Development of Psychiatry in Xi'an, China

Abstract

Xi’an had been for more than a thousand years, the capital of ancient China. It was the capital of the first Chinese empire (Qin) under the rule of Shihuangdi (259210 B.C.) who built the Great Wall. At around 200 years B.C., when the Han Emperor cultivated the Silk Road, the capital also became the starting point of the commercial route to the West. Since then, it had remained the major cosmopolitan city of ancient China, and its importance was taken over by other cities only at around lo00 A.D. when maritime commerce flourished. Nowadays, Xi’an is a place for the uncovering of historical relics and the tracing of Chinese cultural heritage and traditions. The development of and the state of psychiatry in Xi’an is hence also a good reflection of how ancient Chinese thoughts on mental health, under the influence of western medicine, has evolved into the modem psychiatry that is in China today. Ancient Chinese thoughts on mental health For the ancient Chinese, mental health was the concern of philosophy as much as medicine. In the Confucian thoughts, a lot are practical instructions on how to maintain mental health and make harmonious adjustments with nature and society 1’1. Taoism considered diseases, including mental ones, to be due to deviations of one’s living habits from the way of the Tao (the natural way). Buddhism reached China through the Silk Road. Offering a special view of the universe and life, its teachings also include many types of