Chapter 26 Section 2 Human Anatomy in the Song Dynasty

According to the "Hanshu Wang Mang Biography", in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial physician Shang Fang used the corpses of prisoners for dissection research. "Measure the five viscera, use the bamboo banquet (ting ting) to guide the pulse, know the end and the beginning, and the cloud can cure the disease." It can be seen that for the purpose of medicine, the anatomical measurement of viscera was still carried out from time to time in the Qin and Han Dynasties.Unfortunately, most of the information has been lost. "New Book of Tang" and "Old Book of Tang" include "Picture of the Five Internal Organs", "Consciousness of the Five Internal Organs", etc., but unfortunately they have not been handed down.

The earliest human anatomy diagram that can be seen now is the "Inner Territory Map" drawn by Yan Luozi of the Five Dynasties (Fig. 19).This is what modern people discovered from Dao Zang. Yanluozi, also known as Yan Zhenzhen, was a Taoist priest in the Five Dynasties. The "Ten Books on Cultivation of Truth · Miscellaneous Shortcuts" compiled by Shi Tai and his disciples in the Southern Song Dynasty contained in "Dao Zang" contains many works of Yanluozi.Among them, there are six pictures, which are "the first picture of Yanluozi", "the picture of Yanluozi facing the truth", "the picture on the left side of the interior", "the picture on the right side of the interior", and "the front view of the interior". , "The Map of the Back of the Interior".The following four pictures are different side views of human internal organ anatomy.The spines drawn on the left and right diagrams are all 24 sections (excluding the sacrum).This is consistent with the actual anatomy.On the front view, two holes are drawn representing the esophagus and trachea.There are four lobes of the lungs, the heart is under the lung lobes, and the stomach is under the heart.The cardia is on the left side of the stomach, the pylorus is on the lower left side of the stomach, the liver is on the upper right side, and the gall bladder is below it.The lower abdomen is painted with the small intestine, large intestine, soul gate (anus), bladder, etc.Yan Luozi's "Inner Territory Map" has a direct impact on the anatomical maps of later generations.

Wu Jian's "Ou Xifan's Five Viscera Map" and Yang Jie's "Cunzhen Map" in the Song Dynasty both refer to the "Inner Realm Map", but they are all drawn on the basis of actual anatomical observations.During the Qingli period (AD 1041-1048), more than 600 people including Ou Xifan in Guangxi were trapped and killed by officers and soldiers for joining the rebel army.Among them, 56 corpses were used as specimens for anatomical research. Wu Jian, the governor of Yizhou, also ordered the painter to draw and record.This is the origin of Wu Jian's "Ou Xifan Five Viscera Picture".The original picture has long since been lost, and the full picture is unknown, but we can still understand the outline from Yang Jie's recounting quoted in "Historical Notes" by the later monk Huanyun.Wu Jian spent two days conducting autopsy investigations.He said: "There are three orifices in the throat, one for food, one for water, and one for qi. They blow each other, and they don't fight each other. Below the lungs are the heart, liver, gallbladder, and spleen. Below the stomach is the small intestine, and below the small intestine is the Large intestine. The small intestine is clear and clean, while the large intestine is filthy. Next to the large intestine, there is a bladder. If the heart has big, small, square, elder, oblique, straight, with holes, without holes, There is no similarity. Only Xi Fan's heart is red and draped [zhui], just like the picture." Observation at that time was obviously very rough, and there were mistakes.However, the descriptions of the positions of viscera and their adjacency are basically correct.The contemporary Shen Kuo quickly criticized and corrected the mistakes in "Ou Xifan's Five Viscera Map".He said in "Mengxi Bi Tan·Medicine Discussion": "Ou Xi Fanzhen's five viscera pictures are handed down from generation to generation, and the three throats are also drawn, because the test at that time did not examine the ears. Water and food are swallowed together, how can the two throats be divided in the mouth? But there are Pharynx and throat are both." Shen Kuo's correct criticism shows from one aspect that scholars in the Song Dynasty attached great importance to the study of human anatomy and physiology.

"Cunzhen Tu" was edited by Yang Jie.Yang Jie, whose name is Ji Lao, was born in Sizhou and was a famous local doctor in the Song Dynasty.During Chongning (1102-1106 A.D.), Sizhou executed criminals, and the prefect Li Yixing sent doctors and painters to the execution ground for anatomical observation and drawing.Yang Jie reviewed the ancient book and believed that it "is farther than Ou Xifan's five viscera map, and it is really beneficial to doctors."Yang Jie's "Cunzhen Tu" has also been lost, but it still had a great influence at that time.Some pictures are preserved in the "Xuanmen Maijue Nei Zhao Tu" re-engraved by Sun Huan in the Yuan Dynasty.Many works in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as Wang Qi's "Sancai Tuhui" and "Viscera Syndrome and Treatment Illustrated Human Realm Classic" (referred to as "Human Realm Classic"), etc., are quoted. (Figure 20)

Tibetan medicine also contains rich knowledge of human anatomy.The "Four Medical Codes" written at the end of the 8th century AD believed that the human body has 360 bones, including 28 vertebrae, 24 ribs, and 32 teeth.There are 12 large joints and 210 small joints in the limbs.There are 21,000 hairs and 11 million sweat pores.Tibetan medicine also believes that there is a system of pipelines in the human body.The white veins are very important. "Sibu Medical Code" says: "From the ocean of brain veins, extending downward like a tree, there are 19 water veins in charge of conduction." In addition, there are veins that connect viscera like silk threads.This is quite consistent with the modern understanding of nerves.Tibetan medicine also mentions black veins, thinking that they are like branches, some are connected with viscera, some are connected with skin and muscles, and its branches have large trunk veins and small veins.There are 700 small veins, and under the small veins there are more subtle channels throughout the body.These should be what we now call the vascular system.