Abstract
This study compared the theory describing the “four pairs of blood vessels” in the Hippocratic Corpus with the description of vessels (Mai, 脉) in the Cauterization Canon of the Eleven Vessels of the Foot and Forearm. The two theories are comparable because of the time period in which they were written, the similarities between the descriptions of the Mai and blood vessels, and the treatment methods for symptoms corresponding to their dysfunctions. We discovered that the Mai theory and the blood vessel theory in the Hippocratic Corpus were conceived with similar motivations. They had a lot of coinciding information with regard to the route of flow, but they proposed opposite cyclic directions. Interestingly, neither of them had established that a definitive relationship exists between the vessels and the heart, but other internal organs, such as the liver, were considered to have connections with the Mai and blood vessels in the two literatures. Furthermore, there were similarities among the descriptions of symptoms, and the ancient Western treatments for these symptoms were largely the same as those recorded in the ancient Chinese medical literature, especially the treatment for backache. The comparisons put forward in this study not only reflect the consistencies between the understanding of the human body and the way diseases were treated in Chinese and Western medicine in the early days, but also demonstrate that the two types of medicine had finally embarked on different developmental paths because of the differences in the philosophies and cultural backgrounds in their respective regions.
Highlights
Hippocrates was a physician from the Periclean age of ancient Greece
The treatise named On Human Nature, the most famous Hippocratic work, described the routes of the four pairs of major blood vessels and the use of bloodletting therapy to treat symptoms corresponding to their dysfunctions [2]
As the early descriptions of Mai contained in the history of traditional Chinese medicine are very close to the contents describing blood vessels in the Hippocratic Corpus, this article attempts to discuss the relationship between ancient Chinese and Western medicine by comparing these contents, and the primary comparable contents between these two literatures were compiled in Supplementary Tables 1 and Supplementary Table 2, while taking into consideration The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine as well
Summary
Hippocrates (around 460–377 BC) was a physician from the Periclean age of ancient Greece. In 1973, medical classics on silk scrolls were unearthed from tomb No 3 in Mawangdui (马 王 堆) Among these unearthed literatures, the term Mai appeared for the first time in the history of traditional Chinese medicine in the Cauterization Canon of the Eleven Vessels of the Foot and Forearm (Zubi Shiyi Maijiujing, 足臂十一脉灸经). As the early descriptions of Mai contained in the history of traditional Chinese medicine are very close to the contents describing blood vessels in the Hippocratic Corpus, this article attempts to discuss the relationship between ancient Chinese and Western medicine by comparing these contents, and the primary comparable contents between these two literatures were compiled in Supplementary Tables 1 and Supplementary Table 2, while taking into consideration The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine as well
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