PCP#33 Chen Hsiu-Fen: Nourishing Life, Demons and Talking Cures

Sep 14, 2021

In this episode we talk to Chen Hsiu Fen about the Yangsheng Nourishing Life culture of the Jiangnan region in Ming dynasty China and how it was exemplified by Gao Lian in his work the Zunsheng Bajian. We also delve into the use of the seldom discussed tradition of talking cures in Chinese medicine, in which doctors elicit strong emotional reactions within their patients to cure disease, and the stances doctors took to demonological elements in the healing of diseases.