Diseases and Medicinal Treatments of the Tang Dynasty in Ancient China

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Diseases and their treatments changed and shaped the modern world. The Tang Dynasty of Ancient China had great value to the medicinal fields and led the way for medical technology and advancements that are used today by standardizing the supreme methods, procedures, and treatments during this time period; therefore, they made it less complicated for people to learn and teach how to practice medicine. Areas of medicine that were greatly improved and exceptionally recorded during the Tang Dynasty were symptomatology, etiology, surgery, orthopedics, and traumatology.

Chao Yuanfang, an imperial court physician of the Sui Dynasty (the dynasty that came before the Tang), compiled Treatise on Causes and Symptoms of Diseases and started the push towards a standardized medical practice within the country. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a near complete system of medical education had been created. The Confucius Institute Network (2009) found that the standardization and popularization of medical science, prevention, and curative knowledge had more awareness in the country than ever before. Doctors around this time realized that they could start treatment before the disease became too destructive to the patient if the symptoms or symptomatology were studied early enough to diagnose the issue. Also, diseases started to be classified by their syndromes and syndrome differentiation. Scientists and doctors worked together to follow in the footsteps of these early pioneers into the fields of etiology (the study of causation) and symptomatology to cure diseases ranging from influenza to bubonic plague or all the way to cancer.

After doctors diagnosed the ailment, they could either do surgery, give medicine, or give therapy to the pati...

... middle of paper ...

...nely had a profound impact on the modern world. People from around the world go to school annually to learn standardized medical practices so they can heal the broken and ill. Although the fields of medicine are continuing to grow, the foundation in the medicinal field that the Tang Dynasty has a value that is paramount when compared with other regions during their time.

Works Cited

Plague Words and Phrases. (n.d.). Plague Words and Phrases. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plague.htm
The Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty. (2009, August 14).The Confucius Institute Online. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://tcm.chinese.cn/en/article/2009-08/24/content_10665.htm
Welcome to the Purdue OWL. (n.d.). Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/06/

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