Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.s2.t2.18

v1.c6.s2.t2.18

Medical knowledge which permeated in this early period through the translated Buddhist texts was effective in introducing new ideas of composition of human body and evolution of diseases into China. Chinese medical theories were so far based on the theories of Yin and Yang symbolism – the male and female. This classified all the objects in the universe into these two categories depending on their nature, based on the five elements – wood, fire, earth, metal and water, the vital energy *qi* and the blood. Writings of Tao Hongjing (5th century CE) depicted influence of Buddhist four element theory for the first time.