A Flourishing Yin: Gender in China's Medical History: 960–1665

by Charlotte Furth

This book brings the study of gender to Chinese medicine and in so doing contextualizes Chinese medicine in history. It examines the rich but neglected tradition of fuke , or medicine for women, over the seven hundred years between the Song and the end of the Ming dynasty. Using medical classics, popular handbooks, case histories, and belles lettres , it explores evolving understandings of fertility and menstruation, gestation and childbirth, sexuality, and gynecological disorders.

Furth locates medical practice in the home, where knowledge was not the monopoly of the learned physician and male doctors had to negotiate the class and gender boundaries of everyday life. Women as healers and as patients both participated in the dominant medical culture and sheltered a female sphere of expertise centered on, but not limited to, gestation and birth. Ultimately, her analysis of the relationship of language, text, and practice reaches beyond her immediate subject to address theoretical problems that arise when we look at the epistemological foundations of our knowledge of the body and its history.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Medicine

372 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 1999

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that falls in the category of "So glad someone wrote this!" but its a little dry for the non-academic inquisitor.

[Sco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because I wanted to understand the association between yin/yang and genders. This book did not disappoint!

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely the best book on gender and medicine in Chinese history. Charlotte Furth does an excellent job of consulting a wide range of sources, from philosophical texts to actual doctor's case notes, including the case notes of a woman doctor from the Ming which I found intriguing.

The book starts with the idea of gender in medical texts. How the body in China was envisioned as an androgynous body to start with, in comparison with European ideas. It talks about the changing attitudes towards women and "women's medicine". It looks at fuke which was the more gynaecological aspect of medicine in China. But it also looks at the doctors who treated women who weren't specialists. There is also discussion about women's role in medicine. While medicine isn't one area that particular interests me the discussion on gender I found fascinating. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in these areas.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read primarily for information rather than criticism. Really fascinating study of the history of Chinese medical literature, esp. fuke (gynecological literature) from the Song through Qing dynasties. Sometimes heavy on the theory, but mostly just fascinating because it's all new to me.