lingoa de Iapam), published in 1603 by the Jesuit College in Nagasaki, about thirteen hundred words, including thirty-two thousand reported, refer to & rsquo ; medical art in its various forms, including these, fifty acupuncture and moxibustion. (3)
In a letter written in 1584 by Father Lourenço Mexica from Macao to an authority of the College of Coimbra, is one of the first signs in Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion: "I Japanese have a habit in all diseases, with silver needles puncture the stomach, arms, back etc.. At the same time using the buttons produced by burning herbs. " The meaning of the word (fire buttons) was distorted to the point that we identified cones with hot irons moxa cone-shaped pointed used to cauterize.
The Jesuits of the time had a better knowledge of the technique pulsologica, as illustrated by the case of Father Luis de Almeida (1525 - 1583), English physician who had founded a hospital in the town of Funai (current Ōita) and was able to diagnose the health status of patients using the wrist in full compliance with the formalities required in dealing with patients of high rank.
In China, Father Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit maceratese long lived in the country at the time of the Ming, respected and protected even by the emperor, had dedicated in addition to the study of Chinese philosophy and religion, even that of traditional medicine, particularly herbal medicine making through knowledge at the time not yet widespread in the West. (4)
However, the close control to which foreigners were subject to China, also prevented the few residents have an idea of the medical techniques used. It 's the case of the Jesuit Johannes Schreck (1576 - 1630), a native of Constance, who had studied medicine first in Altdorf, then, in 1603, in Padua. He arrived in China around 1621, he moved to Beijing in 1623. In his private correspondence he says, in the early days of his stay, the he had learned about moxibustion, acupuncture and pulsologia almost always second-hand news. In a letter of 1622 to a pharmacist friend wrote: "The Chinese use instead of hot irons, absinthe and burn the skin, in most cases with good results. They inserted a needle into the skin very long, and we pull through, and move (...). But everything I've just heard, I could not see him. " Johannes Schreck was also a talented astronomer Copernicus, and a great connoisseur of machines and technologies, as evidenced by the publication, together with Wang Cheng (1571-1644), scholar Chinese mathematician and an expert system and a book in Chinese on the machines produced in the West. (5)
Among the authors of miscellaneous works dealing with various aspects of the Chinese world (including traditional medicine, for example pulsologia), we remember in his time a famous Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), who had the on the numerous reports and to consult the original documents of several brothers who had traveled in the East, finally publishing an important work which will draw many authors of later works. (6) Athanasius Kircher, a man of universal culture, he had worked in every branch of human knowledge, from mathematics, physics, mechanics, optics, astronomy, archeology, geology, linguistics (the great importance of his research into the Coptic language). Despite some setbacks (for example, was unable to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics), had brilliant insights, such as the bacterial origin of diseases, the result of his observations during the plague of 1656 in Rome (scrutinium pestis physico-medicum, Rome 1658) .
The Dutch East India Company
The Dutch physician Jakob de Bondt (Bontius) employed by the Dutch East India Company, in a work of art medicine in the East printed in Amsterdam in 1658, describes acupuncture practiced in Japan: "In case of chronic headaches, obstructions in the liver and spleen or in cases of pleurisy, slips slowly or quickly a needle silver or steel, not more often than the strings of a harp, in the entrails of the above, until it comes out (!) on the other side. " (7) Another employee of the East India Company, the Dutch physician Willem ten Rhijne (1647-1700), who had lived two years in the base of Deshima, presents its own direct experience of the technique of acupuncture and moxibustion in a work published in London in 1683. (8) It seems that the first use of the term "acupuncture" is attributed to this great scholar, whose later work, with important information, among other things, the treatment of gout with moxibustion, was published in expenditure of the Royal Society. Unfortunately the English translation of the terms of Oriental medicine was not very accurate, and the work contributed to the misunderstanding of the West to increase the basic concepts of traditional medicine of the East. Dates back to 1682 published a book on acupuncture by Andreas Cleyer, translation of the work on pulsologia Mai Jue, the tenth century, with some theoretical reference (again, not very clearly) the principles of Chinese acupuncture. (9)
also by Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716) is a mine of valuable information on traditional medicine as practiced in Japan, and is particularly rich in descriptions and drawings on Japanese botany. He graduated in philosophy in Krakow, Kaempfer continued his studies in physics and natural sciences at Könisberg (Prussia). For he was appointed secretary of the Swedish Uppsala in Persia. He entered the service of the Dutch East India Company becomes the basis of medical Deshima in Japan, where he spent about two years, during which has the chance to visit the shogun in Edo. During the trip (each way took about 30 days, by land and sea) collect samples of plants, leaves and flowers, and receives all sorts of information from the Japanese who are part of the escort. He returned to Holland in 1693, prepares notes and drawings for publication, but because of his medical work, it must postpone the project. His first work, of paramount importance to the knowledge of traditional medicine in Japan, Amoenitatum Exoticarum, was published in 1712. The third file reports the work sixteen comments four of which refer to acupuncture, to moxiterapia, tea and amber. In particular, acupuncture is treated in XI (curative colicae for acupuncturam, Japonibus-used) and the observation moxiterapia XII (Moxa, praestantissima Cauteriorium matter Sinensibus Japonibusque multum-used), respectively, on pages 582 and 589 of the text 1712. And 'is significant that the work of Kaempfer you use the term "acupuncture", now in common usage by scholars, thirty years after its introduction by Wilhelm Ten Rhijne.
From this brief overview is emerging as one of myth to dispel is that of his complete ignorance on the subject of acupuncture by the western world between 600 and 700: number of doctors in the West had had the opportunity to learn techniques of this discipline, even if loosely, and in the absence of a proper theoretical framework of interpretation. A good example is the lack of understanding of the concept of Qi by most Western scholars of the '600 and '700, which had not learned these techniques in direct contact with local doctors, without knowing the language and without reading the classics Chinese and Japanese. It assists however, the attempt (as it is today in many research centers) to interpret the effects of acupuncture according to a strictly western view.
Acupuncture and French doctors at the beginning of the `800
Between the end of '700 and the beginning of some 800 French doctors, influenced by the works of scholars, which we mentioned and other researchers who had been in contact with people, works and places connected with the Far East, they begin to interpret and put into practice the knowledge learned in the field of acupuncture in different ways. These are the years of the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt, which will revolutionize the history of culture and approach East for many years to come.
Although it was cruel methods (introduction of extended long needles from the interior of the bodies) and does not follow a real pattern of interpretation of the oriental type, some success gave great fame to the proponents of this technique, considered at the time a proper fashion. Among these scholars, the most famous are the doctors Berlioz de Tours (father of the composer Berlioz), which runs clinical trials on acupuncture in 1809, given in the key of analgesic therapy, and Dr Jules Cloquet, professor of anatomy in Paris. Other prominent figures involved in acupuncture are the console Dabrye, publishing a book on Chinese medicine in 1863 and Dr. Trousseau, whose treatise contains a chapter on acupuncture therapies. Cloquet is a particularly interesting case as a scholar of the human body.
Jules Cloquet, from the university post office waxes
Jules Cloquet, born in Paris in 1790, is the son of a professional designer who will come into Egypt with Champollion. After an initial interest in engineering, decided to devote himself to the preparation of anatomical models attending the School of Artificial Anatomy of Rouen, where he learns to wrap wax models of human organs, the key the study of medicine at a time when there was no photography. The experience, study and great skill led him to become a leading expert in anatomy, famous designer and illustrator, as evidenced by his thesis in medicine (1817), a ponderous Treaty illustrated on 340 cases of hernia , the work of dissection on thousands of corpses. Later plays important roles, as anatomist, surgeon, professor of pathology. And 'friend of characters and promises of future world culture, for example, Flaubert's family (does travel with the young Gustave Flaubert), Alexandre Dumas or the last emperor of Brazil.
Cloquet arouses our interest in his activities in favor of new therapies such as hypnosis and acupuncture, discipline, the latter, which devotes a treaty, and that puts into practice at the Hospital Saint-Louis in Paris . Cloquet is mocked by his colleagues, who can not understand that his interest in acupuncture, but not true, as claimed by some, that the techniques applied have contributed to excessively cruel to make him lose the reputation he had achieved: demonstrated by the fact that the surgeon becomes Emperor, Baron of the Empire of France, a member of the Academy of Sciences (1855). Its role is still important, because it is one of the earliest documented cases of practical use of techniques associated with Chinese acupuncture in France treats thousands of patients, publishing a large series, even on diseases such as epilepsy and delirium.
The beginnings of acupuncture in the modern world in English, German and Italian
The authors English, Americans or Germans who are dedicated to the study of acupuncture in 800 are numerous. We mention only a few names: English Coley, who publishes a book on acupuncture in 1802, the American Bache, which describes in a paper in 1825, his experiences in the use of acupuncture for pain, German Woost GE, which he published a work on acupuncture in 1825. Of great importance the work of English JM Churchill, who lived between 700 and 800, published in 1821 (the German translation of 1824) and followed by another job on the same subject in 1828. (10) The Canadian Sir William Osler (1849-1919) published in 1892 a work of medicine and inform doctors about the acupuncture in rheumatology: he writes, among other things that "acupuncture in low back pain is the most effective treatment." (11) Among the Italian pioneers remember the Neapolitan doctor Calogero Pingitore, author of a booklet on the technique (1800), S. Bozzetti, who writes of acupuncture in 1820, A. Carraro, who publishes an article on acupuncture in 1825 and A. Della Valle, author of "Chinese Acupuncture" (Ed. Wassermann, Milan, 1906).
George Soulie de Morant
Acupuncture developed by Cloquet and other pioneers has not fully and systematically the real Chinese acupuncture and Western Europe must wait until the work of a diplomat and linguist, George Soulie de Morant, to be able to finally address the study correctly. De Morant (Paris 1878-1955) has the good fortune of learning Chinese as a child: his tutor, a Jesuit, in fact, give him the rudiments of language and Chinese culture, a key to understanding the path taken by the young de Morant in years. Posted in 1901 from the bank he works for China, is impressed by the results obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine in the fight against endemic scourges such as cholera and beriberi. Takes advantage of his position to deepen their knowledge of Chinese civilization, especially avidly reading the texts of traditional medicine. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as vice-consul, then as consul in Shanghai and Kunming. During this period he devoted himself to the deepening of acupuncture and received valuable lessons from local doctors, to since graduation as a doctor in acupuncture, issued to him by the Government of Yunnan. After holding other important positions in China, in 1928 returned to France, where he works to spread knowledge of acupuncture in the medical profession and the general public, meeting, however, strong opposition by the Order doctors. His studio is closed and de Morant manages to avoid the indictment of abuse of the medical profession only for his past diplomats.
Soulie de Morant's work
De Morant has dedicated his life to raise awareness of China to the West: if France has enjoyed over a long period of good relations with the Chinese cultural world, This is largely due to the untiring work of cultural mediation of the French scholar, who has not only limited to the field of traditional medicine, also dealing in music, art, theater, history, philosophy, law.
tireless writer and popularizer (With assets of novels, essays, studies and more than sixty articles on acupuncture) comprises two major works: "Le précis de la vraie acupuncture chinoise" published by Mercure de France in 1934, and the ponderous treatise "The 'acupuncture chinoise, "published posthumously, and recently translated into Italian.
The publication of "Le précis de la vraie acupuncture chinoise" (The real Chinese acupuncture) is an important fact to the knowledge of acupuncture in France and, in general, in the West. It is, indeed, the first text appeared in French, widely spoken language in class Read Europe at the time, as presented in this discipline in a systematic, accurate and in accordance with the vision of traditional Chinese medicine. Good knowledge of the human body that emerges from the text, the simplicity of the language used, the technical approach, conciseness and clarity with which they are presented the basic concepts of Chinese medicine energy make it still more than 70 years the publication, one of the most simple and practical works at the same time, accurate to tackle the study of acupuncture. The importance of the work lies, however, in its historical value, since it is one of the first works on acupuncture, where the practical part is preceded by a theoretical introduction of a mainly Eastern Europe. Others had in fact tried to submit to traditional Chinese medicine in an interpretative framework basically Western, especially when it came to the ailments and their treatments, a problem that apparently still exists today. (12)
We can conclude this brief journey through the history of relations between East and West, emphasizing the work of De Morant has inaugurated a new period in the spread of acupuncture in the West and has prepared the ground for the subsequent development of knowledge discipline that, within a few decades after the publication of French sinologist, is now taught in several areas of Europe.
Notes 1. From the introduction to G. Soulié De Morant, Chinese Acupuncture True, Luni Editrice, Milano 2005, also published in Quaderni Asian (ISIA).
2. Dorotheus Schilling, Os Portugueses no medicine and Introdução by Japa, Coimbra 1937.
3. Wolfgang Michel, Früh Westliche Beobachtungen zur Akupunktur und Moxibustion. In: Sudhoffs Archiv Vol 77, Bd 2 (1993), pp.194 - 222. It refers this fundamental text for discussion of moxibustion, acupuncture and pulsologia during the XVI and XVII.
4. Father Matteo Ricci is the author of several important translations into Chinese and Chinese, on subjects of science, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, theology. Jesus described the places, situations, characters of the first contacts between the missions and the Chinese world in the work "On the entry of the Society of Jesu and Christianity into China," translated into Latin and published posthumously in 1615.
5. The work, published in 1627, is titled "Collection di schemi e di spiegazioni di macchine meravigliose del lontano Occidente”.
6. Kircher, Athanasius, China monumentis qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae & artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilium, Amsterdam 1667.
7. Jakob de Bondt, Historiae naturalis et medicae Indiae orientalis. Lib. 5, Cap. 33, p. 85. Opera rimasta incompiuta, rilegata assieme all’opera di Wilhelm Piso, De Indiae utriusque re naturali et medica libri quatuordecim. Amsterdam 1658.
8. Willem ten Rhjine, Dissertatio de Arthritide: Mantissa Schematica: De Acupunctura: Et Orationes Tres (London 1683). Si veda anche: Wolfgang Michel, Willem ten Rhijne und Japanese medicine (I) / (II). In: Dokufutsu bungaku kenky 39 (1989), 75 - 125 and No. 40 (1990), 57 - 103
9th Andreas Cleyer, Specimen Medicinae Sinica, 1682nd
10th Churchill J M A treatise on acupuncturation, being a description of a surgical operation originally peculiar to the Japanese and Chinese, and dominated by them zinking, now introduced into European practice, with directions for its performance, and cases Illustrating its success. Simpkins and Marshall, London 1821st
11th W. Osler, Principles and Practice of Medicine, 1892.
12th Riportiamo a titolo un breve esempio Tues passo dell'introduzione all'edizione Italiana Opera Theatre Fundamentals of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, prepared by the Colleges of Traditional Medicine in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai and published in 1982: "So in 1975 the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine oversaw the publication of the text An Outline of Chinese Acupuncture in which, however, traditional medicine did not appear in its originality. In fact the text was missing from the presentation of the theories of basic features, while the most common diseases were examined in terms of taking western disease, etiology, which is about the differentiation of syndromes. "
0 comments:
Post a Comment