The Creation of the Mythical Tangyejing 
Sabine Wilms, PhD
Since receiving her doctorate in East Asian Studies and Medical Anthropology from the University of Arizona in 2002, Dr. Wilms has devoted her professional life to making ancient medical wisdom, including that of Sun Simiao, available to today’s practitioners. Her goal is to provide them with the resources needed to rise above the level of technician to become “high-level” practitioners capable of facilitating true transformation in the lives of their patients.
April 23, 2021-April 23, 2021 1:00 PM-5:00 PM
Room: zoom
4 Category 1 CAB units available
Type: Live on Zoom
Description:
In this course, Dr. Wilms will discuss the fascinating story behind a medieval manuscript on medicinal substances and formulas. Titled Fuxingjue zangfu yongyao dayao (“Secret Tips for Helpful Action: The Key to Using Medicinals on the Zangfu Organs”), it has recently become known in the West as “Tangyejing” or “Decoction Classic.” The long and controversial 4000-year-long history of this text takes us from the kitchen of the ancient Shang kings to the discovery of a hidden Buddhist cave in a sleepy desert outpost in the early twentieth century, the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, and finally to its current resurgence as an introductory text on Chinese medicinals and formulas in the West. In the course of this story, Dr. Wilms will also touch on medieval Daoism as the source of medical knowledge, the meaning and boundaries of “classical Chinese medicine,” and the importance of collaboration between medical historians and clinicians.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Recount the history of the Fuxingjue
- Identify how the Fuxingjue relates to the mythological Tangyejing and the Shanghanlun/Jingui
- Think critically about historical texts, how they can be evaluated and understood in accordance with historical accuracy and clinical reality.