Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.s2.t2.33

v1.c6.s2.t2.33

Ancient Indian medicine freely prescribed both medical and surgical treatments. The situation was different in the case of ancient Chinese medicine where surgery, together with anatomy, was still the most primitive branch of medicine. The reason is two-fold. One being the Confucian doctrine which regarded human body as a sacred gift from one’s parents, not to be mutilated in any way, came in the way of any development in the field of anatomical knowledge and surgery. The second was the prevalent medical philosophy which was based on the idea that imbalance of Yin and Yang gives rise to an illness. As a result, to counter this imbalance, pharmaceutical drugs were prescribed and usual treatment for any malady was administration of drugs. Before the introduction of Indian surgical ideas Chinese medicine had not developed surgery to any noticeable extent. This is perhaps the reason why Indian ophthalmic surgery sent waves in the then Chinese medical circle and it was willingly absorbed in their traditional system.