scholarly journals Self-Orientalization in the East Asian Medical Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Steve Jackowicz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
East Asian Medicine ◽  
Asian Medicine ◽  
The World

Traditional medical practices have yielded to modern Western Allopathic Medicine in much of the world. However, Traditional East Asian Medicine (aka Traditional Chinese Medicine) which includes Acupuncture, Asian Herbalism, Asian Bodywork, and Meditative Breathing Practices (Taijiquan / Qigong) has grown in popularity around the world. In the United States, Traditional East Asian Medicine has entered mainstream culture, becoming licensed as a type of healthcare service. The development of this type of medicine in the United States began in the late nineteenth century with Asian immigration, but in the latter part of the twentieth century grew from a localized ethnic enclave based cultural practice into a larger social phenomenon reactive to socio cultural dynamics in the medical industrial complex. However, intrinsic in this rise and integration with majority culture has been the inculcation of Orientalized attitudinal poles that rely on stereotypical, trivialized, and racist interpretations of the very traditions that they seem to embrace. This paper examines the aspect of this Orientalizing process in the East Asian Medical community in the United States among immigrants, second generation, and non-Asian students and practitioners.

“Groaning for the Latter Day”

2021 ◽  
pp. 212-246
Author(s):  
John Howard Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Corruption ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Inequities ◽  
American Protestantism ◽  
The World ◽  
Late Nineteenth

Two new religious movements, Mormonism and Millerism, established a foundation upon which a heretofore invisible, gloomy eschatology that had long occupied the margins of American Protestantism stepped out into the limelight in the late nineteenth century. Gaining popularity during and after the Civil War, dispensationalist premillennialism posited that the world is fundamentally fallen, and that only Christ’s personal intervention could bring on the Millennium. To some among this growing band of radical evangelicals, the United States’ spiritual failings, political corruption, and social inequities meant that it was beyond redemption. Others still clung to the belief in America’s millennial destiny, arguing that only the United States may stand against the Antichrist at the latter day, joining with Christ and his angels in the final assault against Satan in the inevitable Battle of Armageddon.

scholarly journals A Perspective for Japan: Fukuzawa Yukichi’s “Theory of Civilization”, 1875

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-66
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Seifert
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Japanese Society ◽  
The United States ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
The Road ◽  
The World ◽  
Late Nineteenth

This paper discusses the thought of Fukuzawa Yukichi, probably the most influential Japanese intellectual of the late nineteenth century, with particular reference to his attempt to develop a theory of civilization. For him, the civilizational approach was a framework for reflection on Japan’s situation in the world after the great changes of the 1850s and 1860s. He saw the preservation of national independence and the reform of Japanese society as primary goals, but they necessitated extensive learning from the experience and achievements of more advanced societies, especially those of Western Europe and the United States. However, he did not advocate a purely imitative Westernization. Japan’s distinctive identity and autonomous international stance were to be maintained. To clarify the reasons for transforming Japan in light of Western models without capitulating to them, he outlined an evolutionary conception of social change, understood in terms of an advance towards civilization. That kind of progress was not only a matter of technical and organizational development; it also involved the mobilization of whole peoples. On this basis, Fukuzawa articulated a more democratic vision of Japan’s future than the road subsequently taken by the Meiji government.

‘On the Origin of Medicine’ from Eastern Medicine [for] Prolonging the World and Preserving People by Yi Chema (1837–1900)

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 207-235
Author(s):  
Kiebok Yi
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Military Officer ◽  
Korean Medicine ◽  
East Asian Medicine ◽  
Asian Medicine ◽  
The World ◽  
Historical Dynamics ◽  
Way Of Knowing

The translation below is an essay, ‘On the Origin of Medicine’ (Ŭiwŏnnon醫源論), taken from the textbook1Eastern Medicine[for]Prolonging the World and Preserving People(Tongǔi Susebowǒn東醫壽世保元, 1894),2 by Yi Chema 李濟馬 (1837–1900, styled Tongmu 東武).3 Yi Chema, hailing from the peripheral northern part of Korea, was a Confucian-cum-physician and also served as military officer and local magistrate during the Chosŏn 朝鮮 dynasty (1392–1910). Having no specific allegiances to any intellectual lineage in either medicine or Confucianism, he was able to translate his critical yet inspirational impulses into a distinctively novel style of clinical practice. His ideas built on the observation that sentimental/emotional, or better, psychosocial dispositions of a person are inextricably associated with the visceral dynamics of the person.4 He thus put forward as an overarching scheme of organisation the four constitutional types: Greater Yang (Taeyang 太陽) Person, Greater Yin (Taeŭm 太陰) Person, Lesser Yang (Soyang 少陽) Person, and Lesser Yin (Soŭm 少陰) Person. Later dubbed ‘Sasang Medicine’ (Sasangǔihak四象醫學), Yi Chema’s distinctive way of knowing and style of practice became one of the main intellectual currents of Korean medicine during the twentieth century. Its history thus provides an illustrative example of the diverse landscape and historical dynamics of East Asian medicine.

Anti-Americanism in East Asia: Analyses of college students’ attitudes in China, Japan, and South Korea

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Choul Kim ◽  
Ho Keun Yoo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
South Korea ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The United States ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
The World ◽  
Asian College Students

In the last decade, negative attitudes towards the United States have increased throughout the world. Though the United States and East Asian countries have relatively had harmonious relationships, anti-Americanism is still prevalent for various reasons. In spite of China’s increasing economic interdependence with the United States, the country is succeeding to its long history of anti-Americanism. Although Japan and South Korea have been considered pro-United States allies since the Korean War (1950–1953), the countries’ younger generations have often expressed critical opinions of the United States. What is the cause of this anti-American sentiment in the East Asian countries? The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries using a cross-national survey. The results of the empirical analyses support previous approaches and promote four theoretical concepts: (1) the people’s knowledge and curiosity about the United States is the most influential factor of anti-American sentiment for East Asian college students (the cognitive-orientation); (2) individual’s attitudes towards American culture and society influence anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries (the cultural-cleavage); (3) anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries is mostly affected by people’s general ideas about the roles of the United States in the world and United States’ foreign policies (the anti-hegemony); and (4) the people’s general perception on the relationship between their own countries and the United States is another determinant of anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries (the equal-relationship). In contrast, it explains that gender and the financial condition of East Asian college students are not significant determinants of anti-American sentiment.

scholarly journals Bioterrorism

Biomedicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Manjula Shantaram
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Bacillus Anthracis ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biological Agents ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
Respiratory Protection ◽  
Protection Measure ◽  
The World

Terrorism that involves the deliberate release or distribution of biological agents is called bioterrorism. These pathogens are bacteria, viruses, fungi, other microorganisms and their related toxins, insects, and they can be natural or human-modified forms, which are roughly the same way as in biological warfare that can sicken or kill people, livestock, or crops. These high-priority means include organisms or toxins that pose the greatest risk to the public and national security: Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin) Plague (Yersinia pestis). They have the ability to have harmful effects on human health in many ways, from relatively mild allergic reactions to serious medical conditions and even death. Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that produces anthrax, and is one of the pathogens most likely to be used for biological attacks.Bioterrorism cancausemass deaths, epidemics, medical staff illness, environmental pollution, legal issues, and cause anxiety in the medical community and the wider community (1). Unfortunately, bioterrorism agents are difficult to control and affect military personnel and civilian men, women and children. In the past 100 years, the United States and the international community have experienced various acts of bioterrorism against civilians. The model shows that the economic impact of bioterrorism attacks ranges from an estimated US$477.7 million per 100,000 people exposed (brucellosis scenario) to US$26.2 billion per 100,000 people exposed (anthrax scenario). The possibility of bioterrorism is particularly worrying because it causes disease, death and panic, disproportionate to the resources consumed (2). The purpose of bioterrorism is usually to create fear and / or threaten the government or society in order to obtain political, religious or ideological objectives. Compared to weapons like explosives, it can have a unique impact on society. Depending on the situation, wear a mask to reduce inhalation or spread of bacteria. If you have been in contact with biological agents, remove and store your clothing and personal things. Follow official instructions for disposing of contaminated items. Wash with soap and water and put on clean clothes. Bioterrorism agents can be spread through the air or into food or water, and are extremely difficult to detect. The outbreak of biological weapons’ diseases may lead to the extinction of endangered wild animal species, the erosion of genetic diversity of domesticated animals and plants, and the destruction of traditional human livelihoods (3). Symptoms of exposure to biological agents may include sore throat, fever, blurred vision or diplopia, rash or blistering, exhaustion, slurred speech, confusion, muscle weakness, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, and cough. The occurrence of a weapon attack may be impossible, but planning and preparation can greatly reduce the death and suffering caused by it. Only 16 countries plus Taiwan possess or presumably possess biological weapons programs: Canada, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Libya, North Korea, Russia, South Africa, Syria, and the United States. Britain and the United States. The way to deal with such threats is through international law and carefully negotiated treaties and verification mechanisms. An important protection measure against biological weapons is currently being negotiated in Geneva. Available protective equipment includes respiratory protection devices, full-face protective masks and surgical masks for respiratory protection, combat suits, protective gloves, and skin-protecting boots. Full protection is required when the agent is not recognized. The inherent characteristics of biological agents that affect their potential for use as weapons include: virulence; toxicity; pathogenicity; incubation period; transmissibility; lethality and stability. Now regarding the COVID19 pandemic, there is a game of blame between the two superpowers, the United States and China. It is not clear whether the spread of COVID19 is intentional or unintentional, whether it is a natural virus threatening the world or an artificial virus. Two conspiracy theories about the origin of COVID19 are widely circulated in China and the West, one accusing the United States and the other accusing the higher-level biological containment laboratory in Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic (4). However, this has caused pain, death, mental distress, depression, and billions of dollars in treatment and vaccine costs all over the world. This whole process reminds us of Frankenstein's sci-fi monster. The moral lesson learned from this is that people need to blend in and feel connected to others in order to survive. In addition, humans must carefully consider the cost of scientific progress.

scholarly journals How Much Can The News Change a Pandemic?

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Moore ◽  
Stephanie Davis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Response Time ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The United States ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
The World ◽  
Industrial Settings

Recently in 2020, Covid-19 updates have filled the news almost every day in almost every country. However, globally people are not getting the same presentation of the information. Each country has a culture and background that contributes to how they perceive the news and its production. Two countries where citizens had similar response time to Covid-19, and similar restrictions ,but still had different responses to Covid-19 are Japan and the United States of America. Part of this is attributed to the differences in societal norms and the background of these two countries. For example, “Observers have pointed out that while it is a more common sight in several East Asian societies than elsewhere in the world, mask‐wearing is particularly widespread and normalized in Japan, where masks have been commonly worn outside medical or industrial settings” (Burgess, A., & Horii, M., 2012). However, through this study it will be revealed how Japanese and American news outlets affect their citizens perception of Covid-19 and how they take the virus seriously. Japan is undoubtly a more cautious country and does do a better job at preparing it's citizens through the news. 

Yi Chema and the Psychosocial Body in Late Nineteenth Century Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-92
Author(s):  
Kiebok Yi
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
The Body ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
East Asian Medicine ◽  
Asian Medicine ◽  
Late Nineteenth

Conventional understandings of Chinese medicine, and by extension East Asian medicine, are that historical and contemporary discourses on the medical body have essentially revolved around a unitary body perception—the cosmological body as demonstrated by the use of concepts such as qi, yinyang, and the Five Phases. Notably, in this body conception, the material, spiritual and emotional dimensions are not separable from each other but are rather interconnected by means of allpervasive qi that resonates in the universe. However, East Asian medicine has in fact provided a far more diverse and dynamic landscape of conceptualizations of the body than has previously been assumed. Addressing this relatively ignored topography, this paper investigates medical thought about body structure that was proposed and practiced by Yi Chema 李濟馬 (1837-1900), a physician and Confucian in late nineteenth century Chosŏn 朝鮮 Korea. Rather than considering cosmological factors, he brought into play human affairs and agency in his discussion of the medical body. In the framework of his medical system, later referred to as Sasang 四象 (fourfold imaging) medicine, psychosocial characteristics—such as affective temperaments, cognitive traits, and behavioral dispositions—are inherently interwoven with the configuration of the viscera and body parts. Importantly, the physiological processes of this psychosocial body are not so much maintained by cosmologically resonating qi flowing throughout the body, but rather, they are activated by the human agent’s psychosocial drive to engage with the world. Yi Chema, through his conceptualization of the psychosocial body, envisaged an ideal world in which the qualities and differences of people should be acknowledged to the fullest extent. Thus he rejected hierarchical socio-cultural orderings of human beings in favor of a respect of heterogeneity. Yi Chema’s effort to promote the psychosocial body can be understood against the backdrop of late nineteenth century East Asia, where the mechanistic body of what was then seen as modern medicine was encroaching upon the cosmological body.

The Poetics and Practice of Iranian Nostalgia in Exile

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-302
Author(s):  
Hamid Naficy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Third World ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Music Videos ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
The World ◽  
Fredric Jameson

In this article, I will focus on the poetics and practice of nostalgia in exilic popular culture, drawing primarily on examples from some 10 years of Iranian television programs and music videos produced in Los Angeles. Nostalgia, a feature of exile, has in recent years become a “cultural practice” and a “mode of representation” (K. Stewart 227, 238) as postmodernity, neocolonialism, communism, totalitarianism, imperialism, and transnational capital have displaced peoples and cultures the world over. Fredric Jameson tells us that this fragmentation and deterritorialization forces us to experience time differently; that is, we experience the present as a loss or, as Baudrillard would have it, as a phenomenon that has no origin or reality, a “hyperreality” (2). For the exiles who have emigrated from Third World countries, life in the United States, especially in the quintessentially postmodern city of Los Angeles, is doubly unreal, and it is because of this double loss—of origin and of reality—that nostalgia becomes a major cultural and representational practice among the exiles. In addition, nostalgia for one’s homeland has a fundamentally interpsychic source expressed in the trope of an eternal desire for return—a return that is structurally unrealizable.

Sex Differences in Mass Media Preferences Across Four Asian Countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Ratnasingam ◽  
Lee Ellis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Media Preferences

Background. Nearly all of the research on sex differences in mass media utilization has been based on samples from the United States and a few other Western countries. Aim. The present study examines sex differences in mass media utilization in four Asian countries (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore). Methods. College students self-reported the frequency with which they accessed the following five mass media outlets: television dramas, televised news and documentaries, music, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet. Results. Two significant sex differences were found when participants from the four countries were considered as a whole: Women watched television dramas more than did men; and in Japan, female students listened to music more than did their male counterparts. Limitations. A wider array of mass media outlets could have been explored. Conclusions. Findings were largely consistent with results from studies conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly regarding sex differences in television drama viewing. A neurohormonal evolutionary explanation is offered for the basic findings.

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