Med Humanit. 2026 Feb 12:medhum-2025-013580. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2025-013580. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Within the context of the eastward spread of Western learning during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the cross-cultural dissemination of medical knowledge exhibited complex characteristics of visual transformation. This study selects Taixi Renshen Shuogai (1623) and Zhenjiu Dacheng (1601) as research samples, employing a research method combining iconographic analysis and digital humanities to explore the different body concepts and their cultural connotations carried by Chinese and Western medical illustrations. The study constructs a three-dimensional analytical framework covering visual vocabulary, content expression and quantitative statistics to conduct an in-depth analysis of the cognitive differences in human body representation between the two medical traditions. The results show that the mechanistic view of the body advocated by Western anatomy and the organic view of the body upheld by traditional Chinese medicine form a sharp contrast at the image level; the former is characterised by precise analysis and structural reduction, while the latter centres on holistic grasp and functional correlation. This difference is not only reflected in visual elements such as composition patterns and expressive techniques, but more profoundly reflects the knowledge construction logic of different epistemological systems. The coexistence of two body cognition models during the Ming and Qing dynasties reveals the selective mechanism and creative transformation ability of Chinese culture in the process of knowledge acceptance, providing a new interpretive path for understanding the interaction model between traditional culture and foreign civilisations. This study expands the methodological boundaries of medical history research and provides a historical mirror for contemporary cross-cultural medical exchanges.

PMID:41679973 | DOI:10.1136/medhum-2025-013580