Abstract
Written records spanning over two thousand years of China’s past attest to eruptions of a form of insane behavior which threatened both society and the individual. As described in the Huang-ti nei-ching, a classical source for Chinese medical theory,1 initially the person became emotionally labile, “despondent, happily forgetful, bitterly angry, easily frightened.” As the illness developed, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, delusions of grandeur, and incessant scolding appeared (Ling-shu 1910 4:3). When the illness was extreme, euphoric hyper-activity was the overriding feature.
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Li Chiu, M. (1981). Insanity in Imperial China: A Legal Case Study. In: Kleinman, A., Lin, TY. (eds) Normal and Abnormal Behavior in Chinese Culture. Culture, Illness, and Healing, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4986-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4986-2_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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