Hiding in Plain Sight‐ancient Chinese anatomy

Abstract

For thousands of years, scientists have studied human anatomy by dissecting bodies. Our knowledge of their findings is limited, however, both by the subsequent loss of many of the oldest texts, and by a tendency toward a Eurocentric perspective in medicine. As a discipline, anatomy tends to be much more familiar with ancient Greek texts than with those from India, China, or Persia. Here, we show that the Mawangdui medical texts, entombed in the Mawangdui burial site in Changsha, China 168 BCE, are the oldest surviving anatomical atlas in the world. These medical texts both predate and inform the later acupuncture texts which have been the foundation for acupuncture practice in the subsequent two millennia. The skills necessary to interpret them are diverse, requiring the researcher firstly to read the original Chinese, and secondly to perform the anatomical investigations that allow a reviewing of the structures that the texts refer to. Acupuncture meridians are considered to be esoteric in nature, but these texts are clearly descriptions of the physical body. As such, they represent a previously hidden chapter in the history of anatomy, and a new perspective on acupuncture.

Bygone theatres of events: A history of human anatomy and dissection

“…Parallel connections between anatomy, medicine, and spiritualism were drawn from the dissection of animals and the physical observation and examination of both living and dead human bodies, contributing to early texts in China (Loukas, Ferrauiola, Shoja, Tubbs, & Cohen‐Gadol, 2010; Shaw et al, 2020), India (Loukas et al, 2010; Rajgopal, Hoskeri, Bhuiyan, & Shyamkishore, 2002), and Greece (Ghosh, 2015; Marketos & Skiadas, 1999). In traditional Chinese medicine, for example, many descriptions of anatomy include a circulating vital life force, qi (Shaw et al, 2020), the harmonious dualism of yin and yang , and a delicate balance of the five elements (wood, fire, water, earth, and metal) or wu xing (Loukas, Ferrauiola, et al, 2010).…”

“…Records from ancient Persia indicate that the bodies of condemned criminals were used for dissection and medical research during the Achaemenian Dynasty (sixth to fourth centuries BCE) (Shoja & Tubbs, 2007). Shaw and colleagues argue that anatomical descriptions contained within the ancient Chinese Mawangdui medical texts (Figure 1), constituting an atlas written in the third century BCE but (unlike Herophilus's contemporaneous work) surviving to be discovered in 1973 CE, were also arrived at via systematic dissection (Shaw et al, 2020). In South Asia, where Ayurvedic tradition gave rise to a plenitude of medical and anatomical manuscripts written in Sanskrit (Wujastyk, 2008), there is evidence that human dissection may have begun in a limited setting at the same time or earlier.…”

Persistent median artery may explain the transition from 11 to 12 meridians in ancient Chinese medicine

“…In the arm, however, the presence of radial and ulnar arteries is a common pattern in most individuals, especially in the ancient time. So, the theory of Two Hand Yin Meridians was dominant in the early phase of Chinese medicine (Shaw, 2020).…”

“…The texts provided details on the original sites, distribution pathways, pathology, and related diseases of 11 meridians. A recent report suggested that the meridian pathways described in Mawangdui medical texts are earliest anatomical atlas equivalent to the lost Greek anatomy book (Shaw et al, 2020).…”

Three hand yin meridians in ancient Chinese medicine were established initially based on arterial structures

“…This is further supported by descriptions from the silk meridian books unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb (221‐168 BC). Among the 11 meridians initially described the two yin meridians in the forearm, namely Hand Shao Yin Meridian and Hand Tai Yin Meridian, correspond almost exactly with the paths of ulnar and radial arteries, respectively (Shaw et al, 2020). It was also stated in the silk books (Ma, 1980) that (1) pulses can be detected in yin meridians (no mention of yang meridians); (2) both hand yin meridians start from the heart and end at the wrists; (3) the pathology of hand yin meridians includes angina and necrosis of internal organs, and (4) patients suffering from acute illness of yin meridians (not yang meridians) may die quickly in days (heart attack?).…”