Correspondence Course: History of Religion and Medicine in China

From thirteenth century B.C. oracle bones to the Falun Gong movement of the 1990s, the mixture of religion and medicine has played a pivotal and often controversial role in China. This course is intended to be both an introduction to the main currents of religious thought in Chinese history, as well as an overview of the healing practices associated with these faiths and philosophies.

This course approaches a wide range of Chinese myth, ritual, and healing from historical, anthropological, and religious studies perspectives.We begin looking at the Confucian classics, analyzing how ancient Chinese notions of the body, state, and cosmos were interrelated. Next, we debate whether Taoism (Daoism) is best considered a philosophy, a religion, a physical discipline, a combination of the three, or an artificial term that signifies nothing. Then, we use Buddhist and Christian missionary activity as lenses to analyze the integration of foreign religion and medicine into Chinese culture. In the final section, we engage in an exploration of popular religion, medical exorcism, and magical healing, identifying continuities across the spectrum of Chinese religions from antiquity to today.  

The course

This course will utilize many primary sources in translation, and will introduce a variety of writings by contemporary sinologists. Readings include literature from religious studies, history, anthropology, and journalism.