Doctors Of Song Dynasty--a Try Of Sociological Study

ABSTRACT Medicine is a part of social culture. To understand it well we should put it into the big background of social culture. The method of sociology would be of help to do it. Doctors are the chief role in the history of medicine. This thesis takes doctors as the chief object to investigate some things of Medicine in Song Dynasty. Through the study on the fundamental situation such as institution, identity as well as thinking background and the mode of learning medicine of the doctors, we can learn the effect played by some social factors in the life of Song Dynasty抯 doctors. Such investigation may not produce incontestable conclusion, but undoubtedly it can help to understand Song Dynasty抯 Medicine. Role is a concept of sociology. It is a mutual-effected unit of society which has specific function of its own. The scholar-physician became a social role is a main feature of Song Dynasty抯 Medicine. This is a result of the promotion of doctors? social status, and this could help to promote the doctors?social status also. From then on, the work of scholar-physician had been the most important motive to the development of TCM. It is another big scene that a large quantity medical books was published. Doctors began to pay good attention to study ancient medical books and published many individual books actively. The prevailing mode putting emphasis on the investigation of medical theory have far-reaching influence on the developing direction of later medicine.