LRCCS Noon Lecture Series | Myth-Busting the History of Chinese Medicine: Going Beyond the "Function, Not Structure" Stereotype

This talk will challenge the widely-held stereotype that Chinese doctors were historically interested in the body's dynamic functions, but indifferent to its anatomical structures. Using examples drawn from the history of Chinese traumatology during the 7th to 18th centuries, Dr. Wu will discuss the place of the physical and material body in Chinese medical thought and show how awareness of body structure was in fact intertwined with understandings of function.

Yi-Li Wu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and the Department of History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research investigates the intersections of society, culture, and the body in the history of Chinese medicine, with special emphasis on the late imperial period (16th to 19th centuries). Her publications include “Reproducing Women: Medicine, Metaphor, and Childbirth in Late Imperial China” (University of California Press, 2010), as well as articles on medical illustration, forensic medicine, bone setting, breast cancer, and Chinese views of Western anatomical science. She is currently completing a book manuscript on the history of traumatology in China.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.

Zoom webinar; attendance requires registration: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0ZIEkctzSKenwbE2FHcxEA