Schwerpunkt Medizingeschichte – Teil 3: Wechselwirkungen – Zum „Traité inédit de l'acupuncture et du Moxa chez les Japonais” in J. B. Sarlandières „Mémoires sur l’Électro-Puncture” (1825)

Abstract

In 1825 Jean Baptiste Sarlandière published „Traité inédit de l'acupuncture et du Moxa chez les Japonais”. It was the second translation of a Japanese script on acupuncture and moxa disseminated in Europe. According to contemporaries and later generations, it reflects the common tradition of Japanese and Chinese. However, on closer inspection it turns out to be an eclectic text drawing on Chinese-Korean sources, having been shaped during a time of upheaval when the so-called traditional Japanese Medicine emancipated from the Chinese model and even picked up western elements. The history of emergence and transmission of this document demonstrates, on one side, the multifaceted character and the dynamics of medical development in Japan, while at the same time it shows the difficulties of its reception in Europe.