Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams

Abstract. Throughout the long development of the Silk Road, traditional medical techniques from various countries have continued to intersect and integrate, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has also been transmitted to Eurasia via the Silk Road. In the process of TCM knowledge dissemination, t...

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Main Authors: Jie MA, Zhiheng GUO
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Health/LWW 2025-06-01
Series:Chinese Medicine and Culture
Online Access:http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/MC9.0000000000000137
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author Jie MA
Zhiheng GUO
author_facet Jie MA
Zhiheng GUO
author_sort Jie MA
collection DOAJ
description Abstract. Throughout the long development of the Silk Road, traditional medical techniques from various countries have continued to intersect and integrate, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has also been transmitted to Eurasia via the Silk Road. In the process of TCM knowledge dissemination, the tangible pulse diagnosis diagrams (脉诊图) have been collected in works such as Tānksūqnāmah (《伊利汗中国科技珍宝书》 Ilkhanate Chinese Science and Technology Treasure Book), Specimen Medicinae Sinicae (《中医指南》 A Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine), and Die Chinesische Medizin (《中华医学》 Chinese Medicine), and has become an important carrier and cultural symbol of pulse diagnostics, integrating into Eurasian medicine. The dissemination of TCM pulse diagnosis and the pulse diagnosis diagrams are closely related to Nan Jing (《难经》 The Classic of Difficult Issues) and the pulse studies of the Jin dynasty medical scholar, Wang Shuhe (王叔和). The study found that the pulse diagnosis diagrams had distinct characteristics in its transmission to the West in different eras, and they are analyzed from the perspectives of “communicators (translators)”, “translation characteristics”, “cultural background”, “inheritance system”, revealing multiple integrations and transformations of ancient TCM pulse diagnosis diagrams in the East-West exchange and mutual learning. The pulse diagnosis diagrams have gradually become a symbol of TCM diagnostic methods, forming an inseparable link between TCM and pulse diagnosis in the minds of scholars and the public in the East and West.
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spelling doaj-art-501cb8842d5a4b81899d75436d5e72ae2025-08-20T03:33:15ZengWolters Kluwer Health/LWWChinese Medicine and Culture2589-96272589-94732025-06-018211112310.1097/MC9.0000000000000137202506000-00003Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis DiagramsJie MA0Zhiheng GUO1 School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, ChinaAbstract. Throughout the long development of the Silk Road, traditional medical techniques from various countries have continued to intersect and integrate, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has also been transmitted to Eurasia via the Silk Road. In the process of TCM knowledge dissemination, the tangible pulse diagnosis diagrams (脉诊图) have been collected in works such as Tānksūqnāmah (《伊利汗中国科技珍宝书》 Ilkhanate Chinese Science and Technology Treasure Book), Specimen Medicinae Sinicae (《中医指南》 A Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine), and Die Chinesische Medizin (《中华医学》 Chinese Medicine), and has become an important carrier and cultural symbol of pulse diagnostics, integrating into Eurasian medicine. The dissemination of TCM pulse diagnosis and the pulse diagnosis diagrams are closely related to Nan Jing (《难经》 The Classic of Difficult Issues) and the pulse studies of the Jin dynasty medical scholar, Wang Shuhe (王叔和). The study found that the pulse diagnosis diagrams had distinct characteristics in its transmission to the West in different eras, and they are analyzed from the perspectives of “communicators (translators)”, “translation characteristics”, “cultural background”, “inheritance system”, revealing multiple integrations and transformations of ancient TCM pulse diagnosis diagrams in the East-West exchange and mutual learning. The pulse diagnosis diagrams have gradually become a symbol of TCM diagnostic methods, forming an inseparable link between TCM and pulse diagnosis in the minds of scholars and the public in the East and West.http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/MC9.0000000000000137
spellingShingle Jie MA
Zhiheng GUO
Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams
Chinese Medicine and Culture
title Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams
title_full Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams
title_fullStr Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams
title_full_unstemmed Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams
title_short Diagnostic Illustrations: Integration and Changes of Western Transmission of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Diagrams
title_sort diagnostic illustrations integration and changes of western transmission of traditional chinese medicine pulse diagnosis diagrams
url http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/MC9.0000000000000137
work_keys_str_mv AT jiema diagnosticillustrationsintegrationandchangesofwesterntransmissionoftraditionalchinesemedicinepulsediagnosisdiagrams
AT zhihengguo diagnosticillustrationsintegrationandchangesofwesterntransmissionoftraditionalchinesemedicinepulsediagnosisdiagrams