Earliest Realistic Therapeutic Scene in Ancient Chinese Paintings

10.6968/TJCCM.202401_30(1).0002

Hui-Yuan YEH；Qun ZHANG

Ancient Painting ； Skin Disease ； Therapy ； Moxibustion ； Song Dynasty

台灣中醫臨床醫學雜誌

30卷1期（2024 / 01 / 01）

15 - 29

英文

The identification of diseases and medical therapies depicted in ancient paintings is of great importance to the field of medical history. The medical therapeutic scene in the Chinese ink painting dating back to the Song Dynasty (A.D 960-1279) is the earliest works of such kind, providing a wealth of information about the medical knowledge of human beings in that era. The painting depicts a scene of therapy using moxibustion and drainage to the treatment of the lump on the patient's shoulder-back skin. This is the earliest realistic depiction of Chinese medical therapy on skin disease in ancient Chinese ink paintings, which vividly depicts the moxibustion treatment carried out over one thousand years ago. The analysis of scenes in ancient works of art from the perspective of medicine has enriched our knowledge of ancient medical therapy, and also provided a reference for further understanding of the ancient human health.