The Body in Balance: Humoral Medicines in Practice (Epistemologies of Healing, 13)

4e de couv.: Focusing on practice more than theory, this collection offers new perspectives for studying the so-called "humoral medical traditions," as they have flourished around the globe during the last 2,000 years. Exploring notions of "balance" in medical cultures across Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, from antiquity to the present, the volume revisits "harmony" and "holism" as main characteristics of those traditions. It foregrounds a dynamic notion of balance and asks how balance is defined or conceptualized, by whom, for whom and in what circumstances. Balance need not connote egalitarianism or equilibrium. Rather, it alludes to morals of self care exercised in place of excessiveness and indulgences after long periods of a life in dearth. As the moral becomes visceral, the question arises: what constitutes the visceral in a body that is in constant flux and flow? How far, and in what ways, are there fundamental properties or constituents in those bodies? Contents 6 List of Figures and Tables 8 Acknowledgements 9 Contributors 10 Introduction 1Peregrine Horden 14 A Body of What? 36 1. Female Fluids in the Hippocratic Corpus: How Solid was the Humoral Body? • Helen King 38 2. Fluxes and Stagnations: A Physician’s Perception and Treatment of Humours in Baroque Ladies • Barbara Duden 66 3. When Money Became a Humour • Shigehisa Kuriyama 82 A Practice with What? 100 4. Were the Four Humours Fundamental to Medieval Islamic Medical Practice? • Emilie Savage-Smith 102 5. Complexio and Experimentum: Tensions in Late Medieval Medical Practice • Peter Murray Jones 120 6. Yunani Tibb and Foundationalism in Early Twentieth-Century India: Humoral Paradigms between Critiqueand Concordance • Guy Attewell 142 7. Hot/Cold Classifications and Balancing Actions in Mesoamerican Diet and Health: Theory and Ethnography of Practice in Twentieth-Century Mexico • Ellen Messer 162 A Balance of What? 182 8. Balancing Diversity and Well-being: Words, Concepts and Practice in Eastern Africa • David Parkin 184 9. ‘Holism’ and the Medicalization of Emotion: The Case of Anger in Chinese Medicine • Elisabeth Hsu 210 10. Aiming for Congruence: The Golden Rule of Åyurveda • Francis Zimmermann 231 11. Harmony or Hierarchy? The Mindful Body and the Sacred Landscape in Tibetan Healing Practices • Patrizia Bassini 248 What Next? 270 12. What Next? Balance in Medical Practice and the Medico-moral Nexus of Moderation • Elisabeth Hsu 272 Index 294 Female Fluids In The Hippocratic Corpus: How Solid Was The Humoral Body? -- Fluxes And Stagnations: A Physician's Perception And Treatment Of Humours In Baroque Ladies -- When Money Became A Humour -- Were The Four Humours Fundamental To Medieval Islamic Medical Practice? -- Complexio And Experimentum: Tensions In Late Medieval Medical Practice -- Yunani Tibb And Foundationalism In Early Twentieth-century India: Humoral Paradigms Between Critique And Concordance -- Hot/cold Classifications And Balancing Actions In Mesoamerican Diet And Health: Theory And Ethnography Of Practice In Twentieth-century Mexico -- Balancing Diversity And Well-being: Words, Concepts And Practice In Eastern Africa -- 'holism' And The Medicalization Of Emotion: The Case Of Anger In Chinese Medicine -- Aiming For Congruence: The Golden Rule Of Āyurveda -- Harmony Or Hierarchy? The Mindful Body And The Sacred Landscape In Tibetan Healing Practices -- What Next? Balance In Medical Practice And The Medico-moral Nexus Of Moderation. Edited By Peregrine Horden And Elisabeth Hsu. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Focusing on practice more than theory, this collection offers new perspectives for studying the so-called "humoral medical traditions," as they have flourished around the globe during the last 2,000 years. Exploring notions of "balance" in medical cultures across Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, from antiquity to the present, the volume revisits "harmony" and "holism" as main characteristics of those traditions. It foregrounds a dynamic notion of balance and asks how balance is defined or conceptualized, by whom, for whom and in what circumstances. Balance need not connote egalitarianism or equilibrium. Rather it alludes to morals of self care exercisedf in place of excessive feasting after long periods of dearth. As the moral becomes visceral, the question arises: what constitutes the visceral in a body thast is in constant flux and flow? How far, and in what ways, are there fundamental properties or constituents in those bodies?