On The People Of Yin Understanding Of The Disease And Its Treatment

The Yin people who had just stepped out of barbarism and into the slavery society, were very superstitious and worshiped gods and spirits. They couldn't distinguish between medicine and sorcery, and sorcery played an important role in their medicine; While on the other hand, the Yin people formed relatively resonable explanations for some diseases, and could perform some medical treaments scientifically. This thesis tries shedding some light on the following aspects of Shang medicine by resorting to oracle inscriptions on tortoiseshells, and archaeological and documentary evidences:Firstly, in the opinion of the Yin people , the prelavent causes for disease were superstitious , that is , diseases befell them by gods and spirits; however, they had some objective ernes for illness such as wind and cold, dinking etc.Secondly, the thesis lists 17 kinds of illnesses known by the Yin people such as head disease,eye disease, ear disease, nose disease, mouth disease etc. , with sufficientoracle illustrations and my own opinions attached.Thirdly, the prevailing medical treatments in the Shang Dynasty were sacrifices , while the other four scientific ways were acupuncture, cauterization, massage and herbal medicine.Finally, the thesis points out that although Shang medicine, for the most part was superstitious and backward, and we shouldn't overestimate its status, however, compared contemporarily with other parts of the world, Shang medicine was relatively advanced.