Medicine and Morality in the Ho Family in Lijiang

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 341-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Ochs
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Botanical Nomenclature ◽  
Field Note ◽  
American Botanist ◽  
Knowledge And Practice ◽  
Local Plants ◽  
Family Based

I travelled to the Lijiang basin area of Yunnan province in the spring of 2014 to record and explore the ‘traditional’ knowledge and practice of Chinese medicine among the Ho family. The Ho family includes three generations of herbalists who combine Naxi medicinal plants, Chinese medicine diagnostics, and knowledge of Western medicine in their clinical practice. They have also created their own herbarium of over 1000 local plants, which they organise based on modern botanical nomenclature. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Austrian-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock introduced Latin botanical names to the father of Ho Shixiu, currently the oldest living Ho family member. The son of Ho Shixiu, Ho Shulong, who is now its primary caretaker, however, informed us that he was influenced by books as much as by his father’s oral teachings about medicinal plants. The youngest member of this lineage is a graduate of Yunnan Chinese Medicine University and acknowledges that his knowledge base in local ecology and medicinal plants must increase if he is to carry on the lineage. My aim is to describe both the unique aspects of the Ho family’s knowledge and its transmission, and the cultural and medical elements that have influenced and enriched them. From my perspective, these different types knowledge seem to sustain and give meaning to their family-based practice lineage. I argue that we need to carry out more ethnographic work in order to understand the relationship between medical knowledge and practice, and its social, historical, and cultural context. I hope this field note is a step in that direction.

African Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medical Knowledge

2018 ◽  
pp. 65-86
Author(s):  
Gerard Bodeker ◽  
Emma Weisbord ◽  
Drissa Diallo ◽  
Robert Byamukama ◽  
Yahaya Sekagya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Medical Knowledge

Traditional Medicinal Systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Aashaq Hussain Bhat ◽  
Shahla Nigar
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Blood Purification ◽  
Traditional Use ◽  
Korean Medicine

Medicinal plants are a great source of medicine for treating various human ailments. Traditional use of herbal medicine, which was developed within an ethnic group before the development and spread of modern science, is the very basis and an integral part of various cultures. Different medicinal systems throughout the globe are still operational and use natural herbs for treating diseases. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Kampo, Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), and Unani are some commonly found traditional medicinal systems in use today. They are used directly, or their secondary metabolites are used as anti-bacterial, antifungal, immunomodulators, anti-hair fall, and multiple other purposes. However, their blood purification properties prevent blood from toxicity. Hundreds of medicinal plants are used in Ayurveda for blood purification, particularly plants which are astringent or bitter (pungent or sharp tastes). In addition, medicinal herbs do not have side effects.

Notes on Uighur Medicine, Especially on the Uighur Siddhasāra Tradition

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Zieme
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Plant Names ◽  
History Of ◽  
Translation Methods ◽  
General Translation

There are many primary sources that allow us to reconstruct Old Uighur medicine. This article considers those that demonstrate the following influences: folk medicine, Syriac medicine, Indian and Chinese medicine. The article includes general remarks on the Uighur translations of the Siddhasāra and its role in the history of Uighur medicine: the bilingual version, a list of the preserved parts of the monolingual Uighur version, medicinal plant names, and comments on general translation methods. The Uighur translation deviates considerably from the Sanskrit, but it exploits the medical knowledge it contains in interesting ways. A translation of such a medical compendium like the Siddhasāra was, nor is, an easy task. That we observe equivalents, substitutes and Turkic equivalents in the Uighur version is no wonder. Each of these has to be evaluated carefully. Much scholarly work has already been carried out by H. W. Bailey, R. Emmerick and D. Maue. In particular I would like to mention the contriburion of the first editor Reşid Rahmeti (Arat) [Rachmati] who read the texts first and translated them without knowledge of their real source. At that time he had already surmised that the model for the translation must have been a substantial work.

Rock Shelters as Women's Retreats: Understanding Newt Kash

2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Claassen
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Eastern Kentucky ◽  
Rock Shelters

This paper provides a cultural context for the cache of early domesticated seeds found in Newt Kash Shelter in eastern Kentucky. Based on the abundant fibers, bedding, nuts, cradleboard, bedrock mortar, shell spoons, abundance of potential medicinal plants, infrequent fauna, and arrangement of pits, Newt Kash may have been a women's retreat place during menstruation, birthing, and sickness, and possibly the meeting place of a medicine society. There are other possible retreat shelters in this region and elsewhere.

Indian influences on early Chinese ophthalmology: glaucoma as a case study

1999 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijaya Deshpande
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Indian Medical ◽  
Surgical Methods ◽  
Medieval India ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Indian Medicine

Allusions to Indian medicine appear in Chinese literature from the fifth century A.D. onwards. At first through translated Buddhist texts, and then through the incorporation of material by later Chinese authors in the form of medical theories, diagnostic, surgical methods and prescriptions, a substantial element of Indian medical knowledge permeated into Chinese medicine. Ophthalmology held a unique position in these transmissions. It was invariably associated with the famous name of Nāgārjuna, which is connected with almost all kinds of protoscientific activity in early medieval India. This has given rise to a longstanding debate among scholars regarding the origin of this material, as well as the credibility of its attribution to Nāgārjuna.

Computer Automated Prediction of Potential Therapeutic and Toxicity Protein Targets of Bioactive Compounds from Chinese Medicinal Plants

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (01) ◽  
pp. 139-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Z. Chen ◽  
C. Y. Ung
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Automated Identification ◽  
Protein Database ◽  
Protein Targets ◽  
Chinese Medicinal Plants

Understanding the molecular mechanism and pharmacology of bioactive compounds from Chinese medicinal plants (CMP) is important in facilitating scientific evaluation of novel therapeutic approaches in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also of significance in new drug development based on the mechanism of Chinese medicine. A key step towards this task is the determination of the therapeutic and toxicity protein targets of CMP compounds. In this work, newly developed computer software INVDOCK is used for automated identification of potential therapeutic and toxicity targets of several bioactive compounds isolated from Chinese medicinal plants. This software searches a protein database to find proteins to which a CMP compound can bind or weakly bind. INVDOCK results on three CMP compounds (allicin, catechin and camptotecin) show that 60% of computer-identified potential therapeutic protein targets and 27% of computer-identified potential toxicity targets have been implicated or confirmed by experiments. This software may potentially be used as a relatively fast-speed and low-cost tool for facilitating the study of molecular mechanism and pharmacology of bioactive compounds from Chinese medicinal plants and natural products from other sources.

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