Compare and Contrast the Relative Contribution of India and South East Essay

Compare and Contrast the Relative Contribution of India and South East Asia to China's Medical Tradition - Essay Example The above view can be made clear through the following fact: Chinese medical tradition has been divided into two, major, parts: ‘the Confucian school of thought and the Daoist context’ (Elm and Willich 2009, p.77). The differences between these two frameworks have been significant, a problem that influenced the development of the country’s medical tradition. Apart from the local culture and scientific development, the Chinese medical tradition has been influenced by the culture and the trends of the South East region and India. The level at which South East Asia and India affected the Chinese medical tradition is difficult to be precisely identified mostly because the views included in the literature published on this issue lead to different assumptions. In any case, it is clear that South East Asia and India influenced the Chinese medical tradition, a fact reflected in the incorporation of many substances, through India and South Eat Asia, in the country’s medical tradition. The specific issue is set under examination in this paper. Emphasis is given on the ways that various medical substances entered China through India and the South East Asia. Particular reference is made to tobacco and opium, two medical substances that have highly affected the Chinese medical tradition, as verified through the studies developed in this field. 2. China’s medical tradition as influenced by India and South East Asia 2.1 The influence of India and South East Asia on China medical tradition The medical tradition of China has been highly differentiated from those of the West; the country’s medical tradition presents also significant references to the similar frameworks of other countries in the South East region. Reference should be made, for example, to the study of Selin (1997). In accordance with the above researcher, food therapy has been a common element of medical traditions in Europe, India and Near East (Selin 1997, p.676). It is noted that in China, food therapy has been related to ‘the yinyang philosophy and the Five Phases theory’ (Selin 1997, p.676). In this context, the medical history of China has been strongly related to philosophy, a trend, which is not, developed in India and the other South East Asia countries. In accordance with a report published by the World Health Organization in 2003, the Chinese medical system has a history of around 5000 years and it is highly based on the use of plants (Singh 2011); in fact, in China more than 7000 species of plants have been identified; most of these are key elements of the country’s medical system (Singh 2011). In the study of Arnold (2000) reference is made to the contribution of India in the development of medicine and other scientific sectors of China, as also in other regions of the South East Asia. It is explained that due to the long presence of British in India, the country’s technology and scientific knowledge was benefi ted, a fact that also influenced neighboring countries, such as China (Arnold 2000). Leslie (1976) notes that the revival of traditional medical system is highly promoted in China today, a trend, which is not reported in other countries of the Near East and the South East Asia, apart from India. From this point of view, the Chinese medical history can be considered as strongly related

Cultural Materialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cultural Materialism - Essay Example "It is based on the simple premise that human social life is a response to the practical problems of earthly existence" (Harris, 1979). The writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are of great influence with this issue of cultural materialism but then it was somehow distinct from Marxist dialectical materialism or sometimes called historical materialism which talks about the notion that Marxism is a synthesis of philosophical dialectics and materialism, and also different from philosophical materialism. Works of Thomas Malthus had encouraged Harris to consider reproduction of equal importance. The research strategy was also influenced by the work of earlier anthropologists including Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan who, in the 19th century, first proposed that cultures evolved from the less complex to the more complex over time. Leslie White and Julian Steward and their theories of cultural evolution and cultural ecology were instrumental in the reemergence of evolutionist theories of culture in the 20th century and Harris took inspiration from them in formulating cultural materialism. (Harris, Marvin. 2001 [1968]). "Harris, Marvin, 1927-, An American anthropologist who was born in New York City. Graduated at Columbia with a degree of A.B on 1949; took his Ph.D. on 1953. A member of the faculty of Columbia from the years 1952 to 1981, he became the chairman of the anthropology department from 1963 to 1966. He then became a graduate research professor of anthropology at the University of Florida in Gainesville on the year 1981. Harris's major research has consisted of community studies in Latin America and ethnologies of Africa. He was very influential in the development of the theory of cultural materialism. He wrote Patterns of Race in the Americas (1964), The Rise of Anthropological Theory (1968), Cannibals and Kings (1977), America Now (1981), Cultural Materialism (1979), Good to Eat (1986), and Our Kind (1989)." (Slider Encyclopedia) Dr. Marvin Harris is considered to be a generalist with an interest in the global processes that account for human origins and the evolution of human cultures. Due to his interests in cultural anthropology, Dr. Harris assumed the role of an anthropological historian theoretician. His work with cultural materialism took him to the Islas de la Bahia, Brazil, Mozambique, Ecuador, India and East Harlem. Dr. Harris shared his knowledge of cultural anthropology with the world through the publication of 16 books. They include Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches and Cannibals and Kings. He also authored an introductory anthropology college textbook with multiple editions titled Culture, People, and Nature. Upon the completion of his previous publications, he composed a series of essays concerning modern human behavior based on our origins according to evolution which he has titled, Our Kind. Dr. Harris died in Gainesville, Florida on October 25, 2001 2001. (Students in an Introduction to Anthropology Class, 2001) BOOK REVIEW Cultural materialism is a systems theory of society that attempts to account for their: origin, maintenance and change. Cultural Materialism is based on two key assumptions about societies. First, the various parts of society are interrelated. When one part of society changes, other parts must also change. This means that an institution, such as the family cannot be looked at in isolation from the economic, political,