Ru Yi (儒医 Confucian Doctor) is an integral part of the history of medicine in China, and although there is abundant research on it, few scholars regard Ru Yi as a concept with special significance rather than a historical figure or group. Therefore, naming the paper conceptual history tries to explore the evolutions and historical significance of the concept of Ru Yi. First of all, this paper examines the conceptual changes of Ru (儒 Confucian) and Yi (医 Doctor) in the Pre-North Song Period and discusses the specific situation of combining the two into Ru Yi during the Northern Song Dynasty and its transformation afterward. Then, this paper analyzes and explains the social and spiritual significance of Ru Yi from its fundamental meaning, focusing on the medical knowledge, medical practice, mentalities, and social reputation of medical practitioners.

In the early nineteenth century, Western missionaries in China shed light on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as an ‘alternative medicine’ in order to challenge the Western treatment. One of the earliest missionary doctors sent to China by the London Missionary Society, Robert Morrison, author of A Dictionary of the Chinese Language and co-editor of The Indo-Chinese Gleaner, drew on Western knowledge of syphilis and incorporated the theoretical framework of Chen Shiduo, an early-Qing physician. Through his Chinese-English translation, Morrison categorised TCM’s initially symptom-based nomenclature system of TCM and introduced it to a wide English audience. At the same time, the missionary doctors’ condemnation of syphilis/VDs was influenced by ethical criteria. They considered VDs as the result of debauchery and proposed ‘hygiene’ as a means of prevention. This ‘hygiene’ was focused on individual lifestyle rather than community immunity, and was therefore distinguished from the modern practice of ‘public health’. ‘Hygiene’ had its origins in the Daoist way of regimen, and was accepted by the missionaries due to its similar standard of saving the ‘body’ as well as the ‘heart’. The ‘circulation’ of knowledge around syphilis, to use Greenblatt’s term, presents a different picture that departs from what Kenneth Pomeranz calls the ‘Great Divergence’. In this sense, the intercultural communication of technical terms between China and the West was not just a one-way ‘modernisation’ (synonymous with ‘Westernisation’); the technical terms of TCM also entered the Western system to produce a kind of discursive hybridity, exercising their ‘global potential’ as a ‘local knowledge’.

Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with modern scientific approaches has become a focus among academic groups. One of some typical examples is the modernization research conducted on Zhenqi Fuzheng (贞芪扶正), a proprietary Chinese medicine developed by Sun Yan (孙燕), an oncology scholar at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. In this study, we aim to examine the process of developing Zhenqi Fuzheng by conducting interviews with relevant individuals using oral history research methods.

Through an analysis on the special social and political situation, as well as the research methodologies employed during its development, we seek to provide certain insights into the advancement of Chinese pharmacology in modern time. This area provided a fertile ground for the exchange and integration of TCM knowledge with modern science.

Additionally, our study will highlight the interactions among medical practitioners, researchers, and patients, emphasizing how they facilitated the circulation of knowledge and techniques. Furthermore, we will investigate the impact of national policies on TCM modernization and examine how government initiatives and fundings have influenced research pathways and opportunities for medical researchers. These initiatives have played a crucial role in fostering the exchange of ideas, collaboration, and the overall advancement of TCM modernization. In the meantime, the invention of Zhenqi Fuzheng by a scholar with a background of modern medical science may be regarded as an intriguing case to understand the convergence of knowledge from diverse medical genres.

This paper explores the representation of sacred trees as axis mundi in Buddhist cosmological maps, focusing on the depiction of the Jambu Tree (贍部樹) and the Medicine King Tree (藥王樹) in religious texts and cartography. Specifically, the study examines their prominent placement at the center of Buddhist world maps, such as the 14th-century Go-Tenziku Zu (五天竺圖) from Horyu-ji Temple and the Tenjiku Zu (天竺圖) in Shūgaishō (拾芥抄). While the Jambu Tree symbolizes the interconnectedness of life and spiritual journeys, the Medicine King Tree reflects the integration of spiritual and physical healing, emphasizing the interplay between religious therapeutics and the development of East Asian medicine. Despite their distinct symbolic meanings, both trees serve as focal points in illustrating the cosmological and moral structure of the Buddhist universe. By comparing textual descriptions from sources like the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya with their cartographic representations, this paper investigates how these trees not only embody Buddhist ideals but also contribute to broader cross-cultural exchanges of medical and metaphysical thought. This analysis highlights the significance of sacred trees as universal symbols of cosmic order and human aspiration, bridging the realms of geography, religion, and cultural history.