Wilms, Sabine

Kongress Rothenburg 2008 - The seventh century pine cone-eating hermit discussing

The seventh century pine cone-eating hermit discussing, his life and work on
the basis of legends, his own writings, and historical biographies
The Life and Work of Sun Simiao
Geeignet für Anfänger und Fortgeschrittene, nicht praxisorientiert, Teilnehmerzahl nicht begrenzt.
Sun Simiao is known as the seventh-century author of the Qianjinfang (Prescriptions worth a
Thousand Gold Pieces), as a hermit devoted to the cultivation of health and longevity, as a Daoist
sage turned immortal, and as an imperial advisor. By discussing this famous physician’s life and work
on the basis of legends, his own writings, and historical biographies, we will get a sense of the
medieval Chinese synthesis of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism in the context of early Chinese
medicine.
Sun Simiao is most famous for being the author of the seventh century Qianjinfang (Prescriptions
worth a Thousand Gold Pieces), an enormous encyclopedia of early medieval Chinese medicine that
continues to be used extensively by classically-trained physicians in East Asia. In addition, though, he
is also venerated in Chinese popular religion as the “King of Medicine” (?? yao wang), a Daoist sage
who attained immortality after spending much of his life in the company of a tiger and a dragon as a
pinecone-eating hermit and adept of life-prolonging practices known as “cultivating life” (?? yang
sheng). Lastly, we know from the dynastic histories that he also served successfully as loyal advisor to
the first Tang emperor, a role in which he was greatly respected for his learning, wisdom, and
calligraphic and literary accomplishments.
In this course, we will discuss this famous physician’s life and work on the basis of legends, his own
writings, and historical biographies. Thereby, we will gain insights into his political involvements,
philosophical and religious background, medical training and practice, and personal practices of
health-cultivation. We will explore the various dimensions of his life inclusively, whether they are
historically accurate or not. We will certainly briefly address such issues as whether he died at the
tender age of 101, at 141 years of age, or merely pretended to die and instead left behind a mortal
body to gain immortality. We will leave research on whether he did in fact converse with dragons (as
suppliers of his celebrated formulas) to other authorities and focus instead on the content of his
formulas and their significance in early medieval China.
Nevertheless, by acknowledging all the facets of his life regardless of their historicity, we will get a sense of the medieval Chinese synthesis of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, all in the context
of classical Chinese medicine. What we know about Sun Simiao now on the basis of sources that
were composed within a few centuries of his death is significant not so much for the historical details
about his life, but for the image of the ideal physician, — or perhaps rather “practitioner of early
Chinese medicine,” — that they construct. Much more than just getting the “facts” about Sun Simiao’s
life, participants in this course will contemplate the following questions: What does Sun Simiao’s life
tell us about the ideal physician of classical Chinese medicine? Can we even call Sun Simiao a
physician? What were the foundations of his medical training, or in other words, what was considered
essential in the education and training of a medical practitioner in classical Chinese medicine? What
practices and experiences turned him into a “King of Medicine” and gave him the authority, in his
followers’ eyes, to author one of the greatest collections of Chinese medicine ever written? And
ultimately, what can we as life-long students of Chinese medicine in the twenty-first century take away
from this for our own practice?Diese Aufnahme besteht aus 1 DVD.
DVDDVD 180 min
Jahr: 2008
Sprache: Englisch

Preis: 21,00 €
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