In pre-modern cultural history, both textual and visual documentation played crucial roles, each possessing its own narrative logic. Historically, text has been a dominant medium for cultural documentation, whereas images, which predate text, have often been undervalued. In fact, visual materials always play an irreplaceable role that textual knowledge cannot, serving as more intuitive historical mirrors with strong visual transmission. The traces preserved in images, whether descriptive or metaphorical, can corroborate textual records. More importantly, images can not only correct textual inaccuracies but also present details and atmospheres that text cannot capture. Thus, as a form of visual data, images do not serve as narrative media independently. They can be narratives themselves, constituting significant historical research materials.
Research on the history of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), primarily based on transmitted or excavated texts, has seen depth in exploration and innovation but struggled in broadening its scope. Introducing a visual perspective into the field of TCM history provides new avenues for exploration in the field of TCM literature research. Recently, the academic community has increasingly recognized the value of images as a historical perspective and research method. The rise of medical image history research has seen more disciplines recognizing the value of images and incorporating specialized image research methodologies. The complementary relationship between text and images in TCM literature enhances the classical background and constructs its theoretical framework. Image studies in medical history can rediscover previously unnoticed materials or reinvigorate familiar text through meticulous visual details. Interpreting and researching traditional Chinese medical images can help to trace the historical background and knowledge. More significantly, it can present various values in theoretical framework construction and evolution as well as their contemporary manifestations.
The field of image medical history research offers vast potential, providing a different perspective for studying TCM and anticipating diverse insights. This broadens the research subjects of Chinese medical history and facilitates a better examination of contemporary TCM development, advancing the study of traditional medical images from philological research to historical research.
The foundational focus of historical investigations into medical images involves the examination of images utilized and referenced by the medical field, such as various anatomical depictions and medical instruments. In the discussion of anatomical depictions, there are two articles focusing on images of the spleen in TCM from different perspectives: Gu Xiaoyang analyzes the impact of the translation of “pancreas” on the imagery and knowledge construction of the spleen; Li Lan discusses the significance of organs in Chinese anatomical images by analyzing the spleen’s central position in East Asian anatomical cosmology. Another discussion on medical instruments includes two typical tools in acupuncture: the human model and needles. Zhou Qi analyzes the Tianhui (天回) lacquered meridian figure to showcase the development and evolution of early meridian systems; Wu Kai et al. discuss a set of late Qing dynasty acupuncture needles to provide new insights into the evolution and global dissemination of acupuncture instruments.
Moreover, as multidisciplinary perspectives have been incorporated, Chinese medical image research has transcended disciplinary boundaries, extending beyond medical images to examine medical elements in non-medical materials. These studies compare Chinese medical imagery with visual knowledge from other fields, and explore the medical background from the perspectives of the public and society. For example, this issue includes two studies comparing Chinese medical images with religious images: Zhang Xinyue discusses the spinal shapes in Daoism and medical human body images, examining the underlying body concepts through different cultural representations of the body; Yi Bao et al. discuss the cultural expressions of plague prevention through the depiction of the Five Plague Gods (五瘟神) in Shuilu murals (水陆壁画). Additionally, there are discussions on the relationship between society and medicine through folk paintings: Jiang Shan discusses the metaphorical uses and customs reflected in moxibustion practices in Japanese ukiyo-e; Wang Li examines the medical awareness and behaviors presented in the Song dynasty Jiu Ai Tu (灸艾图 The Moxa Treatment) for treating sores, providing a glimpse into folk medical techniques and ecology. This expanded perspective has been presented in Zhang Shujian’s History of Chinese Image Culture: Medical Imagery Volume (《中华图像文化史·医药卷》), with Wei Ran’s review highlighting the book’s contributions to image medical history research by breaking object, content, and disciplinary boundaries. It expands the research scope to non-medical literature, offering in-depth interpretation and comparative research on the content, academic theories, and cultural, social backgrounds of medical imagery literature, with diversified interpretations of medical content.
The convergence of medical and non-medical images reflects the breaking of internal historical boundaries in Chinese medical research, fostering a more comprehensive and coherent vision through their collision and integration. Transcending internal and external historical boundaries holds significant implications in today’s multidisciplinary research and will undoubtedly become a trend in the development of future TCM research.
Peter Burke’s concept of “using images as historical evidence” emphasizes the role of visual materials in corroborating textual materials. On one hand, images can corroborate text, correcting errors and omissions; on the other hand, when texts are lost or difficult to interpret, images can fill in the gaps. For instance, Wang Li’s interpretation of the Song dynasty Jiu Ai Tu verifies the depiction of folk acupuncture activities and sore treatment techniques with medical texts.
In the above research endeavors, images mainly play a supplementary role. However, as an independent form of documentation, images carry information that can reveal new historical facts and corroborate text. For instance, Wu Kai et al. discovered a phase of needle development reflecting aesthetic beauty in rarely seen needle images from the late Qing dynasty; Zhou Qi’s discussion of visual materials from unearthed artifacts highlights the impact of these findings on the long-standing meridian theories of the Chinese medical classics, leading to a reevaluation of their legitimacy.
Images possess unique characteristics distinct from text, providing intuitive and detailed information that text cannot encompass. Notably, image research prompts questions about the authenticity of historical accounts, offering unique insights for historical reflection and even challenging previous studies to develop new understandings. This issue includes discussions on human body images that address differences between Western anatomical diagrams and Chinese medical images, reflecting on the anatomical significance in Sino-Western medical exchanges: Gu Xiaoyang discusses the process of knowledge transformation and production, revealing the reshaping and reconstruction of medical images and theories during Sino-Western medical integration; Li Lan and Zhang Xinyue investigate the “authenticity” in anatomical images, affirming the significant role of metaphorical Chinese medical practices in the history of science. They strive to uncover hidden realities in pre-modern anatomical records, avoiding the tendency to regard biomedical anatomy as universally truthful, thus maintaining a critical distance from the search for modern ideas in pre-modern texts.
Studying the history of medicine through images requires focusing not only on the medical images but also on the broader background knowledge of medical practice. This involves discussing the conflicts, integrations, and changes in the development and solidification of TCM theories. This approach involves incorporating sociological, anthropological, and other perspectives. Its significance lies in seeking the truth about the history and culture of Chinese medicine, and in reflecting on past knowledge and theories of TCM in a contemporary context. Through selected examples in this special issue on “Depicting Chinese Medicine: Body, Materials, and Their Contexts in the Images Throughout History”, we want to offer different insights into materials and methods for the community of medical history from an imagery perspective.
Funding
The study was financed by the grant from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Public Welfare Research Institutes (No. ZZ-2023001).
Ethical approval
This study does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the author.
Author contributions
ZHANG Shujian drafted and revised the manuscript.
Conflicts of interest
ZHANG Shujian is an Editorial Board member of Chinese Medicine and Culture. He also serves as the Guest Editor-in-Chief of the special issue. The article was subject to the journal’s standard procedures, with peer review handled independently of this Editorial Board member and their research groups.