On The Diversified Medical Education System In The Sung Dynasty

Sung dynasty reaches the apex of the development of ancient Chinese medical education, especially with the promotion of the three education innovations, a relatively mature medical education pattern takes its shape, particularly some advanced medical education notions and summative medical works are produced, which widely accelerate the spread of medical knowledge and produce a series of favorable social results. Its impacts, reaching Yuan, Ming, Qing and future generations, can be inspiring and used for reference even in today's medical education reform.This paper comprises four parts.Part One comprehensively interprets the core concept "medical education", particularly defining its specific meaning and determining the time and geographical scope for the medical education research in Sung Dynasty.Part Two enumerates and analyses the specific instances of medical education conducted in governments, non-governments and academies to elucidate the diversified medical education system in Sung Dynasty. Firstly, by organizing the official-run institutions of medical education administration, the author summarizes its following teaching features: perfect admission procedure, rational major setup, multi-level curriculum arrangement, innovation of teaching aids and methods, rational appraisal systems and diversified sources of medical students. Secondly, by quoting the examples of specific medical specialists being trained, the author expounds the three non-govermental education patterns of masters teaching disciples, family impartment and self-study. Finally, the author tries to discuss the potential medical education activities in academies, starting from the Confucian masters holding medicine in esteem.Part Three explores and analyses the causes for the diversified medical education in Sung Dynasty. First of all, the author elaborates on the rise and development of the medical education before Sung Dynasty, mainly the budding of medical education in the primitive society, the masters teaching disciples during the spring and autumn periods, the beginning of government-run medical education institutions in Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the flourishing of government-run medical education in Tang Dynasty. Then the author probes into the causes for the prosperous medical education in Sung Dynasty, including the influences of such social factors as politics, science and technology, culture and grassroot life, the theoretical support of medical education and the promotion of sino-foreign medical exchange.Part Four The flourishing of medical education in Sung Dynasty not only arouses the medical specialists of that time to summarize and publish various medical books, but leads the development pattern of later medical education. More importantly, it brings about more inspirations to the current medical education reform in China: implement diversified school-running systems; focus on the close combination of theoretical study and clinical practice; enhance the cultivation of the humanistic spirits of medical students.