Research On Sha And Its Treatments In Ancient Times

Sha, a disease with cultural traits, is rather difficult to understand for foreigners. Being popular among the people, it and its treatment Gua Sha can never be found in textbooks in TCM colleges. The Qing Dynasty felt ups and downs in its history as well as the end of 20th century saw Gua Sha the treatment be vogue for health in big cities. No dictionaries or books or people have ever given it an explanation with authority.Thus gives us a good reason to look back into its history, which can be divided into three parts.1. Sha Chong- insects in waterLots of doctors and researchers from Ming Dynasty up to now tried to trace to its source as insects in water.Before Han Dynasty, lacking of knowledge in its appearance and character, texts like Shi Jing and Zuo Zhuan described yu as a harmful insect which either shot arrows (fired real darts) or did like ghosts in the imagination.By the end of Han Dynasty, yu had been specified as Duan Hu and She Gong, which could attack people by shooting qi or sand.From Three Kingdoms to Northern and Southern Dynasties, yu had nickname of She Ying, which told that the insect could even cause disease by shooting at shadows. Meanwhile, two other creatures which caused similar diseases were discovered. One was called Sha Shi, which proved to be Yang Chong (tsutsugamushi) in modern society. People knew Sha Shi's appearance and the disease it caused after it went through the skin, and it can be rid of in lots of ways. The other is Xi Du, which they couldn't find out what it was yet. Xiao Pin Fang indicated that She Gong attack people with poison and grouped Xi Du into it.Lacking any deep research, most of medical texts in Sui and Tang Dynasties merely copied their ancestors and made for further confusion. Ben Cao Shi Yi declared that shooting sand at a person's shadow was a trait common to all water insects and so sand itself mistakenly became the target for elimination. No evidence can be found in texts before the Tang Dynasty claiming that the disease of sha originated from insects in water.2. The developments of sha from Song to Ming DynastySong, Yuan and Ming Dynasty is the most important period for the disease of sha.Ye Shi Lu Yan Fang in Southern Song Dynasty firstly gave out the name of Sha Bing (Sha Disease). At the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, Sun RenCun said that the disease was caused by poisonous gases in mountains. With a thread made of hemp, flax, jute, etc., the curing method of rubbing, which caused petechiae or ecchymosis in the skin, became the basis of Gua Sha afterwards. Those externally curing methods were used to open the interstices, move qi and blood, expel the evil. Jiao Chang Sha was the first second-rate name of the sha disease. Later on, the names of Sui Shang Han, Shui Sha, etc. appeared. Further discussions on the causes of sha were held in Ming Dynasty and theories of Shui Du and Jie Yi were popped out. Sha was identified into patterns of cold and hot and included more diseases (for instance, fright wind). What's more, externally curing methods were rich and colorful, especially for Gua Sha and acupuncture.3. The ups and downs of sha in Qing DynastyAppearing in the early Qing Dynasty, Sha Zhang Yu Heng is the first monograph on sha, which was developed into epidemic diseases. Because those writings on sha were made in the process of anti-epidemic-disease, the causes of sha were deemed as pestilential qi as well as foul, summer heat and seasonal perverse qi. Swelling and distention were the main characters of symptoms of sha and all types of strange diseases were assumed as sha in diagnosis. Without a fixed pulse and symptoms, sha was mixed with lots of miscellaneous and epidemic diseases.From the middle of Qian Long to the former of Guang Xu period, the changing sha went into its great prosperity. Diseases named by fan or zheng came along with sha and many other epidemics like Lan Hou Sha and Diao Jiao Sha were also admitted in this area. Texts on sha were found here and there in the book market and it seemed that sha involved all the diseases one can imagine. This flourishing of sha was quite abnormal.When it came to the latter part of Qing Dynasty, epidemiology of western medicine came in. Lots of anomalous diseases were re-diagnosed away from sha, which resulted in a rapid fall in its significance.All in all, the history of sha can be divided into three phases: Sha Chong before Song, Sha Bing in Song, Yuan and Ming, and Sha Zheng (or Sha Zhang) in Qing Dynasty. The definition of sha should be given on the basis of Sha Bing from Song Dynasty instead of the disappeared concepts of epidemics and relative diseases as Diao Jiao Sha (cholera) and Lan Hou Sha (scarlet fever). It goes as follows:Sha disease name, also called Sha Bing. Characterized by fever and chills, headache, dizzy, distension and oppression, cold limbs, green-blue or purple lips and sha veins, etc. externally applied Gua Sha can lead to macules and spots on the skin. It was attributed to the seasonal arrival of bad qi, foul turbidity, toxic influences and unclean food. The numerous of diseases once attributed to it are rarely referred to in the present day.