.
Pre-history period (before 2200BC):
Our ancestors developed medicines to cure sickness and injuries far long time ago. Myths say that there was a tribe leader called Shennongshi (神農氏) tried hundreds of herbs and started the use of herbal medicine in China. In fact, Shennongshi was probably a large tribe. And during its rule, people accumulated their experiences and popularized the use of herbal medicine. Later, another tribe leader called the Yellow Emperor appointed a couple of ministers to develop herbal medicine. They wrote some books about medicine. But of course, the research at that time was not enough and many of those books can just give us some basic concepts about the ancient medicine.
Feudalism period (2200-770BC):
Slavery system began in China after the pre-history period. The Xia Dynasty (夏朝) was established in about 2200BC as the first formal hereditary and feudalist monarchy. After it, the Shang Dynasty (商朝) and the Western Zhou Dynasty (西周) ruled China. The kings made use of religion to rule. Sorcery, by which witch doctors cured people, then developed rapidly. The government set up various religious and medical departments, which helped the development of herbal medicine. People acquired much more knowledge about medicine and human body. Important breakthroughs were made during the three dynasties.
Warring States period (770-221BC):
In 770BC, the Western Zhou Dynasty moved its capital eastwards owing to the barbarians' invasion in the west. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty (東周) soon became a figurehead of the hundreds of feudal states. Wars occurred everyday and thus the afterwards period was called the Warring States period (春秋戰國, 770-221BC). To strengthen themselves, the feudal states developed medicine for the armies. Civil hygiene was also very important. During this period, public wells protected people from drinking unclean water, and 'refrigerators' occurred in the aristocrats' residences to prevent food from rotting.
The Qin and Han Dynasties (221BC-AD220)
In 221BC, one of the feudal states, Qin (秦), unified China again and ended the feudalism. Although the civil war ended, people's live became even worse under Qin's rule because the emperor always abused manpower to conquer the barbarians and to build the Great Wall. In 202BC, four years after the Qin Dynasty collapsed, one of the revolutionary armies built the Western Han Dynasty (西漢). In 25AD, a Western Han royal family member rebuilt the dynasty after the 17-year interregnum (新朝). The Eastern Han Dynasty (東漢) ruled China until AD220.
During the Han Dynasties, breakthroughs were made in astronomy, diagnosis and clinical medicine. Besides, doctors began to make records about the medical cases. A well-known doctor, Huatuo (華陀) was living in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was good at surgery. He made the oldest narcotic, Mafeisan (麻沸散), which was made of herbs. Unfortunately, most of his writings and prescriptions, including the one of Mafeisan, were lost.
.
Go to the next page
Back to the Contents