Abstract
During the Six dynasties period (3rd-6th century A.D.), shamans (wu 巫) were one of the most important groups of medical practitioners in China. Their patients were by no means limited to one particular locale, group, gender, age group, social class, or religious organization, nor were diagnoses and prescriptions administered by shamans limited to one particular category. Some of their diagnosed reasons for a particular illness might include: being haunted by the soul of a deceased person, demon haunting, being possessed by a ghost, being struck by a ghost, being punished by deities, and breaking a taboo. Their methods of treatment and examination of the patient could include: sexual treatments, political treatments, treatments involving the suppression of spirits, various prayer and sacrificial treatments, and other skills pertaining to investigating ones' life span. They followed the shamanistic tradition of skills and treatments advocated during the Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.).
Shamans competed with other medical healers as well as Taoist and Buddhist medical practitioners. Shamans, physicians, Taoist and Buddhist monks all had their own unique approaches to conceptualizing illnesses and treatment methods; however, among all their various medical practices there were some that shared various commonalties. Furthermore, these commonalties, espoused by many shamans in a long tradition of usage, appear to come from ancient periods.
Keywords
shaman, healing, Six dynasties, Taoism, Buddhism
Cite
Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.
