Description
Book SynopsisExamines the development of medicine in Qing dynasty China. Focusing on the specialty of 'medicine for women' (fuke), this book explores the material and ideological issues associated with childbearing in the late imperial period. It analyzes the points of convergence and contention that shaped people's views of women's reproductive diseases.
Trade Review"A major addition to the growing literature on the history of gender and medicine in Imperial China." -- Angela Ki Che Leung Journal Of Chinese Studies "Yi-Li Wu's volume is essential reading for students and researchers alike." -- Larissa N. Heinrich East Asian Science, Technology, And Medicine "[A] well-written and extensively researched work on traditional medicine in late imperial China." Journal Of Interdisciplinary History "[Wu's] clear prose and concise explanations make this analysis of intricate ideas accessible... A fine introduction to the history of Chinese reproductive medicine." Harvard Journal Of Asiatic Stds "[Wu's] research is meticulous, her erudition deep but lighthanded, and her writing lucid... Conceptually and comparatively sophisticated." Journal Of Asian Stds (Jas) / Se Asia & Western Pacific "Splendid... Wu's broad command of difficult Chinese classical writings is sharpened by her mastery of the cross-cultural history of medicine." Bulletin Of The History Of Medicine
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Late Imperial Fuke and the Literate Medical Tradition 2. Amateur as Arbiter: Popular Fuke Manuals in the Qing 3. Function and Structure in the Female Body 4. An Uncertain Harvest: Pregnancy and Miscarriage 5. "Born Like a Lamb": The Discourse of Cosmologically Resonant Childbirth 6. To Generate and Transform: Strategies for Postpartum Health Epilogue: Body, Gender, and Medical Legitimacy Notes Glossary Bibliography Index
