Zhuzhiqunzheng, the Jesuit translation of Western medicine and its influence on Korean and Chinese intellectuals / 의사학

The Jesuits were great transmitters of Western science to East Asia in the 17th and 18th century. In 1636, a German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1591-1666) published a book titled Zhuzhiqunzheng (Hundreds of Signs Testifying Divine Providence). The book was not Adam Schall's own writing, but it was the Chinese translation of De providentia numinis (1613) of Leonardus Lessius (1554-1623) who was also a Jesuit scholar. The book was a religious work which particularly aimed at converting the pagans to the Christianity by presenting them with hundreds of signs testifying the divine providence. One group of the signs is those manifested in the human body. The bodily signs in question include anatomical structures and physiological processes. It gives a brief survey of bodily structures with bones and muscles. The translator had much difficulties in explaining muscles for there was no corresponding concept in Chinese medicine. The theory of human physiology was a simplified version of medieval Galenism. Three kinds of pneuma were translated into three kinds of Qi respectively. 'Natural pneuma' was translated into 'Qi of the body nature', 'vital pneuma' into 'Qi of life and nourishing', 'psychic pneuma' into 'Qi of movement and consciousness'. The book of Schall von Bell and other books on Western science written in Chinese were also imported to Korea during the 17th and 18th century. Unlike China, Korea was very hostile to Christianity and no Jesuit could enter Korea. Only the books on Western science could be imported. The books, which were called Books on Western Learning, were circulated and read among the progressive Confucian literati. However, Western medicine thus introduced had little influence on the traditional medicine of East Asia. However, some intellectuals paid attention to the physiological theory, in particular the theory of brain centrism, which fueled a philosophical debate among Korean intellectuals of the time.

A NEW CLASSIFICATION OF THE TYPES OF SPHENOID SINUS PNEUWIATIZATION / 第二军医大学学报

One hundred cases with pneumatized sphenoid sinus were studied, based on the cranial X-ray film, sagittal tomograms and coronal CT scan as well as the observation during the course of operation. A new bilateral combination classification scheme was suggested and used in this study. It was shown that the identical type was 58% and non-identical, 42% and the former could be further divided into 5 subtypes and the latter, 10 subtypes. The incidence of supra-sphenoid-ethmoidal cell (SSEC) was 22%. Some of SSEC may be mistaken for sphenoid sinus, if the surgeons are not familiar with its anatomy. We emphasize that the bilateral combination classification is very important for selecting a suitable method from among different trans-naso-sphenoid approaches.