Recognition on the vital parts of the human body in traumatology, forensic medicine and acupuncture from Laoguanshan unearthed bamboo slips of metal-weapon-injury induced lethal symptoms

Abstract

Eleven bamboo slips of metal-weapon-injury induced lethal symptoms, unearthed in Laoguanshan, reflect the understanding of the vital parts of human body by ancient medical masters. Through the longitudinal research of Laoguanshan unearthed bamboo slips of metal-weapon-injury induced lethal symptoms, and the handed-down literature on this aspect, the doubts remained have been clarified on the annotation and the interpretation of Laoguanshan medical bamboo slips; and the reliable road signs been discovered on the path for collating the sources of handed-down literature on metal-weapon injury, and this path had been failed to deepening. Through the horizontal comparison of metal-weapon injury with forensic medicine and acupuncture, it is found that the understanding of the vital parts of the human body, obtained through various ways in thousands of years, is highly agreed with among metal-weapon injury, forensic medicine and acupuncture, except for the differences in the terminology among different disciplines, and the discrepancy in ancient and modern literature because of the misunderstandings of the previous literature by later generations within the same discipline. Therefore, the multi-dimensional evidences have been obtained to support the recognition of the vital parts of the human body in traumatology, reflected in the Laoguanshan bamboo slips of metal-weapon-injury induced lethal symptoms. Additionally, the reliability of the relevant discipline theories, e.g. acupuncture and forensic examination, has been strongly confirmed. It provides a very typical case for solving major academic problems by applying the "dual-attestation method" to research unearthed and handed-down literature. Moreover, it explores a novel approach to the academic study of traditional Chinese medicine, especially to the effective communication among different disciplines.