Part 1

Mapping the Body: Space, Time and Gender

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2 Picturing the Body in Chinese Medical and Daoist Texts from the Song to the
Qing Period (10th to 19th Centuries)
Catherine Despeux

This chapter considers visual images (tu 圖) of the human presentation of a text; and for the Daoists, manifesting the
body created in China over the thousand years from the Song form of the true body.
to the Qing period in the contexts of medicine and Daoist
internal visualisation. In particular, it takes a closer look at
the relatively neglected field of forensic medicine, and the Images of the Whole Body
contested issue of dissection. By focusing on the context in
which body images were produced, and their textual and Representations of the whole body fall into f ive sub-
intertextual environment, it aims to arrive at a clearer and cate­gories: 1. illustrations of gymnastic movements;​​
more nuanced understanding of the ways in which these 2. illustrations of landmarks on the surface of the skin, i.e.
images were intended to be read. In the process, it will chal- acupuncture and moxibustion locations; 3. depictions of the
lenge culture-specific assumptions about the construction paths of the channels and tracts; 4. illustrations showing
of the body and the functions of illustration. the positions of the bones and somatic measurements,
Despite much common theoretical background, bodily intended as a guide to the configuration and relative pro-
representation in medical and Daoist texts differs in func- portions of constituent elements of the body; 5. forensic
tion and intent. Different spheres of knowledge came to be charts of the body used for post mortem examinations.
associated with distinct accounts of the body. For medicine The common feature uniting all these types of images is
in general, this was the description of the viscera and the that the body – sometimes clothed and sometimes naked
channels and tracts through which Qi and humours flowed; – is rendered in outline only, albeit with increasing sophis-
for forensic medicine, it was the description of the skeleton; tication. Elements inside the outline, if any, are confined
for Daoism, it was the symbolic description of the body as to circles, black dots and simple lines. Measurements and
the spatio-temporal locus of a system of significant corre- proportions are not accurately reproduced. Often, though
spondences that permeated the natural and spirit worlds. not always, the images bear captions.
The examples that I will discuss here include charts and
diagrams as well as more figurative illustrations, embracing
various aspects of the body and processes that take place Representations of Gymnastic Movements
within the body or relate to it. Body imagery in fine art, (Daoyin 導引)
though clearly relevant to the discussion, lies beyond the
scope of the present chapter. The choice of period is in The earliest known representations of gymnastic move­
part dictated by necessity, as very few images of the body ments (daoyin) are contained in a silk scroll of the Han
survive from before the last millennium, but it also reflects ­period (prior to 168 bce), discovered in a tomb at Mawang­
a huge expansion in the use of graphic representations (tu) dui 馬王堆, near Changsha (Hunan province), which is
that took place in the Song. described in the preceding chapter.1 Thereafter, we find
Broadly speaking, the images fall into three categories, no further gymnastic images for more than 10 centuries,
exemplifying three different approaches to the body: even though we know from bibliographic catalogues that
images of the whole body approached from the exterior, they continued to be produced.
including gymnastic postures, locations on the body, so- Extant examples from the Song and Ming periods such
matic measurements, channels and tracts; images of the as Zhou Lüjing’s 周履靖 Chifeng sui 赤鳳髓 (Bone Marrow
inside of the body, i.e. the internal organs and the skeleton of the Red Phoenix), late 16th century,2 or Hu Wenhuan’s
(which raises issues regarding dissection); and images of the 胡文煥 Shouyang congshu 壽養叢書 (Collected Texts on
symbolic body, i.e. alchemical processes within the body Longevity and Maintaining Life), late 16th century (see Fig.
and the true form of the allegorical body. They are almost 1), are undoubtedly more sophisticated and more elaborate
always accompanied by text, and like text, they require to than their Han counterparts; nonetheless they follow the
be read according to specific cultural codes. They reveal
particular mental constructions of the body. They perform 1 See Lo, Introduction, p. 8; Wang, Chapter 1, pp. 39–40, Fig. 1.1, in
multiple functions, serving as proof of knowledge, teaching this volume.
material, medium of transmission, memory aid, or graphic 2 Translated in Despeux 1988.

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54 despeux

Figure 2.1 Gymnastic pose. From Shouyang congshu 壽養叢書 Figure 2.2 Moxibustion points. From Jiujing 灸經 (Moxibustion
(Collected Texts on Self-Cultivation and Longevity) by Hu Classic), anon., Tang period
Wenhuan 胡文煥, late 17th century

same conventions and are codified in the same manner. (Fig. 2).3 They differ from the image type discussed in the
The pictures are accompanied by text, either on the same following section, where the points are shown strung out
page – above, beside or below the figure – or on the facing along lines representing the channels and tracts.4 These
page, and they seem to be essentially didactic in intention, diagrams form a pendant to texts describing the points
i.e. they provide the literate reader with a guide to the themselves, their location and their therapeutic uses. So far
movements recommended to treat particular illnesses or as we can tell, they served as a visual aid, complementing
to promote longevity. Most of the poses shown are static and supporting the oral transmission of medical knowledge
ones; some dynamic poses are suggested by depicting a and the practical training received from a master. They
single stage in the course of a movement, but they would helped the apprentice physician to map the points on to
be impossible to execute on the basis of the visual infor- physical space and to memorise their location.
mation alone. Here, the image is ancillary to the text; its
function is to provide a schema enabling the user to orient Representations of the Channels with Acu-Moxa Points
his/her body in physical space. Acu-moxa charts, showing the channels with the points
located on them, are reliably attested from the 6th century
Representations of Acu-Moxa Locations on the Body ce. In tandem with canonical texts, they performed both
These are labelled diagrams, consisting of a schematic out- a didactic and a normative function. The famous Tang
line drawing of a naked human figure, with a head, torso physician Sun Simiao 孫思邈 (581–682) writes in Qianjin
and four limbs. Acupuncture and moxibustion points are yaofang 千金要方 (Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold
indicated by black or white circles, which are linked by lines Pieces), c. 652:
to captions outside the outline, giving the name of the point
and/or its location in relation to a bodily landmark (e.g. ‘3
cun [Chinese inches] below the navel’, ‘on the inside of the
3 Most of them are now in the Stein collection (S.5737, S.6168,
lower knee’). The earliest surviving images of this kind are S.6262, P.2675); cf. Lo 2005. See also Lo and Yoeli-Talim, Chapter
the moxibustion charts in the Tang medical manuscripts 19 in this volume, pp. 276--277, Figs 19.4 a and b.
from Dunhuang, rediscovered in the early 20th century 4 Images of this type appear, for example, in Zhenjiu zisheng jing
針灸資生經 by the Song author Wang Zhizhong 王執中 and in
Zhenjiu jing 針灸經, an anonymous text of the Song period.

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picturing the body in chinese medical and daoist texts 55

Figure 2.3 Jing fahui 十四經發揮 (Exposition of the 14 Channels)

by Hua Shou 滑壽 (13th century). © Library of China
Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

Figure 2.4 Composite chart of the channels and tracts. From Zhenjiu
dacheng 針灸大成 (Compendium of Acupuncture and
Moxibustion) by Yang Jizhou 楊繼洲, 1601

The practitioner can familiarise him/herself with the by various other such projects in the course of the Song
points through the engravings and find out their distances and Ming periods.8
from one another from the text; thus the doctor becomes The illustrations that have come down to us include
imbued with the knowledge of them and can locate them
both diagrams of individual channels and composite charts
effortlessly.5 (Fig. 3)
offering an overview of several channels, as in Zhenjiu
This dual function was reinforced in the Song period by Dacheng 針灸大成 (Compendium of Acupuncture and
an official standardisation project that involved not only Moxibustion), 1601, by Yang Jizhou 楊繼州 (see Fig. 4).9
two-dimensional charts of the body but also three-dimen- Each figure is drawn in a posture designed to show the
sional ‘Bronze Man’ figurines showing the channels and course of the channel with maximum clarity, according
acu-moxa locations,6 which were used as a teaching aid to whether it runs along the inside or outside of the limbs,
at the Imperial College and for official examinations. It for example.
should be noted that the Bronze Man opened up to reveal a
set of wooden viscera within.7 This initiative was followed

5 Beiji qianjin yaofang, juan 29, p. 508; see also Despeux 1985, p.
134. 8 Ma 1993.
6 See also Goldschmidt 2004. 9 This work contains two charts, a front view and a back view.
7 See Ma 1993. Zhenjiu dacheng, juan 6, pp. 189–90.

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56 despeux

Representations Showing the Positions of the Bones

and Somatic Measurements
Whereas the three types of representations discussed
above have existed since antiquity, somatographic charts
providing information about the relative proportions of
the parts of the body, and the distances between them,
are a relatively recent phenomenon. One of the earliest
known charts of this kind can be dated to the 14th cen-
tury.10 From that time onward, we begin to see images of
the body with inscriptions inside the outline, giving the
names of the bones and their measurements according to
the two relevant chapters of the Huangdi neijing黃帝內經
(The Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor).11 Such images
became increasingly common in the late Ming (17th centu-
ry).12 These somatographic charts show a two-dimensional
arrangement of a series of terms, which are also given in
the accompanying text. They are clearly not to be read as Figure 2.5 Model representation of the body used in forensic med-
a literal rendering of visible objects, but as a kind of mne- icine. From Yuandian zhang 元典章 (Compendium of
monic route-map facilitating the acquisition of knowledge. Statutes and Sub-Statutes of the Yuan Dynasty), 1322

Images of the Body as Forensic Documents format for the documents to be completed and submitted
Forensic body charts consisted of a schematic outline by the coroner (Fig. 5).
drawing of a human body, to be filled in with notes on For the examination of injuries to the corpse, a standard
injuries, diseased parts etc. Charts showing the back and format already exists. Nowadays, the officials who govern
front view of the body were included in case documents, the people have no regard for human life… . After deliber-
ation, we have instituted two engravings of the dead body,
and used in drawing up death certificates. These charts
a front view and a back view. We command the govern-
were first circulated in 1211 at the suggestion of Xu Sidao ment of each circuit (lu 路) to print a reproduction of the
徐似道, a judge from Jiangxi. Initially, they were printed master copy and to mark [the reproductions] with a sign.
and distributed in Hunan and Guangxi.13 They were sub- After checking that the seals and inscriptions correspond
sequently revised by the Minister of Punishment, who had [to the original], [the government of the lu] will send the
them disseminated throughout the legal circuits. copies to the prefectures and sub-prefectures, which will
set up an archive where they will keep them locked away.
Shortly after this, we find an edict in the early 14th-cen- If there should be [a case requiring] the examination of
tury Yuandian zhang 元典章 (Compendium of Statutes and a corpse, the precise time [of death] will immediately be
Sub-Statutes of the Yuan Dynasty) establishing a standard established, and notification will be sent to the nearest
official Bureau that it is not otherwise engaged. The latter
will, as a matter of urgency, designate someone to convey
the official documents and will also assign a senior official,
10 It is entitled Yangren chicunzhi tu 仰人尺寸之圖 (Image of who will be accompanied by an employee and a forensic
Measure­ments on the Recumbent Person) and is found in Shisi expert; the official will bring three copies of the picture
jing fahui 十四經發揮 by Hua shou 滑壽. of the corpse (shizhang 屍帳) that was received previously
11 Huangdi neijing, Lingshu 靈樞, ch. 14, ‘Gudu pian’ 骨度篇 (Mea- and will proceed rapidly to the place where the corpse is
surements of the Bones); Suwen 素問, ch. 60, ‘Gukong lun’ 骨空 laid out… . He will describe the [state of the] entire body.
論 (Interstices of the Bones). As for any injuries to the corpse, he will record on the
12 See for example: Leijing tuyi 類經圖翼 by Zhang Jiebin 張介 previously drawn [engraving of the] body, in the places
賓 (1624); Sancai tuhui 三才圖會 (1607) by Wang Qi 王圻 and corresponding to the injured parts, whether the wounds
Wang Siyi 王思義, and the engravings edited in 1731 by Wuying
are wide or narrow, deep or superficial.14
dian 武英殿.
A master copy of these engravings, dated 1304, is preserved
13 Cf. Jianyan zhengbei renxing 檢驗正背人形圖 by Xu Sidao 徐
思道. These models are described in the Southern Song period,
in the Yuan Statutes.15 The images themselves are crudely
in Qingyuan tiaofa shilei 慶元條法事類. They are not the earli-
est known representations of the corpse; this work is pre­dated 14 See Ratchewsky 1937, vol. 4, p. 224.
by Jianyan gemu 檢驗格目 by Zheng Guangshang 鄭光尚 (see 15 Yuandian zhang, juan 43 on the Minister of Punishment, pt 5 on
Jia Jingtao 1983, p. 7). homicide.

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picturing the body in chinese medical and daoist texts 57

executed and devoid of captions, but they are prefaced by a a discipline ‘useful to medical and artistic practice’. The
list of the main parts of the body that had to be examined teaching of dissection, hitherto merely tolerated, was
and reported on. In the Qing period, the Bureau of the formally authorised by Pope Clement vii (r. 1523–34), after
Ministry of Punishment had in its possession an official an- which dissection became more generally practised.18 Thus
notated edition of Xiyuan lu 洗冤錄 (Treatise for Washing the 16th century marked a turning point in the knowledge
Away Injustice), which incorporated the engravings.16 of the body in Europe, thanks to an increase in dissections,
This work re-appears as an appendix to Da Qing lüli 大清 coupled with increasingly sophisticated representational
律例 (Code of the Great Qing), in a version made in 1740 techniques, as displayed in the drawings of da Vinci, for
with captions above the images rather than beside them. example. Throughout the century, ‘new relationships
As we have seen, these forensic images served a clearly between painting and nature, precise observation and a
defined purpose; though they indubitably facilitated the demand for accuracy played a vital role both in anatomy
transmission of knowledge, their primary function was as and in natural history’.19
official and legal documents. It is often said that dissections were rarely carried out in
China because Confucian society attached such high im-
portance to keeping the body intact, considering entry into
Inside the Body: the Organs and Skeleton the otherworld with a mutilated body to be an act of filial
impiety, which might have all manner of evil consequences.
Internal Organs and Dissection This does not seem to me to be an adequate explanation.
The late Five Dynasties (mid-10th century) and Song periods If dissection had been seen as particularly useful, in the
saw the rise of an image type that does not set out to depict first place more dissections could have been performed on
the body as a self-contained whole with head, trunk and condemned criminals (a documented practice); and in the
limbs outlined; instead the torso and internal organs are second place, people would have overcome their scruples,
drawn without any surrounding contours. These images are leading to a general shift in attitudes.
sometimes accompanied by details of individual viscera. The earliest recorded dissection in China took place in
The torso is shown from three angles: from the front, 16 ce, during the reign of Wang Mang 王莽, when a certain
back and side. At f irst sight, it is not recognisable as a Sun Qing 孫慶 was captured and executed. According to
human body at all, although its identity becomes clear the biography of Wang Mang, he personally ordered Shang
once one notices the rather realistic internal organs. The Fang 尚方, a physician of the Imperial Academy (taiyi 太
captions and accompanying texts are very helpful, if not 醫), to have the corpse dissected by skillful butchers, in
indispensable, in reading the image. order to measure the size and capacity of the organs, and
In most cases, we know the circumstances in which to trace the course of the vessels (mai 脈) with slivers of
the images were produced and the purpose for which bamboo to find out where they began and ended, so as to
they were intended, i.e. they were created by official re- be able to treat illnesses more effectively.20
quest in the context of dissections. In this regard they are Thus it seems that Chinese people were aware, from
comparable to anatomical drawings made in the West. antiquity, of the advantages that could accrue to medicine
However, one cannot but be struck by the diversity of the from improved knowledge of the body, and of the pro-
finished products. gress that could thereby be achieved in treating disease.
In China, dissection had far less impact than it did in Nonetheless, we have no definite evidence of any further
the West – albeit at a rather late date. In fact, the f irst dissections until 1041, even though it is likely that others
Western anatomical illustrations showing the human took place in the intervening centuries. For instance,
body are crudely executed and rather naïve.17 Dissection Hua Tuo 華佗 (?–208? ce), the personal physician of Cao
only really developed with the rise of the school of Padua Cao 曹操, father of the future ruler of Wei, may well have
in the 16th century. The Church is often unjustly accused carried out dissections,21 and if so, he would presumably
of preventing dissections, but this was by no means the have done so in an official capacity.
case. If anything, it played the role of facilitator in the
development of anatomical knowledge. In a papal bull
18 Ibid., p. 8.
issued in 1472, Pope Sextus iv acknowledged anatomy as
19 Ibid., p. 11.
20 Hanshu, juan 99, biography of Wang Mang王芒, p. 4,145.
16 Lüliguan jiaozheng Xiyuan lu 律例館校正洗冤錄 in juan 4, dat- 21 A text entitled Hua Tuo neishi 華陀內視 is listed in the Liang
ed 1694 (ed. Fu Sinian). catalogue (see Suishu, juan 34, p. 1,041). In the opinion of Ma
17 Grmek and Bernabeo 1997, pp. 10–11. Jixing, it is the work of one of Hua Tuo’s disciple, and neishi sig-

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58 despeux

In 1041, 56 rebels led by Ou Xifan 歐希范 were captured

and put to death by Du Qi 杜杞, the Imperial Commissar
(anfushi 按撫史) charged with pacifying the circuits of
Guangnan and Guangxi. He had their abdomens dissected
and directed an official of the Prefecture called Wu Jian
吳簡 (or Lingjian 靈簡 according to some sources) to com-
mission artists to make drawings of the internal organs.
These were published as Ou Xifan wuzang tu 歐希範五臟
圖 (Images of the Five Viscera of Ou Xifan). These events
are described by several contemporary writers;22 and Shen
Gua 沈括 (1033–97) criticises the drawings and points out
an error in them,23 implying that he actually saw them.
This dissection, like the one ordered by Wang Mang in
the Han period, was carried out by official command on
Figure 2.6 Representation of the trunk and its organs according to
executed war criminals. The crucial difference is that it
Yanluozi. From Xiuzhen shishu 修真十書 (Ten Books on
was attended not only by doctors but also by officials and
Cultivating Perfection), c. 1250. dz 263, juan 18
artists, who were required to draw the internal organs.
Regrettably the drawings have not survived.
Another series of dissections took place in the Ou Xifan dissections.26 In the preface to Yang Jie’s Cunzhen
Chongning 崇寧 era (1102–6) under similar circumstanc- huanzhong tu 存真環中圖 (1118) by Jia Weijie 賈偉節 of
es, and once again anatomical drawings were made. In Luoyang, we read:
Sizhou 泗州 (in the modern province of Jiangsu), a group Yang Jie, styled Jilao 吉老, observed and drew the actual
of rebels were executed, and the Prefect Li Yuxing 李夷 form of the five viscera. He examined the depictions of the
行 summoned doctors and artists to examine the bodies. viscera made by Yanluozi 煙蘿子, arranged and amended
them; he then added the 12 channels and entitled his work
They dissected the tissues, removed the diaphragm and
Cunzhen huanzhong 存真環中.27
sketched the curves and meanders of the inside of the
body. They were allowed to examine and draw everything These images by Yanluozi – the ‘Master of the Smoke
in detail. Yang Jie 楊介, a famous doctor from Sizhou,24 Curtain’, who was active during the Tianfu era (936–41) of
known to have treated the Emperor Huizong (r. 1101–25),25 the Later Jin dynasty,28 are preserved in the 13th-century
corrected the engravings from the original drawings and Daoist encyclopaedia Xiuzhen shishu 修真十書 (Ten Books
pronounced them far superior to those created from the on Cultivating Perfection), c. 1250 (see Fig. 6).29 There are six
altogether, including, notably, a front view and a back view
nifies ‘observe and examine the form of the internal organs’, of the trunk and its viscera. Their titles contain the term
indicating the practice of dissection. See Ma Jixing 1990, p. 136. neijing 內境 (internal view, inner landscape, inscape), and
22 The sources are: Dongzhai jishi, juan xia; Mengqi bitan, juan 26, they were presumably intended for people who practised
art. 480, pp. 827–9; Yanxia fangyan, ed. in Shuofu, juan 29, vol. internal visualisation techniques (the images are accom-
5; Bintuilu ed. in Shuofu, p. 234, where the official is named as panied by a text by Yanluozi on inward contemplation,
Lingjian 靈簡 of Yi Zhou; Jutan lu, 32–33. On all these sources,
neiguan 內觀). We know nothing of the background to the
see Okanishi 1958, p. 297.
creation of these images, which are exactly reproduced in
23 He writes: ‘Human beings are said to have three orifices in the
throat: one for fluids, one for solid food and the third one for an illustrated commentary on Bashiyi nanjing 八十一難
air. This is completely wrong. The true images of the five viscera 經 (The Classic of 81 Difficult Issues [in the Inner Canon
of Ou Xifan, which are widely transmitted, do indeed contain of the Yellow Emperor]) by Li Jiong 李駉 (1269).30 They
drawings of three orifices. Probably the examination was not coincide with Yang Jie’s engravings in all respects but one,
carried out thoroughly enough. Solid and liquid foods are ac-
tually swallowed simultaneously, so how could they possibly
enter the gullet separately? In fact, the human body has only 26 This is recorded in Junzhai dushu houzhi 郡齋讀書後志, juan 2,
two orifices [in the throat]: the larynx (yan 咽) and the pharynx 31a–b (in Siku quanshu, 674, pp. 405–6).
(hou 喉). The pharynx is the conduit for liquid and solid food- 27 Miyashita Saburo 1968, pp. 148–9.
stuffs, and the larynx allows air to enter…’. Mengqi bitan, juan 26, 28 See Chen 1963, p. 284.
art. 480, pp. 827–9. 29 dz 263, Xiuzhen shishu, juan 18, 2a–3b.
24 See Gujin yitong daquan, juan 1. Compare Xu wenxian tongkao. 30 Huangdi bashiyi nanjing zhuyi tuxu lun 黃帝八十一難經注義
25 See Xu wenxian tongkao. 圖序論 preserved in the Daoist Canon, dz 1024.

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picturing the body in chinese medical and daoist texts 59

become numerous from that period onward, indicating

that the text was widely read. Wang Huling 汪琥苓 of Wu
(Suzhou) writes in his preface of 1668:
For a long time, this work was conserved in the Palace,
and few people were able to consult it. But in the Jiajing
era (1522–66), an administrative assistant of the Imperial
Academy of Medicine named Zhu Yuguo 周與國 made a
copy of it, which he kept secretly at his home. From his
grandchild Zhu Daozhou 周道州, I obtained a copy which
was in poor condition and not easily legible. The book was
in four juan, the first two containing Hua Tuo’s work, and
the second two containing additions by Guo 郭 and Yu 禹.32

It should be noted that Yang Jie’s images were republished

in Japan in 1304, in Ton-isho 頓醫鈔 by Kajiwara Seizen
Figure 2.7 Representation of the trunk and its organs. From Hua Tuo
椲原性全.33
xuanmen neizhao tu 華陀玄門內照圖 (Hua Tuo’s Im-
In these images, unlike those of Yanluozi as reprinted
ages for Internal Visualisation According to the Mystery
School) 13th century in Nanjing tuyi, the liver is shown in its actual location,
on the right. The first part of the text seems to have been
which is however extremely significant: the liver is shown written as a commentary on the Ou Xifan engravings,
on the left, in keeping with the theory of correspondences which it criticises on three main counts.
with the Five Agents and Five Directions, whereby the The first criticism echoes that of Shen Gua: there are
liver corresponds to ‘spring’ and ‘the left’. Yang Jie placed only two orifices in the throat, whereas the Ou Xifan en-
the liver on the right after attending dissections; this is gravings show three.34 We might note here that Shen Gua
one of the amendments to which Jia Weijie alludes in the justifies his assertion by reasoned argument: it would be
preface quoted above. mechanically impossible to keep solid food and liquids
It is worth noting that a text entitled Zhu tidian neijing apart, and therefore there cannot be two separate openings
lun 朱提點內境論 (Treatise on the Internal View [of the for them. The second criticism relates to the position of the
Body] According to Intendant Zhu) appears in Daozang liver: Hua Tuo’s Images for Internal Visualisation According
directly after Yanluozi’s work. The unknown author, who to the Mystery School states, without further explanation,
probably lived during the Song period, prior to 1250, seems that the liver is located on the right, in front of the right
to have seen examples of anatomical drawings of dissect- kidney and beside the stomach.35 The third criticism
ed bodies. In his treatise, he states that the therapeutic concerns the kidneys: in the engravings, they are shown
location for the liver is on the left, but the liver itself is higher in the body than the traditionally accepted location
located on the right (qi zhi zai zuo, qi wei zai you 其治在 – instead of being low down and close to the sides, they are
左，其位在右). He draws a comparison with the images of underneath the diaphragm, right next to the middle of the
Yanluozi, which he says tally with his own observations. spinal column; and they are surrounded by a membrane
He adds that the bodies of criminals have recently been with two vessels, the upper one connected to the heart and
dissected and examined in the marketplaces, making it the lower one joining the two kidneys together.
possible to ascertain that the throat does not, as errone- Sometimes quite separately and sometimes in con-
ously supposed, contain three orifices, one for fluids, one junction with these global representations of the trunk,
for solid food and one for air.31 we also find depictions of the individual viscera. They are
Yang Jie’s images of the viscera were incorporated into a attested in the Tang period (7th–10th centuries), i.e. even
version of Hua Tuo xuanmen neizhao tu 華 陀玄門內照圖 earlier than the former type of image. The bibliographic
(Hua Tuo’s Images for Internal Visualisation According to
the Mystery School), published by Sun Huan 孫煥 in 1273
32 See the manuscript edition preserved in Zhongyang tushuguan
(see Fig. 7). This work was composed in 1095 by Shen Zhu
中央圖書館, Taiwan. See also Daozang jinghua, vol. 14–2.
沈銖, a proofreader in the Imperial library and archives,
33 In ch. 44 of this text, preserved in Neikaku bunko in Kyoto, we
and subsequently appeared under various titles. Though also find images of the 12 channels and the viscera after Wu Jian
no editions survive from before the Ming dynasty, they 吳簡.
34 Hua Tuo xuanmen neizhao tu, 7a.
31 dz 263, Xiuzhen shishu, juan 18, 3b–5b. 35 Hua Tuo xuanmen neizhao tu, 8b.

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catalogue of the History of the Tang lists the titles of five

sets of illustrations of the viscera, all of which are repeat-
ed in the Song bibliographies.36 Only one of them is still
extant: Huangting wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭五臟六腑
補瀉圖 (Illustrations of the Reinforcement and Purging
of the Organs According to the Tradition of the Yellow
Court) by Hu Yin 胡愔 (preface dated 848), preserved in
the Ming Daoist Canon. The author, a female Daoist of the
Shangqing sect, states in her preface that she has consulted
various depictions of the viscera.37 The text gives a rudi-
mentary anatomical account of the viscera, based on the
ancient medical texts, chiefly the late Han Nanjing 难经
(Classic of Difficult Issues). However this merely serves
as an introduction to her main subject: the spirits which
reside in the organs according to the Shangqing tradition Figure 2.8 Representation of the lung. From Hua Tuo xuanmen
and which the adept must visualise and inwardly nurture, neizhao tu 華陀玄門內照圖 (Hua Tuo’s Images for Inter-
to maintain good health and achieve longevity. Strangely nal Visualisation) 13th century
enough, although the author is at pains to point out that
she has consulted several depictions of the viscera, the ( fl. 1688–92). Thus, despite the growth of dissection in the
existing version of the text contains no images. Ming period, and despite the spread of Western anatomical
During the Song period, drawings of individual vis- knowledge, rudimentary though this may have been, the
cera are associated with dissections and are found in format remained substantially unchanged right up until
conjunction with general views of the trunk and its vis- the beginning of the 19th century.
cera, especially those from Hua Tuo’s Images for Internal It was not until the early 19th century that the images
Visualisation According to the Mystery School, which were were revised and various errors were amended in Yilin
recycled without major changes throughout the Ming and gaicuo 醫林改錯 (Corrections of Errors in the Forest of
the Qing (see Fig. 8).38 These images are particularly elab- Medicine), 1822, in light of Western anatomical science and
orate in their treatment of the connections and junctions findings from further dissections (which had to be carried
between organs, illustrating an attempt to reflect upon out in secret because, officially, they were still banned).
and reproduce physiological mechanisms. The author, Wang Qingren 王清任 (1768–1831), embarked
These same images of the viscera reappear, with a few on his work only after 42 years of detailed observation.
variations, at the end of the 17th century in Yixue yuanshi It contains a section on the viscera and their functions,
醫學原始 (Origins of Medicine) by Wang Honghan 王宏韓 illustrated by labelled diagrams. He states explicitly that
greater knowledge of the internal organs is necessary to
avoid clinical errors. He was present at several executions,
36 These are: Wuse bangtong wuzang tu 五色傍通五臟圖 by the
and was able to examine the bodies.39 During a visit to
Tang author Pei Wangting 裴王廷, catalogued in Tangshu 唐
書, med­ical section (juan 59, p. 1,571), Chongwen zongmu 崇文 Luanzhou (Hebei province) in the second year of the Jiaqing
總目, juan 3, medical section 3, Tongzhi yiwenlüe 通志•藝文略 reign period (1797), he tells us that he saw the bodies of
(with the author named as Pei Guangting 裴光廷), and Songshi numerous children who had died in epidemics of mea-
yiwenzhi 宋史•藝文志; Wuse bangtong mingjian tu 五色傍通 sles and dysentery, as well as hundreds of disembowelled
明鑒圖 by Pei Yuanling 裴元靈 in one juan, listed in Chongw- corpses in mass graves, their internal organs exposed to
en zongmu and Tongzhi yiwenlüe, with the author named as the view. He says:
Tang Daoist Pei Xuanling 裴玄靈; Wuzang bangtong daoyang tu
五臟傍通導養圖 by Sun Simiao 孫思邈, list­ed in Bishusheng
que shumu 祕書省.闕書目, Tongzhi yiwenlüe and Songshi yi­
wenzhi; and Huangting neijing wuzang liufu tu 黃 庭 內 景 五 臟 39 In 1799, he attended the execution of a woman by dismember-
六 腑 圖, by the Tang author Hu Yin 胡愔, the only one to have ment. However, because of his gender, he was not allowed to
survived. approach the corpse, and had to view from afar the organs that
37 dz 432, Huangting wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭五臟六腑補瀉 the executioner held up to show him. In 1820, he attended the
圖, 2a. execution of a man found guilty of matricide. Unfortunately, he
38 See for example Sancai tu hui 三才圖會 (1607) and Leijing tuyi writes, the diaphragm tore before he had time to examine it. See
類經圖翼 (1624) by Zhang Jiebin. Unschuld 1985, pp. 212–13.

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I went past every day. At first, I had to hold my nose. But the Qing editions of the essential text of forensic medicine
then, considering how the ancients committed errors in Xiyuan lu 洗冤錄 (Treatise for Washing Away Injustice) by
their treatment of the viscera because they had never Song Ci 宋慈.41 Reports from judges of fraud and negligence
seen them for themselves, I no longer sought to avoid the
in the conduct of post-mortem examinations prompted the
filth and stench. Early each morning, I made my way to
the mass graves and closely examined the abdomens of Qing government to intervene by decreeing a new official
the corpses. After the dogs had eaten their fill, there was document representing the skeleton, aimed at reducing
generally nothing but the stomach and the intestines left; judicial errors (see Fig. 9).
as for the liver and the heart, scarcely three in 10 remained Like the acupuncture charts, images of the skeleton were
intact. Thus in the course of 10 days, I was able to examine produced by order of the emperor. On the 19th day of the
no less than 30 corpses.40
5th intercalatory month of the 35th year of the Qianlong era
It is significant that these dissections yielded only drawings (1770), an edict was proclaimed requiring the Minister of
of the viscera; there are no depictions of the skeleton, nor Punishment to have model engravings made for the forensic
do we find any mention of the limbs or head. Undoubtedly, examination of the bones, and to arrange for them to be
Chinese doctors tended to operate within the intellectual distributed in the various provinces.42 The resulting docu-
framework provided by the system of correspondences ment consisted of a text entitled Jian guge 檢骨格 (Norm for
of the five agents, in which a crucial role is assigned to the Autopsy of the Bones) with engravings for the autopsy
the ‘five viscera and six bowels’ as the functional organs of the bones ( jiangutu 檢骨圖). The latter were probably
which store or distribute the stuff of life. The muscles printed in Wuyingdian 武英殿 (the Hall of Martial Valour)
and tendons had little relevance to their clinical practice. in the emperor’s palace, which functioned as the imperial
Nor was the head of great interest, since the seat of the press. Four acupuncture charts, one including depictions
individual self was considered to be the heart. When, in of the viscera, had already been printed here in 1731; and
the mid-19th century, the theory that the soul resides in in 1742, it saw the publication of Yizong yindian 醫宗金鑒
the brain reached China from the West, it provoked much (The Bronze Mirror of Medicine), a medical encyclopaedia
controversy in medical circles. compiled by the Imperial Academy of Medicine, which
is referred to in Qing commentaries on the Treatise for
The Skeleton in Forensic Medicine Washing Away Injustice.
In the Chinese medical literature, there are no illustrations This project was set in train by Zeng Fu 增福, a provincial
of bones, let alone the whole skeleton. The one exception is judge from Anhui. Having noted that coroners’ reports were
the spinal column; partly because it provides the armature often falsified, and in view of the rapid onset of putrefac-
to which the organs are attached, but partly also because tion, he submitted a memorial to the emperor requesting
it was seen as a repository of vital forces, since spinal fluid the provision of a standard chart of the skeleton with the
was considered to partake of the same nature as sperm status of a legal document, to curb fraudulent practices.
and brain tissue. Therapy literature scarcely mentions the Apparently, Zeng Fu was personally entrusted with the
bones and skeleton, not even in relation to the treatment of task of devising the engravings and the accompanying text
fractures, which was not completely assimilated into the describing the skeleton, which he accomplished with the
learned tradition until the 13th century. Thus, references help of a team of experts:
to the bones are essentially confined to the literature of In the 35th year of the Qianlong era, the provincial judge of
acupuncture, where they function as landmarks, making Anhui received the imperial command to publish standard
it possible to locate the acu-moxa points and also, if re- engravings for the autopsy of the bones, and to have them
appended to the Treatise for Washing Away Injustice… . The
quired, to puncture the joints deeply without causing bone
plates are not the work of a single individual, and since
damage. In this context, which involved a practitioner each member of the team followed a particular master,
acting upon the body from outside, some visual images opinions differed on some points.43
were produced, but no actual drawings of the bones; as
mentioned previously, bone names were simply inscribed The earliest known exemplar was edited by a certain Wang
on various parts of the body. Youhuai 王又槐 (1796) (Fig. 9). The bones are roughly
The first representations of the skeleton appear in the drawn, and are separated from one another, giving the
context of forensic medicine, where the examination of the impression that they have been found scattered at a crime
skeleton figured largely. This eventually gave rise to sets
of engravings of the skeleton that were incorporated into 41 See Xiyuan lu, ch. 29, juan 4.
42 See Chongkan buzhu xiyuan lu jizheng, juan 5, 15a–19b.
40 Yilin gaicuo. 43 Preface to Xiyuan lu jie (1831), juan 6, 1.

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Figure 2.9 Xiyuan lu jizheng 洗冤錄集證 (Treatise on the Washing Away of Wrongs with Collected Evidence) by Wang Youhuai 王又槐 (1796).
© Library of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

scene and reassembled. There are captions written on the descriptions and depictions of the skeleton, which made
larger bones and beside the smaller ones, connected to them their belated appearance in the 18th century.
by lines. In some places, it is possible to see small white cir- The model engravings of 1770 soon came under criticism,
cles, which have been interpreted by later commentators as eliciting written commentaries, exposing and correcting
the locations of vital points, fatal or otherwise. Depictions various errors, as well as new drawings. A gulf opened
of the skeleton were constantly refined in the course of the up between text and images. Over the next century, nu-
Qing, and from the mid-19th century, they begin to show merous commentaries on the Treatise for Washing Away
the influence of Western styles of illustration.44 Injustice were published, reproducing the engravings of
These engravings of the skeleton reappear in the 19th 1770, while also criticising them and providing more ac-
century in two texts on traumatology. In fact, from the late curate descriptions of the bones of the skeleton, based not
Ming onward, there was a gradual rapprochement between only on the first-hand observations of coroners, but also
coroners (wuzuo 仵作) and physicians.45 Moreover, inter- on philological and terminological studies of the ancient
est in precise knowledge of the skeleton began to extend texts with special reference to medicine. There was thus a
beyond medical circles, to men of letters who associated constant interaction between image, personal experience
with missionaries and physicians. One of these was Shen and first-hand observation, and text.
Tong 沈 彤, the author of a short treatise entitled Shigu 釋
骨 (Exposition of the Skeleton) composed between 1736
and 1782, who was a friend of the renowned physician Xu The Symbolic Body and Transformative Processes
Dachun 徐大椿. Nonetheless, it was forensic medicine within the Body
that provided the motive force for the development of
If the body is fundamental to medicine, it is just as cen-
tral, if not more so, to Daoist practices. This is because
the body is not only the microcosm in which the adept
44 On this subject, see Catherine Despeux 2007.
must create order, but also the habitation of the gods who
45 For instance, the physician Sun Yikui 孫一奎 (c. 1522–1619) in-
corporated the chapter from Xiyuan lu on the examination of must be mastered and meditated upon, and the site of the
bones into his Yizhi xuyu 醫旨緒餘 Influence in the opposite transformations that lead to immortality and spiritual ful-
direction is shown by the increasing frequency with which Qing filment. Daozang 道藏 – The Daoist Canon, an anthology
commentaries on Xiyuan lu cite from medical sources. of Daoist texts compiled in 1445 – contains several images

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picturing the body in chinese medical and daoist texts 63

of the body, all symbolic and all dating from no earlier

than the Song.46

Alchemical Diagrams of Processes Taking Place

Inside the Body
I would like f irst of all to draw attention to a group of
images involving a very familiar motif, which is however
so habitually considered in a philosophical context as to
have lost all associations with the body. I refer to the Taiji
symbol (Taiji tu 太極圖, lit. Image of the Great Ultimate).
The cosmological model of the Taiji became established in
the Song period, giving rise to various types of images all
based on the motif of the circle.47 In the context of Daoist Figure 2.10 Taiji tu 太極圖 according to Chen Zhixu 陳致虛.From
internal alchemy, various images similar to the famous Shangyang zi jindan dayao tu 上陽子金丹大藥圖
Taiji tu of Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017–73), though sometimes (Images of the Golden Elixir of the Master of Upper Yang)
bearing different titles, are to be found incorporated into by Chen Zhixu, dz 1068
Ming and Qing texts. They show in diagrammatic form
the main transformative processes that take place within is placed vertically on the page, although no hierarchy is
the body in internal alchemy.48 One such diagram, which thereby implied. It mingles visual elements and text, with
unmistakably refers to the body, is the Taiji shunni tu 太 a circle motif representing completeness and generally
極順逆圖 (Chart of the Normal and Contrary Direction of suggesting the idea of unity. The bipolar contrast of Yin
the Taiji), found in a 14th-century text on internal alchemy, and Yang is conveyed through the use of black and white.
Shangyangzi jindan dayao tu 上陽子金丹大要圖 by Chen Written characters relate iconically to their referent – in
Zhixu 陳致虛 (see Fig. 10).49 the case of the Zhou Dunyi’s image, the five agents of the
Without entering into details, let us merely recall that five viscera, or in the Daoist images, the five ingredients
Zhou Dunyi’s diagram is believed to have be adapted from of internal alchemy (cinnabar, silver, mercury, lead and
an image by Chen Tuan 陳摶 (c. 906–89), a Daoist of the earth). Connections between different elements of the
Five Dynasties period, which was entitled Xiantian tu 先 image (viscera or agents) are shown by lines joining them
天圖 (Image of Former Heaven) according to some sources together.
or Wuji tu 無極圖 (Image of the Boundless) according to There is nothing in the title or appearance of the im-
others. As no examples of this putative original have sur- age to suggest that it has anything to do with the body;
vived, we have no definite proof that Chen Tuan’s image this transpires from the nature and composition of the
was a representation of the body and its processes, but it texts that accompany it. The image itself shows only the
seems highly likely that this was the case, and that Zhou main elements involved in the alchemical process: the
Dunyi and the Neo-Confucians turned it into a general spatio-temporal collocation, the trajectory to be followed,
cosmological model when they transposed it into a dif- the dynamics of the process, and the means of setting it in
ferent context. motion. The images are not susceptible to interpretation
All the available versions of this image, whether they go without an oral commentary or supporting text. Apart
by the name of Taiji tu 太極圖, Wuji tu 無極圖 or Xiantian tu from the different kinds of inscriptions that they bear,
先天圖, have certain features in common. First, the design Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji tu and the images from the internal
alchemy tradition differ fundamentally in the direction
46 For a more detailed discussion of this subject, see Despeux 2006. in which they are required to be read: the former is read
47 On the concept of Taiji in internal alchemy, see Robinet 1990. from top to bottom, the latter from bottom to top. This
48 The main diagrams of this kind are Taiji miaohua shenling hun- is confirmed in a commentary by Huang Zongyan 黃宗
dong chiwenzhi tu太極妙化神靈混洞赤文之圖. They were
炎 (17th century)50 on an image named as Wuji tu and
inserted into Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing tongyi
元始無量度人上品妙經通義 by the Ming author Zhang Yu-
attributed to Chen Tuan.
chu 張宇初, a commentary on the Song text Yuanshi wuliang It would be a task far beyond the scope of this chapter
duren shangpin miaojing neiyi 元始無量度人上品妙經內義 to compile an exhaustive list of all the images from the
蕭 (Scripture of Universal Salvation) by Xiao Yingsou 蕭應叟 Daoist Canon representing alchemical processes within
(Preface of 1226), dz 89 (fasc. 41–2), 1b.
49 dz 1068 (fasc. 738), 3a. 50 See Yixue bianhuo, juan 2, 39b.

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Figure 2.11 Lianxing mijue tu 煉形秘訣圖 (Secret art of cultivating Figure 2.12 Daode zhenjing jiyi dazhi tuxu 道德真經集義大旨圖
the body) Taiji hunyuan zhixuan tu 太極混元指玄圖 序, dz 723 in Daozang zhenjing jiyi dazhi 道德真經集
(Images Illustrating the Mysteries of the Chaotic Origin of 義大旨, Zhentong Daozang, Taibei Xiwenfeng, vol. 23,
the Great Ultimate) by Xiao Daoxun 蕭道存 (13th cen- 1977, pp. 571–2
tury), in Xiuzhen shishu 修真十書, Zhentong Daozang,
Taibei Xiwenfeng, vol. 7, 1977, p. 511

the body. I will confine myself to citing the most impor- The True Form of the Symbolic Body
tant ones, which are contained in two texts dating from In Daoist ceremonies and individual practices, the body figures
the Song and Yuan periods. The schema adopted here is as a sacred space, often visualised as a mountain or cave-womb
particularly important: once again the contours of the complete with labyrinths, mansions and in-dwelling spirits.
body are not shown. The first of these texts is Xiuzhen taiji It is essential that the adept should understand the true form
hunyuan tu 修真太極混元圖 (Images of the Chaotic Origin of this symbolic body and possess maps to guide him or her
of the Great Ultimate for Cultivating Perfection), with its through it. Daoist depictions of the body give information on
sequel Xiuzhen taiji hunyuan zhixuan tu 修真太極混元 the names of the principal spirits, key locations, processes and
指玄圖 (Images Illustrating the Mysteries of the Chaotic itineraries. The physical body gradually becomes the duplicate,
Origin of the Great Ultimate for Cultivating Perfection), by or rather the Shadow, of the inner body, which constitutes the
Xiao Dacun 蕭道存,51 which contains numerous diagrams real or true (zhen 真) being as revealed through numinous
illustrating various processes, most of which take place visual imagery.53 The symbolic body is represented by the
within the body. The same representational elements figure of a mountain, or in a form that suggests a human
are used here as in the Taiji diagram: a circled character body seen in profile or half-profile, with an arc represent-
stands for an object (internal organ, sensory organ, location ing the spine on the right-hand side and an open space on
on the spinal column, etc.); the contrast between black the left: it is not bounded by any kind of outline, and the
and white symbolises the duality of Yin and Yang; there distinction between inside and outside is almost effaced.
are lines showing connections; and there are occasional Diagrams, inscriptions, scraps of text, even some figurative
figurative elements (see Fig. 11). The second text is Daode elements, all intermingle in a way that is richly suggestive of
zhenjing jiyi dazhi tuxu 道德真經集義大旨圖序 (Collected the ritual and magical function of visual images in Daoism.
Exegesis and Main Principles of the Authentic Scripture Far from being mere diagrams or maps, they possess the
of the Dao and its Virtue with an Illustrated Preface)52, a double force of word and image, conferring power on those
collection of miscellaneous commentaries, some of them who possess them or meditate upon them. They are thus
on alchemical subjects. It is certainly not earlier than the akin to sacred scriptures and talismans, and to the models
Yuan period. It contains illustrations based on maxims in of the world that were entrusted to virtuous rulers, such
Daode jing, which represent alchemical processes inside as the Hetu 河圖 ([Yellow] River Diagram) and Luo shu 洛
the body (see Fig. 12). 書 (Luo [River] Document) (See Yoeli-Tlalim, Chapter 30
in this volume, pp. 436–8, Fig. 30.6).
We know of three representations of the body in the
form of a mountain, all of them very similar.54 The body is

51 dz 149 and 150. 53 Compare Despeux 1996, pp. 87–118.

52 dz 723. 54 1) Ti xiang yin yang sheng jiang tu 體象陰陽升降圖 (Chart of

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picturing the body in chinese medical and daoist texts 65

of the Internal Landscape). The extant versions of this

image date from the end of the 19th century at the very
earliest, and are therefore too recent to provide information
about the context in which it was originally created. One
engraving conserved in Baiyun guan 白雲觀 (White Cloud
Temple) in Beijing was made in 1886 on the instructions
of Liu Chengyin 劉誠印, 20th abbot of the temple, who
is supposed to have discovered the image on an old silk
scroll that he saw at the house of a certain Gao Songshan
高嵩山.56 Another important Daoist image is Xiuzhen tu
修真圖 (Image for Cultivating Perfection) (Fig. 14). Seven
exemplars have been discovered so far, the earliest dating
from 1812. Even more than in the schema discussed above,
these images combine visual and verbal signs to represent
the body as physiological locus, internal landscape and
habitation of the gods and demons.57

Conclusion
Figure 2.13 Image of the body as a mountain showing alchemical
processes. From Daoyuan yiqi 道元一氣 (The One Breath As I emphasised at the outset of this chapter, although
of Daoyuan) by Cao Yuanbai 曹元白, late 16th century there are few extant images of the body predating the Song
period, this does not mean that others never existed, but
shown from the side or in half-profile, and seems to be cut simply that they have not survived into the present. Chinese
in half. It appears in the guise of a mountain with rivers people had begun to feel the need for such images by the
running through it and a sea at its feet, symbolising the Han period at least. Nonetheless, the Song period clearly
ocean of suffering. Two figurative elements may be noted: marks a turning point in the graphic representation of the
the 12-tiered pagoda corresponding to the trachea, and a body as in the use of graphic representations (tu) in general.
palace with several storeys in the head, representing one From this time forth, visual imagery comes to play a more
of the celestial palaces (see Fig. 13). significant role, not only as a record of knowledge, but also
There are also more complex drawings of the inscape of as a teaching aid, a mode of transmission, a mnemonic
the body, including alchemical symbols and depictions of device, a visual translation of a text, and a representation
the spirits residing in the body. One of the earliest examples of a certain approach to reality.
is by Yanluozi 煙蘿子, of the Five Dynasties period, and it What is immediately apparent from the images pre-
accompanies his chart of the viscera. As mentioned above, sented here is that they do not set out to reproduce visible,
both this image and the chart were reprinted in a 13th-cen- contingent reality. They are not pictures but diagrams or
tury commentary on the Canon of Eighty-One Problems.55 emblems, in which figurative concerns are subordinate to
At a much later period (late 19th–early 20th century), an ordered schematic arrangement, steering us towards
we see representations that combine the symbolism of an interpretation – a reading. For these coded representa-
the body as a mountain with that of the body as inner tions, composed of conventional signifying elements, are
landscape. Chief among these is Neijing tu 內景圖 (Image meant to be read, in the same way that one reads a Chinese
character. Indeed, all the examples that we have explored
the Rise and Fall of Yin and Yang in the Image of the Body), so far include some form of lettering, and there is no clear
taken from Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing neiyi, in demarcation between graphics and graphs. In Xiuzhen tu
which this chart was preceded by a design similar to the Taiji tu. – the concluding example – in particular, word and image
2) Yuanqi tixiang tu 元氣體象圖 (Image of the body of Original
are intimately intertwined.
Qi), from Shangyangzi jindan dayao tu, which also included a
design similar to the Taiji tu. 3) A representation of the Daoyuan
yiqi by Cao Yuanbai (17th century), which offers a more detailed
illustration of the energetic processes that take place within the 56 See Despeux 1994, pp. 44–8; Sakade 1991.
body at different stages in the alchemical procedure. 57 On these images, see Despeux 1994; Lagerwey 1991, pp. 127–30;
55 Nanjing yiyi xulun, dz 1024. See note 30 above. Komjathy 2008 and 2009

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Figure 2.14 Xiuzhen tu 修真圖 (Image for Cultivating Perfection) 19th century. Baiyun guan 白雲觀 (White Cloud Temple), Beijing. Photo cour-
tesy of Baiyun guan, © David Dear

The nature of representation is closely dependent on An image of the body must be meaningful to its users,
its function and utilisation. Thus, the human body is rep- giving them a clearer understanding of their situation in
resented with a complete outline when the divisions and space. A complete outline is useful to the practitioner,
sectors of the body are considered as parts of the whole, making it possible to locate the part of the body to be
when it is important to identify exact locations in relation treated in physical space. It is required in general when the
to the whole body, or when movement is involved (external body is considered as a unit – as a self-contained universe
movement in daoyin, or internal movements through the wherein Qi, blood and other humours circulate. In these
channels and tracts). cases, there is a clear division between inside and outside.

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picturing the body in chinese medical and daoist texts 67

A bounded view of the body becomes inevitable if one various schools. It is an object of power, like the talismans
sets out to describe the circulation of matter in a closed, and diagrams used in rituals and individual practices.58
oriented space or to locate, on a spatio-temporal map, the As we have seen, images of the body are not mere rep-
points at which an external action or interpretation can resentations of physical corporality. Like a written text,
be brought to bear. they act as carriers for a specific kind of knowledge and
But these images are also the spatio-temporal mapping of they are aimed at a specific user or readership. We lose
a discourse, which must be read in context and in a geneal- sight of the body itself, as the spotlight falls on certain
ogy of transmission. For instance, the first representations locations or landmarks in the reader’s journey through
of the skeleton did not emerge from the field of medicine, the image, making sense of the inner world of the body or
but of forensic science; for the purposes of acupuncture its relationship with the external world, and allowing the
treatment, it was sufficient to approach the bones from mechanisms and operations underlying physical reality
outside, and plot their approximate position on a chart to come to the fore.
of the body. Advances in knowledge of the skeleton and When one comes to consider the way in which the body
in techniques of illustration derived from forensics were is depicted, one is struck by the absence of flesh and muscle.
adopted by physicians in the late Ming period. From a We should certainly take into account the different rela-
technical perspective, these representations are primarily tionship to the flesh that obtains in the West, due partly
memory aids. They are integral to a text and do not set out to ideas from classical Greece on the role of muscle in the
to be true to life. Chinese artists were perfectly capable affirmation of personhood and nationhood,59 and partly to
of rendering physical objects faithfully and drawing an Christian thinking. However, this difference is a matter of
accurately proportioned human body: in the fine art tradi- degree: Western attitudes have fluctuated over the course
tion, virtuoso examples abound. But an artist-craftsperson of history. To see the truth of this, one need only look at
required to execute a schema, a tu, of the skeleton for medieval images of the body. It was not until the 16th cen-
forensic purposes would operate within the conventions tury that flesh and the body regained the importance they
of the genre, producing a stylised, generic image. were accorded in ancient Greece and Rome, in sculpture
With representations of the viscera, both individual and in particular. But generally speaking, in China, flesh and
composite, the didactic function of the image takes centre muscle have had far less significance than Qi, the invisible
stage in the Song period, not only as an instrument for the pneuma that brings life and motion. Chinese artists set
transmission of knowledge but also as a means of proving a out to represent, not the movement of Qi as such, but the
thesis, just as dissections in Europe served to demonstrate arrangement in a given space of the viscera in which Qi
the ability of the practitioner. No doubt viscera charts were was present, together with their principal characteristics.
cited in the debates on the number of openings in the throat The treatment of the dichotomy between inside and
and the position of the liver. One might however wonder outside does not constitute a distinguishing feature in
how useful this information could have been in clinical Chinese images of the body. What really matters is not
practice, since diagnostic and therapeutic principles did the physical object we see before our eyes, but the multi-
not adapt to accommodate the revised position of the liver, ple possibilities of transformation afforded by a dynamic
for example, and the liver pulse continued to be taken on vision of life. The body is recast in terms of motion, as the
the left. Surgery, which was almost non-existent, could not site of the circulation of Qi and blood, resonating with
have stood to benefit from such advances in anatomical the transformative mechanisms of Yin and Yang and the
knowledge. No doubt all this intellectual activity reflects Five Agents; the inner landscape; the world of the spirits
a desire to increase and enhance the sum of theoretical and demons.
knowledge, but it also betrays a sense of dissatisfaction with
the theoretical apparatus of medicine, which was unable
to respond appropriately to some pathological conditions;
the same dissatisfaction is articulated in other contexts
by various physicians of the Song period, a time of acute
analysis and reflection for Chinese thought in general.
Whereas depictions of the body in the technical domain
are an adjunct to a textual exposition (medical, divinatory
or forensic as the case may be), in Daoism, the graphic 58 Cf. Baptandier, 1994.
representation (tu) becomes the true image (xiang) or 59 Cf. Ulmann's work (1990) work on gymnastics in the West and
icon of the body, realised according to the systems of the the role of the Olympic Games.

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68 despeux

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