Hand Mnemonics in Classical Chinese Medicine: Texts, Earliest Images, and Arts of Memory Author(s): MARTA E.

HANSON Source: Asia Major, THIRD SERIES, Vol. 21, No. 1, STAR GAZING, FIREPHASING, AND HEALING IN CHINA: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF NATHAN SIVIN (2008), pp. 325-347 Published by: Academia Sinica Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41649951 . Accessed: 30/09/2013 05:39
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MARTA E. HANSON Hand Texts, Mnemonics Earliest in Classical Images, and Chinese Medicine:

Arts of Memory

channels and bodily viscera,wrist pulse sitesand point Acupuncture locations along tracts,abnormal eyes and discolored tongues these are just some of the ways Chinese medical texts depict the human body. Sometimesthese images depict the whole body, othertimes the inside, and in special contexts as somethingbest described as a of the human body found symbolicbody.1 Of all typesof illustrations and in Chinese medical texts,some of the most unique, multivalent, as yet unexamined images are those of hands.2 Chinese medical texts as a diagnosportraythe hand as a microcosmof China's geography,3 the illnesses of infants,a site for therapeutic tic tool for determining

inthe I dedicate this article toDr.Nathan whose andBody "State, Sivin, article, Cosmos, Last Three Centuries meseeChinese hand B.C.," 1,pp.5~37> HJAS 1995) 55. (June helped as a subject worth thanks mnemonics arealsoduetomy colleague Chang pursuing. Special Taiwan National who first introduced me toChinese hand calculations, Chia-feng, University, a visit in andmnemonics toseemeatthe Institute for Advanced divinations, during Study of how she used onecommon Princeton the summer of2001. Her during explanation system I also thank ofliuren hand divination was the for research. SueNaquin and catalyst my Benjamin incountless who this research who invited me to Elman, Mtaili, Georges inspired ways, the Paris Tu in2001, Michael Helme who earlier versions this conference of article, copyedited atAcademia and Sinica who comments the first colleagues gave during my many helpful preinChinese. sentation of this research Thanks are due aswell tothe rich resources and informed librarians atPrinceton's National Gest ofTaiwan, National Palace Museum Library, Library of FuSsu-nien atAcademia and Taiwan, Sinica, Library Shanghai Library Municipal Library, atthe the medical China of Traditional Chinese Medicine inBeijing. library Academy 1 Catherine "Visual ofthe inChinese Medical andDaoDespeux, Representations Body istTexts from the tothe Asian Medicine: andModernity 1.1 Tradition Period," Song Qing (2005), pp.10-52. 2 Seeon-line database of ofChinese medicine atthe Wellcome Trust's Colimages Image lection Seealsoarticles inVionChinese medical <http://images.wellcome.ac.uk>. images vienne Shumin Renmin weish(Beijing: Lo,Wang EMJ;, eds., Xingxiang Zhongyi chubanshe, 2007). eng 3 Zhangjiebin inLeijing tu "Zhizhang 1624), jie"', yi (pref. repub. inZJiangJingyue chubanshe, quanshu yixue (Beijing: Zhongguo zhongyiyao ofthe andPalm" animage follows of 2P-646.This 1:999),/ "Explanation Fingers directly the first oftwo hand inthis mnemonics text. Thesecond hand isillustrated mnemonic onp. ofZhang hand mnemonics areexamples ofthe same 652.Both Jiebin's "phase energetics" 25

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MARTAE. HANSON a gauge of distance between acupuncturepoints based interventions,4 on the middle section of the patient's middle finger,5 and as a mnemonic tool to master some of the most complex etiological doctrines of classical Chinese medicine. This last functionof the hand as a mnemonic device for physicians may well be a phenomenon peculiar to the historyof Chinese of hands in Westernmedical history have been medicine. Illustrations of the of the anatomist or the author,devoted prestige largelysymbolic to the hand's anatomy,or drawn forastrologicalpurposes, which depending on the era and trainingof the physician,were also sometimes considered in medical practice.6 Despite scholarship on hand mnemonic systems formusical scales, basic arithmetic, and the alphabet in of hand as a evidence the mnemonic device in an European examples, medical text has to be found. The situation early-modern European yet in Chinese medical historycould not be more different. CHINESE ARTS OF MEMORY AND TU (TECHNICAL IMAGES) By placing hand mnemonics withinthe intellectualand cultural ofChinese medicine,thisarticleinitiates researchon indigenous history In The Chinese artsof memory.7 Palace ofMatteo Ricci, Memory Jonathan doctrines atthe endofthe eleventh inthis Because anddiscussed promoted paper. century are will bediscussed inanarticle onhand however, late-Ming they examples, they separately mnemonics andarts ofmemory the era. during Ming 4 Seethe section ontreating children inYang (ca.1522-1620), Jizhou Zhenjiu Siku cunmu chuSlili [QiLushushe (1601; dacheng quanshu congshu Thesixillustrations inthis text the hand banshe, (zibu 1995]) 45) 10,pp.298-301. present asa diagnostic asa therapeutic surface for and and as aid, moxibustion, applying acupressure hand for male and for female hand (left children). gendered right 5 For the ofusing the as a ruler tomeasure hand distances between early-Ming practice onthe seeLuoZhouchan (early c.),"Zhong14th points patient's body, acupuncture tu" inWuKun zhitongshen cun ed.,Tizong (1552-1620), cuiyan Xinwen chuban For of1612 H (rpt. edn.; 14,p. 1620. Taipei: feng gongsi, Ming1982),/ " " of the hand for see yifu and its two era illustrations tomeasure using sewing, diagrams fatu" fatu" jfc inWang and "Shenzhi ffl /$ 'f~feiil, "Quzhi liangcun liangcun Qi tuhui vol. Saneai (1607) 4,y.i, p.38 [p.1522]. 6 For anexcellent exhibition with of the hand asinstrument inearly-modern Eucatalogue seeClaire Richter on Hands: and inEarly Modern Sherman, rope, Writing Knowledge Memory Trout distributed of on Press, (The 2000), Europe Gallery, bythe Washington University esp. medical see"Reading the onHands," Writing examples, pp.64-85. 7 Inthe ofscience and arts of inEurope, I refer tothe here work ofFranhistory memory cesA.Yates, The Art first Seealso CarPimlico, 2001; (London: 1966). of Memory pub. Mary AStudy The Book inMedieval Culture ruthers, of Memory: (Cambridge: Cambridge of Memory andDieCraft andthe Meditation, Rhetoric, U.P., 1990), 400ofThought: Making Images, of Also Lina The Liter1200 U.P., Bolzoni, 1998). (Cambridge: Cambridge Gallery of Memory: and Models inthe the Press Parzen U. ,trans. (Toronto: Iconographie Age Printing ary of Jeremy asLa stanza Toronto della memoria P.,2001); Einaudi, (Torino: 1995). orig. pub. 326

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HAND MNEMONICS Spence focusedon themnemonicdevices ofMatteo Ricci (1552-1610), thatrelied on architectural whichdeveloped froma European tradition structures to aid memorization.8 wrote nothingabout Chinese Spence methods; but then,neitherdid Ricci, even thoughboth writers relayed who possessed prodigiousmemories.BenjaaccountsofChinese literati min Elman also discussed memorydevices used by literatiin his study for oftheChinese civil-service examinationsystem.9 Students preparing the examinationsused auditorymethods of rhyming characters,fourcharacterjingles, parallel phrases, and antithetical pairs of characters called shudui as well as oral recitation techniques.Whereas Spence described the architectural and visual mnemonic techniques fromthe Jesuit traditionthat Matteo Ricci broughtwith him to China, Elman discussed poetic and verbal mnemonicsin Chinese academic communities. Neitherexplored the popular use of the hand to aid memoryin eitherearly-modern Europe or China. In contrast to Ricci's architecturalmnemonics using visualization techniques and the Chinese literati'spoetic mnemonicsusing verbalization, one findsin anthropologicaland historicalscholarship on China scatteredreferencesto yet a thirdtype of corporeal and kinestheticmnemonicsthatused the hands. One of the earliest discussions in westernscholarshipis a shortarticlefrom1907 on Chinese-derived hand divination methods among the Vietnamese to determinetaboo directionsfordaily activitiesduringpregnancy.10 In La pensechinoise , Marcel Granet mentioned these methods in a footnoteon the three on the palm-side divisions of the ways the numbers 1-9 were written of the left hand.11 an fingers Finally, author of a popular book on the BookofChanges describes the methodsthata blind fortune-teller taught him forcalculating the eightgua Aih on his lefthand.12 Anthropological research on Taoist practices in Taiwan has revealed similarfunctions the hands served in religious ritualsforcom8Jonathan The Palace Matteo Ricci York: Books, (New 1984). Spence, Memory of Penguin a more For detailed account onthe mnemonic of Matteo Ricci and the order, techniques Jesuit seeMichael Das vergessene Diejesuitische Gedchtnis: mnemotechnische Lackner, Abhandlung und Kommentar F.Steiner, bersetzung Xiguojifa: 1986). (Stuttgart: 9 Benjamin A Cultural Civil Examinations inLate China Elman, (BerkeHistory of Imperial U. California P.,2000), ley: 283. pp.269-70, 10Commandant "Decertaines la grossesse relatives chez lesdivers Bonifacy, croyance duTonkin," BEFEO 7 (1907), groupes ethniques pp.107-10. 11Marcel La Pense chinoise New York: Arno Granet, Press, (1934; 1975), rpt. pp.18788,n.2. 12Alfred The I Ching Vt.:Inner Traditions, (Rochester, 2000), Huang, Numerology ofthe pp.175-78. 27

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MARTAE. HANSON withthe spiritworld as well as forhealing illness.13One of municating the manuals Master Ch'en Jung-sheng gave to Poul Anderson during his studywith him in Tainan in 1979 contained a drawingof a hand mnemonicoftheTwelve EarthlyBranches.14John Lagerweydescribed in a he observed Master Ch'en how, during five-dayceremony 1981, press specificpoints on the digitsof his lefthand followingthe twelve Recent anbranches of this drawingwhile recitingan incantation.15 in has the research Sichuan mid-1990s province during thropological a of the left hand as in detail the uses even greater complex analyzed and practicalmnemonicdevice in popular refavoredritualinstrument ligious practicesthatare experiencingrevival in modern China.16The methodcan be foundin earliestdrawingof thiskind of finger-pressing a Japanese Buddhist text from 1152. Michel Strickmannargued that the image representeda manual healing techniqueinvolvingthe ritualistic pressingof divisions of the hands to call up spiritswithinto assist in exorcisms of malevolent spiritswithout.17 Ho Peng Yoke's Chinese an of Mathematical provides example hand mnemonicsof the Astrology 7'3r cosmic Heavenly Stemsand EarthlyBranchesfortheancientliuren boards thatsuggestshistoricaloriginsin Chinese divinationas well as in Chinese religiouspractices.18 on hands Technical images of writing in Chinese publicationsfromat least the eleventhcentury throughthe that attest such manual arts of early-twentieth century memorypracthe traditional tices were as varied as theywere widespread throughout 13InMichael Master The Haven: YaleU.P., Saso, (New 1978), Chuang "Teachings ofTaoist onthe hand the and seefig. envisioned left of Taoist," 18, 4 "The magic square p. 139, fig. p. which isofthe Twelve Branches andintended tohelp the make the cor221, Earthly adept inthe between andresiding used Fa-Lu rite for exteriororgans, spirits respondence joints, the izing spirits. 14 inChinese and Taoist Ritual York: MacMillan Pub(New John Lagerwey, Society History is similar tothe second oneSasodescribed in 1987), lishing drawing Company, p. 17.This his1978 book. 15Seepl.13ofa "High inhis left hand inorder internal toactivate priest touching points which hethen uses to'light the burner' the Land ofthe inLagerwey during energies, Way," Taoist Ritual , p. 307. 16 YuYi^ - -, ed., , Wang gen. Tong Xiangming Zhang Qiugui Songqin mi Nan,eds.ZJiongguo chuantong pu huibian juegang (Taipei: tian 1999). shuju, 17 anillustration For of this seeMichel Chinese Medicine Strickmann, , ed. Magical example, Bernard Faure Stanford First as "Brief Note: U.P.,2002), (Stanford: pp.151-56. published AM 'TheSealofthe I thank Susan Woman','' 3dser. 7.2(1995), Jungle pp.147-53. Naquin for mea copy of this issue of Asia giving Major. 18 HoPeng Chinese Mathematical out tothe Stars ReYoke, , Needham Reaching Astrology: search Institute Series 6 (London: the Twelve 2003), 5.5isof RoutledgeCurzon, Figure p. 137. Branches onthe left which was used for the earth board inliuren divination. Ho Earthly palm, that use his the could own and asthe two cosmic boards (earth suggests fingers practitioner palms and of the liuren method and the divination hidden inside his sleeves. heaven) perform 328

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HAND MNEMONICS domains of Chinese knowledge well beyond medicine. These textual hand diagrams were called variously zhizhang (fingerand jue palm mnemonic), zfrangjue (palm mnemonic), zhangfa (palm method), shoujue (hand mnemonic), zhangjuetu (palm mnemonic (hand diagram). diagram), zjiangtu (palm diagram), and shoutu These palm or hand diagrams exemplifythe Chinese visual cat, which in an edited volume of articleson the subject has been egory tu defined as a specific type of Chinese image that encoded technical knowledge and was deployed as "templates for action."19According to Francesca Bray's introduction, the Chinese term tu is best understood as a functional,namely instructive, even didactic, categoryfor not as eithera morphologicalcategorysuch as xiangik. instruction, (imof something, age or icon), intended to convey the formor structure or an aesthetic category such as hua (picture or painting) created forpleasure and entertainment. Of the two main functions of Chinese tu as summarizedby Bray - eithersymbolicmediation fororganizing in rituals,or representational and space and the actions of participants - the medical mnemonichand-tu technicalillustrations fall into largely the lattercategory.20 Instead of being transformative as are the former type of mediating tu,the hand-mnemonictu are both communicative of technicalmedical knowledge and pedagogical; theyutilize the hand to both improveunderstanding and assist memorizationand the recall of the same knowledge. In addition to the poetic and verbal mnemonics of Elman's civil-serviceexaminees, the functional typeof representational Chinese tu provides an illuminatingentryinto the historyof the arts of memoryin Chinese culture.Full coverage ofjust the hand tufoundin medical texts,however,not only would have to cover both and representational, communicatypes of mediating transformative tive tubut would also require a book. This articletherefore introduces the mnemonichand tuin classical Chinese medicine; it focuses on just one of three known types of medical mnemonics,and analyzes only the two earliest known of many medical hand-mnemonics.These are both taken froma medical book completed in 1099 whose authorwas a physicianat the NorthernSong court; the earliest extantedition was printedin 1339. First,however, it will be helpfulto discuss the basic structure and mechanics, as well as history, of the mnemonicprocess embodied in such medical tu. 19Francesca Vera DorofeevaandText Lichtmann, Mtaili, eds., Bray, Georges Graphics inthe Production inChina : DieWarp andthe Leidensia , Sinica ofTechnical Knowledge Weft Brill, 79(Leiden: 2007). 20Bray, andText "Introduction," , pp.1-4. Graphics 29

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MARTAE. HANSON WhatChineseMedical Hand Mnemonics Summarized Hand mnemonicsin classical Chinese medicine are foundin three medical disciplineswhere complex calculationswere requiredto make a diagnosisand determine a treatment: and acupuncture, drugformulas, In hand mnemonics were numerological epidemiology. acupuncture, used in a subdisciplinecalled chrono-acupuncture. Based on a numeroebb-flow"(zi wu liu zhu-^pSrL logical systemtermed"midnight-noon, Q:), chrono-acupuncture helped physiciansdeterminethe appropriate timeto needle acu-pointsand thusreestablishharmoniousflowof qi in the patient.21 To determinethe appropriateuse of formulas, the Eastern Han officialand physicianZhangJi (150-219 ad) established diagnostic guidelines in his Treatise of Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Disorders ca. 196-2 19 ad) accordingto (Shanghan zabinglun six typesof patterns, or syndromes, called the six warps (liujingr'fR). Later physiciansdeveloped hand mnemonicsto help recall the appropriate Cold Damage formulafor each major type of six-warppattern of illnesses.22In the InnerCanontradition, to assist theirdiagnoses and also relied on a doctrinecalled wuyun prognoses,physicians liuqi E 'Mi (Five CirculatoryPhases and Six Climatic Figurationsof qi). This doctrine relatingthe Five Phases with the six external climatic conof qi was oftenabbreviated in Chinese to simplyyunqi figurations , (literally,"phases and qf9),and succinctlyin the English rendering "phase energetics."23 The doctrines of phase energetics were firstoutlined in seven : suwen! (66-71, and 74) chapters of the Huangdi neijing thathave formanycenturiesbeen considered laterinterpolations from the eighthcentury.Based on the calendrical breakdown of a sexage21For evidence ofthe ofhand mnemonics for these in doctrines present-day deployment seeHuaMingyang zhu zhi Taiwan, , Zi wu1 yanjiu (Taipei: Qiye There areatleast two ofthis inEnglish. 1983). shuju, popularized interpretations practice Neither how tousethe hand as a mnemonic device for source, however, explicitly explains this LiuBingquan, time A Collection Traditional practice. .,Optimum Acupuncture: for of Chinese Science and , trans. Chronotherapeutics Wang Qiliang (Ji'nan: Shandong Technology LiuZheng-Cai etal.,A Study Daoist & Moxibustion Press, 1988). (Boulder: Acupuncture of Blue Press, 1999). Poppy 22Theearliest ofthe useofhand mnemonics toremember ColdDamage docexample I have trines found isinMaZongsu 7(1234; (fl. c.),Shanghan 13th qian fa rpt. inXueshi ershisi inthe [Wanli yi'an zhong 1573-1619]), reign Ming Qing series mingzhu congkan chubanshe, zhongyi (Beijing: Zhongguo zhongyiyao For modern illustration and seeYanLiang xiao 997), ,Renshen pp.301-7. explanation, tiandi Wen Book Co.,Ltd., (Taipei: Ming 1993), pp.219-24. 23For the first andmost treatment ofthese theories inEnglish, seechap. comprehensive ofValue for Phenomena ofMacrocosmic Dimensions: Phase in 2,"Standards Energetics," Manfred Theoretical Foundations Chinese Medicine: Porkert, (Camof Correspondence Systems of Mass.: TheM.I.T. Press, bridge, 1974), pp.55-106.

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HAND MNEMONICS nary cycle into five periods of twelve years each (5 x 12 = 60), phase energeticsformalizedin medical practice the relationshipbetween the ofthehumanbody.24 macroclimateofthecosmos and themicroclimate This doctrinedid not gain prominence among scholars and elite phythatis, during sicians, however,untilthe end of the eleventh century, 25 theNorthern thetwo earliest (960-1 126). Significantly, Song dynasty known medical hand mnemonicsthat summarizedthe phase energetics doctrinewere published duringthisperiod, and came fromthe pen of an eleventh-century physician workingin the new NorthernSong Medical Bureau. Imperial COSMOLOGICAL MEDICINE AND GOVERNMENT PATRONAGE OF MEDICINE IN THE NORTHERN SONG We come now to our earliest known diagrams of medical hand mnemonics,which are preservedin a textthatthe NorthernSong physician Liu Wenshu SlS wrotewhile he was in (late-eleventh century) service to the imperial court as the vice-rectorof studies in the Imperial Bureau of Medicine. Althoughwe do not know exactly the years we know thatin 1099 he presentedto the court a of his appointment, medical text entitledSuwenrushi ( On the yunqilun'ao ArcanaofthePatterns Phasesand [& Climatic] qi in ofthe[Five] Cyclical theBasic Questions ]).26 The text Emperor [oftheInnerCanonoftheYellow markedthe apex of influenceof the new cosmological doctrineof five circulatoryphases and six climatic qi. Even though this doctrinehad been developed since the eighthcentury in the interpolatedchaptersof theInner Canon : Basic Questions (mentionedabove), ithad notbecome influential The rise of among elite physiciansuntiltheeleventhcentury.27 thecosmological medicineLiu Wenshu's textexemplifies is inextricably linked to the government'sexpansion of imperial medical institutions, 24For the earliest of the which influenced the depictions graphic sexagenary cycle, clearly formal form ofmnemonic hand tufor seeMarc Kalinowski, "Time, phase energetics, Space andOrientation: ofthe inAncient andMediFigurative Representations Cycle Sexagenary eval inBray etal.eds, andText China," , pp.137-68. Graphics 25Forevidence this seeCatherine "The ofFive argument, supporting Despeux, System Phases and the SixSeasonal Influences ofInnovation in (wuyun ): A Source Circulatory liuqi Medicine inElisabeth under the inChinese Medicine Hsu, ed.,Innovation , Needham Song," Research Institute Studies U.P., 2001), 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge pp.121-65. 26Seethe edition ofSuwen rushi inDaozang lun'ao 1022 [ce 664). complete yunqi 27For anexcellent ofthe content ofthese seven seeFang analysis chapters, Yaozhong andXu suwen: Huangdi Jiasong qipian neijing yunqi jiangjie Renmin These didnot chubanshe, authors, however, 1984). (Beijing: weisheng discuss the historical context orassimilation ofthese new as didDespeux, chapters "System ofFive Phases." Circulatory 331

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MARTAE. HANSON promotion of classical medical texts throughgovernmentsponsored publications,and state supportedstandardizationof medical concepts and practices.28A new formof medical activismtoward transforming healing practices in the south,therebybringingsouthernpopulations under Song governance, also developed duringthisperiod.29 ofcalculations,thesephase-energetics doctrines Forminga system became more widelyknownamong literateChinese physiciansonly afterthe early-twelfth when theyreceived statesanctionforthe century, first timethrough one ofthemedical publicationssponsoredby emperor Huizong (r. 1101-1126), namely, the Zfrenghe shengji zonglu : A SagelyBenefaction (MedicalEncyclopedia Reign oftheZhenghe 1 of 1 The first are devoted to two Period) 17. chapters phase-energetics doctrines.They were promoted as doctrinesused to predict years of thepathogenicclimatic greaterprevalence of epidemics and determine aberrant factorbelieved to have caused them.They also differentiated fromnormal changes in the pulses due to seasonal shifts, listed the dominant pathogenic climatic factorimplicated in illnesses, and, an innovationfortheMedicalEncyclopedia, aligned treatments accordingto both the Chinese sixty-year calendrical cycle and the six-periodannual cycle.30Although Huizong did not publish the actual text on phasethe emperor energeticsthatLiu Wenshu presentedto his half-brother, (r. 1085-1100) nearly two decades earlier, Huizong's Zhezong MedicalEncyclopedia gave formalstate sanction to the same macro-microcosmic doctrinesof phase energeticsthat Liu Wenshu broughtto the attention of the imperialfamily.31 Both the individual Liu Wenshu textand the imperialMedicalEncyclopedia were productsof the broader 28Seevarious medical transformations Asaf Goldschmidt: on articles onNorthern Song by inAcu-moxa durmedical Standards: standardization, Changes "Changing Tracing Therapy tothe East Asian and the Transition from the Science, Song ing Tang Dynasties," Technology, 18(2001), "The Medicine 11;onmedical Song Rapid pp.75-1 systematization, Discontinuity: Medicine: and 1 Innovation inNorthern Asian Tradition Medicine," Song Modernity Dynasty orBenefiting and medical Medicine institutionalization, (2005), "Commercializing pp.53-91; First inChina," Science inContext the Public , forthcoming. People-The Pharmacy 29For Transof Northern medical see "The Medical activism, Hinrichs, Song T.J. examples andSouthern inSong China ofGovernance Customs C.E.)," (960-1279 forming Dynasty a complete list For ofNorthern medical Ph.D. diss. (Harvard 2003). Song publiUniversity, texts the Yuan medical seeher cations, 2,"Government through period," appendix produced PP.243-46. 30For anexplanation and their see"The Doctrine of these theories accompanying "charts, assistthe Di nei suwen of the Five Periods and SixQi inthe Unschuld, Huang jing byPaul anappendix inPaul U. Unschuld, Di and Hermann edbyZheng Tessenow, Huang Jinsheng Text U. inanAncient Chinese Medical nei suwen: Nature, Knowledge, (Berkeley: Imagery jing California P.,2003), pp.387-488. 31For doconHuizong, the Medical more details , andthe energetics phase Encyclopedia seeGoldschmidt, trine, "Song Discontinuity," pp.82-83. 2

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HAND MNEMONICS and governmentsupportof trendof standardization,systematization, thatwere characteristic and medical institutions, policies publications, Taizu yfafl of the NorthernSong since the first (r. 960-976), emperor, the New Policies programof Wang in particularas carriedout through Anshi (1021-86), which began in 1069 and was toppled by oppositionin 1086 forsome years. Imperial medical patronagepeaked in the finalNorthern Song reign,thatof Huizong.32Liu Wenshu's treatise marked the peak of this medical system'sreputation,crystallizedthe ofitsvarious components,and, I argue, mostcomprehensivetreatment doctrinesinto of phase-energetics set the stage forthe later integration Medical Encyclopedia.33 Huizong's imperiallysponsored CHINESE ARTS OF MEMORY AND THE KINESTHETICS OF HAND MNEMONICS Liu's extensivetextcontainsseventy-two diagramsspread throughofthelefthand were promiout itsthirty chapters.The twoillustrations nentlyplaced at the beginning,directlyaftertwo circle-diagrams(the first is depicted in figure8 and the second in figure9, which will be discussed later) and before two circle-diagramsdepicting the shun (correctflow),or sheng (mutualproduction)sequence, and ni (reverse flow),or ke1(mutual conquest) sequence of the Five Phases.34 Circle diagramswere a conventionalmethod in Song-era publications comparable to the conventionof modern-daypie charts,but theysummarized complex conceptual and numerological relationshipsrather In the mutualthan quantitativerelationshipsbased on percentages.35 the Five for of the Phases, instance, phases produce productionsequence or engendereach otherin the followingorder: Wood creates Fire, Fire produces Earth,out of Earth Metal is formed,Metal engendersWater. (See figure1, leftside, top circle.) The mutual-conquestsequence, on 32For ofmedicine, inthis ofallaspects role ofNorthern Song patronage Huizong's peak the NorthTransformations ofChinese Medicine Moshe "The seeAsaf Goldschmidt, During Past Medical into TheIntegration of Three ern (A.D.960-1127): Approaches Song Dynasty Ph.D. a Wave diss. a Comprehensive Medical ofEpidemics," Following (University System inPatricia and onMedicine," ofPennsylvania, Seealsohis"Huizong's 1999). Ebrey Impact Mass.: andthe Late Northern Culture Bickford, eds., Song (Cambridge, Huizong Maggie of Harvard U.P., 2006), pp.275-323. 33For with a paragraph ofthis treatise tothe of onthe development significance respect ofFive seeDespeux, Phases," doctrine, liuqi Circulatory pp.132-33. "System wuyun 34Theprocesses andanother onething inthe titles ofthe were called diagrams depicted inthe isinthe title but isinthe themselves. For shun sheng diagrams top diagram; example, ke niisalsointhe title but isinthe bottom diagram. 35For ofFive onSong seeDespeux, this Phases," , p. 132. Circulatory insight "System 333

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MARTAE. HANSON the contrary, is based on an adversarialcontrolling relationshipamong the phases: Wood is stronger than Earth,Earth can be used to control than Water,Water puts out Fire, Fire can meltMetal, Metal is stronger Wood. (See figure left bottom the concentric i, side, circle.) Resembling circles of a geomancer's compass to determinecosmological alignment in space forbuildings,circle-diagrams visualized a cyclical conception - mutually - and oftransformations producingand mutually controlling of time.The logic of a mnemonichand diagramis thatof a circularor onto the palm side of the fingers. square diagram transferred Liu Wenshu's first diagramofthelefthand, forexample, has three of inscribed on the inside of the threemiddle fingers. layers concepts from inside are theTen Heavenly out,they listedas thefollowing: Going two sets of the in Five Phases their mutual Stems, productionsequence, and alternating yin and yang. (See table i, figure2.) The reader begins withthe first heavenly stem,called jia (see table 2 fora convenientlisting of these stem terms),located on the bottomcrease of the ringfinger,and continuesclockwise. Firstacross the creases at the bases ofthe foryi and index finger middle finger forbing , thenup the index finger the two creases for wu and then across the tips of the three , ding using for xin. the and reader moves down the , longestfingers ji, geng Finally, where renand gui are located on the two upper and middle ringfinger to jia at the base of the ringfinger. creases, and returns In addition to this clockwise arrangementof the Ten Heavenly on the hand adds anotherlayer of complexity.The Stems,the writing physicianreadingthishand diagram (see figure2) would know thatthe Ten Heavenly Stems are given the ordinal values of one throughten and thatthe odd numbersare designated yang and the even numbers are designatedyin (table 2). Interpretation depends on the tacitknowlthe of observer. The would also learn fromthe image edge physician thatthe charactersare grouped togetherto formfiveyin-yang pairs in the followingorder: 1 with6, 2 with 7, 3 with 8, 4 with9, and 5 with 10. Liu Wenshu's diagraminforms thephysicianthattheTen Heavenly Stems are associated withthe fivecirculatory phases of Heaven, which divide the yearly cycle into five periods of seventy-three days. Each one of these five periods is further ruled by its correspondingphase and follow the mutual-productionsequence - Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire. The jia- 1 / ji- 6 yin-yangpair of Heavenly Stems whose are thelower-right components diagonallyacross fromeach otherfrom to the upper-left side of the fingers to the corresponds phase of Earth. to the Five Phases Earth the formation stimulates According concept, of moistureduringthe end of summer.The next yin-yang pair, yi-2 / 334

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HAND MNEMONICS 7, which comprisesthe two stemsdirectlyacross fromeach other gengon the lower and top end ofthe middle finger, correspondsto theMetal that the autumn. The bing-^/xin-S phase engenders dryness during which the two stems across fromeach other pair, comprises diagonally fromthe lower-left to the upper-right side of the fingers, corresponds to the Water phase thatproduces cold duringthe winter.The ding4/ renacross from each 9 pair,whichcomprisesthetwostemshorizontally otherfromlower-left side to the upper-right side of the middle of the index and littlefingers, to the corresponds phase of Wood thoughtto the winds in The w u-/gui- 10 pair, the stems produce ushering spring. across from each other from the to the lowerhorizontally upper-left rightside of the middle of the index and littlefingers, correspondsto the phase of Fire believed to ignitethe heat of summer. The physicianwould also have withinhis mind a list of disorders associated with the dominant circulatoryphase of these five periods and each one of these yin-yang pairs of Heavenly Stems. The Earth of thejia-ji year of the sixty-year cycle as well as thatperiod of any given year, for instance, would be associated with disorders of the spleen, the organ systemthat correspondsto the Earth phase. The Fire phase dominant during the wu-guiperiod in the sixty-year cycle, similarly would cause more heat-associated illnesses as well as illnesses of the heart correspondingto the Fire phase. This first hand mnemonicpresents a straightforward example of the hand used to rememberthe Ten Heavenly Stems, their Five Phases associations, and their yin-yang designations.The second hand mnemonic in Liu Wenshu's treatiseis not only more complex, it opens up the question of what Liu Wenshu could assume fromhis potential readers and what were the possible sources forhis enigmatichands? POSSIBLE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION AND INFLUENCE The second diagram of the lefthand in Liu Wenshu's textis titled "The Mnemonic of the Twelve Branches that Govern Heaven," yet curiouslythe charactersforthe Twelve EarthlyBranches are nowhere to be found on this image. Instead the two-character termsforthe six climaticqi are clearlyindicated on the inside of the middle and pointer (See figure3.) A laterimage of the same hand mnemonictaken fingers. froma modernphoto-reprint of the Daozang (Daoist Canori) of 1444-45 solves the issue of the where the EarthlyBranches were located on the palm. (See figure4; tables 3, 4.)

335

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MARTAE. HANSON Yet the absence of the charactersforthe EarthlyBranches in the image fromthe 1339 edition of Liu Wenshu's Suwenrushi yunqilun'ao stillneeds explanation.36The location of the Twelve EarthlyBranches on the leftpalm appears to have been such common knowledgeamong the literatescholars and physicians forwhom the book was intended thatit was unnecessaryto writethemon the image. Evidence fromone of the oldest encyclopedias of the SouthernSong (1127-1278), titled ShilinguangjiVWStlE [Broadon ManyMatters) Record ranging supports thisargument. the scholar Chen Yuanjing Compiled by twelfth-century (i 137-1181), it contains diagrams of a wide range of subjects, and citymaps, climatic and calenincludingconstellations,territorial drical change, genealogical systems, and even Chinese chess and other games. Shilinguangji, enough,has an essay on "Zhangjue" significantly ift("Palm Mnemonics") thatintroducesa section on fatecalculation techniques using the hand. Comparable to the Daozang edition of the second of Liu Wenshu's two hand diagrams,theTwelve Branchestrace a circumference in the same locations around the palm-side of the fingers of the lefthand. (See table 3; compare figure4 withfigure5.) Startingat the base of the ring fingerwith zi, the fortuneteller moves clockwise around the fourcentralfingers and ends at the base of the littlefinger withhai.Justbeneath this Shilinguangjihand diagram, a square-griddiagram correlatesthe EarthlyBranches withthe twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. (See table 5.) The zodiac designations forthe Twelve EarthlyBranches are arrangedto be read top to bottom and leftto rightbut the hand mnemonic directlyabove suggeststhe fortune tellerwould recall themaccording to a clockwise arrangement in the palm of his lefthand. The following evidence page of the encyclopedia provides further thatthiswas the case. Althoughthe Twelve EarthlyBranches are written withina square instead of on the fingers of the palm, the arrangementexactlyparallels the one on the precedinghand mnemonicof the Twelve Branches.Instead ofthezodiac animals,thisexample associates each branchwithone of twelvestars.The explanation above shows the reader how to calculate the taiyin (Great Yin Star) forany xingyfcBM given person according to their birthdate. Several importantpoints thebasis ofa duodecimal maybe made here: theEarthlyBranchesform systemof calculation in both examples; the branches are paired with several orders of correlations- the twelve zodiac animals, in the first 36Theillustrations of the hand inthe mnemonics ofSuwen rushi lun'ao SKQSedn. yunqi follow the edn. 1339 336

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HAND MNEMONICS diagram,and the twelve stars,in the second one; and a square-shaped "donut" representedthe same order of EarthlyBranches as were written on the fingers of the previous hand diagrams.Square-griddiagrams of the EarthlyBranches like the one in Shilinguangjirepresentedin the abstractthe fourfingersof the lefthand. (Compare figures5 and 6.) TheHand or theSquare? This correspondence between hand and square diagrams of the question of what came firstas Earthly Branches raises an intriguing hand or the square-griddiagrams? mnemonicdevice, the practitioner's Althoughthe use of the hand as a mnemonic tool predates Liu Wenshu's 1099 publication, he does not informthe reader about the textual or practical originof the two hand mnemonicshe used to promote the new "phase energetics"doctrines.Nor do we know where he first saw characterswrittenon a drawingof a hand. The earliest example of a diagram of a hand mnemonicI have been able to findis in a Buddhist manuscriptfound in the hidden libraryat the Mogao Caves of this to the eighthcentury, Dunhuang in Xinjiang province. Attributed hands with ten virtues and five Budof a of the Buddhist drawing pair dhistelementswritten along the finger tipswas mostlikelyused during the late-eighth when esoteric Buddhist cultsfromIndia spread century the Silk Road and found adherents along among the Chinese.37 Like Buddhist mudras, or symbolic hand gestures,the writingon this pair of hands was imbued with religious significanceand placed spiritual practice into the hands of the acolyte. An essentially esoteric religious practice of hand mnemonics in Buddhistcommunitiesfromat least the eighthcentury appears to have their in textual Liu Wenshu's Suwen rushi lunqi preceded representation lun'aoofthelate-eleventh and the Shilin century twelfth-century guangji the two examples fromShilinguangji- the encyclopedia. Furthermore, mnemonic hand diagram and the square grid diagram - suggestthat Liu Wenshu learned a comparable hand calculation method based on the Earthly Branches froman earlier illustratedencyclopedia or almanac similar to Chen Yuanjing's later work. It is also possible that he learned to calculate on his hands fromhis colleagues or a mentor 37M.Aurel Serindia: Detailed inCentral Asia andWesternStein, Report Explorations of most China Clarendon seevol. Press, (Oxford: 1).For 192 4,pl.XCIX(ch. 00153); drawing, for text the seevol.2,p. 968b. For another Buddhist to describing drawing, dating example seeTakakusujunjir andOnoGemmy, Taish zuz eds., 1198, (shinsh ) daizky Daosi 'Shiba vol.8,p. 31. +^1, (1912-26) ji yintu" 337

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MARTAE. HANSON in the esoteric divination practices fashionable during his time. The question about the precedence of the hand or the square grid tu thus remains unanswered,althoughthe close relationshipbetween the two in Chinese historyis now conclusive. ANALYSIS OF THE EARTHLY BRANCHES HAND MNEMONIC Instead ofthetwelveanimals ofthezodiac corresponding to twelve consecutiveyears,or the twelveyin starsrepresenting constellationsin a year,in Liu Wenshu's second hand diagramthe Six Steps ( liubu7^) of Qi divide the year into the six periods each of sixtydays. (See tables in 3 and 4.) The first earthlybranch zi, like the first heavenly stem/ his first hand diagram,begins on the bottomcrease at the base of the ringfinger.(See figure2, table 1, and figure4, table 3.) The physician then up again reads clockwise along the base of the next two fingers, the lengthof the index finger, then across the tips of the fingers, ending down the length of the little finger.As was the case for the Ten Heavenly Stems, the physician would already know that the Twelve EarthlyBranches were organized according to a specificsequence and Branches similarlogic. Clearly,the 1339 edition'sversionoftheEarthly hand mnemonicassumed priorknowledgeof the location of the twelve thatopens Liu Wenshu's brancheson thehand. The first circle-diagram book, however, provided a key to the levels of association stemming out fromthe core six phrases indicatingthe steps of qi - shaoyin , taithat not and he could , , perhaps yin shaoyang, yangming taiyang, jueyin assume was common knowledge. (See figure8.) Liu Wenshu's opening circle-diagramsummarized the multiple layers of the phase energeticsdoctrine and had the appropriate title "Wuyun liuqi shuyao zhi tu" ("Diagram of the Pivot of the Five CirculatoryPhases and the Six Climatic qin). This image provided the key to what the second EarthlyBranches (not the first Heavenly Stems)hand mnemonicwas intendedto recall from memory. It is composed of seven concentricringsthatdepict the seasonal divisions and phenomena of a year. The seven rings representdoctrines that are arrangedin a sequence fromthe most tangible six climatic qi at 6 o'clock - Dampness, of the seasons in the innermost circle starting and to the most abstractcycle of Heat Fire, Dryness, Cold, Wind, the Twelve EarthlyBranches on the outer edge of the finalring starting at 5 o'clock with zh the firstearthlybranch. Between these two ends, one findsin each of the five successive bands moving outward Chinese charactersthatrepresentdifferent aspects of the phase enerdoctrines. getics 338

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HAND MNEMONICS The first ring afterthe innermostcircle indicates the correspondence between each of the "Six Steps of Qi" of roughlysixtydays and halfof the year the correspondingpair of EarthlyBranches.38The first of 180 days was associated with heaven and the yang configurations of qi - called (Lesser Yang), (Yang Brightyangming shaoyang ness), and (GreaterYang). The second half of the year of taiyang of qi 180 days was associated with earth and the yin configurations called Mjueyin(AttenuatedYin), (Lesser Yin), and shaoyin of seasonal These six (GreaterYin). qi are whatLiu Wenshu steps taiyin wrote "shorthand"onto the three divisions of the index and middle The reader would have been expected to know thatthe Earthly fingers. Branches are given the numericalvalues 1-12 (withthe same designations of yang forodd numbersand yin foreven as withthe Heavenly Stems) and thattheyare grouped togetherto formsix yin-yang pairs. These correspondences are visually representedby having each pair of branches split on eitherside of the stage of qi withwhich they are linked on the circle diagram.Their monthdesignations,given in other diagrams,are assumed here.39(See table 6.) The second ring from the center refersto the "govern-heaven and in-the-source"(sitian zaiquan ^^) aspect of the phase-energetics doctrine. This concept linked changes in seasonal qi to normal and abnormal pulses. Normal pulses changed according to eitherthe threeperiods governed by the yang forcesof Heaven or threeperiods ruled by the yin forcesof Earth.The Govern-heaven(sitian ) qi division located in the 10 to 12 o'clock pie segmentof the circle and In-thesource (zaiquan :) qi division located in the 4 to 6 o'clock segmentare thatthe former is Yang opposite fromeach othervisually reinforcing to the latter'sYin.40 The thirdringreturns to the Six Steps of Qi but clarifiestheirorwith der starting chuzjkiqi W.M (Initial qi) fromthe 6 to 8 o'clock segment and going clockwise to second qi, thirdqi, fourth qi, fifth qi, and zhi qi (final qi), which ends at the 4 to 6 o'clock segment zhong of the circle. The fourth ringthenlistswhich one of the six circulatory and Five Phases are the zhu qi IR (host qi) forthatperiod. The host qi follow the mutual qi production sequence of the Five Phases clearly 38Seethe Host inUnschuld, Di nei SixSteps," 3.3"The Qiandthe Huang appendix jing suweny pp.417-20. 39Seealsodiagrams and table 11,12, 7,inibid., pp.422-24. 40For a clear inEnglish ofthis ofthe see3.6"The doctrine, explanation aspect Qi Coninibid., Heaven andQi atthe Fountain," trolling pp.424-36. 3S9

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MARTAE. HANSON hand mnemonic and circle diagram directlyfoldepicted in the first lowing it. Additionally,in order forthe Five Phases to match up with the six qi, Fire was further divided into Ruling Fire {jun huo and MinisterialFire (xianghuo The initial qi period starting withthe "Establishmentof Spring" fortnight, for example, is governed by Attenuated Yin, the climatic configuration Wind, the Wood phase, and is the season of winds. (See table 7, first column.) The fifth ringindicatesthe orderofthe twenty-four fortnightly periods thatdivide the Chinese agrariancalendar intofifteen-day periods withthe "Establishmentof spring"( li chun L and ending at starting the "Great cold" ( da han) period listed at the 6 o'clock position.41 The Twelve EarthlyBranches dot the outer ringwiththe first earthly at 5 o'clock and branch zi aligned with WinterSolstice (dongzhi at its opposite the seventh earthlybranch Wu aligned with Summer Solstice (xiazhi JCiS) at 11 o'clock. Although Liu Wenshu's "Twelve EarthlyBranches" hand mnemoniconly wroteout on the hand the Six Steps of Qi found in the innermostring of this circle diagram of the sexagenary cycle, these Six Steps of Qi were clearly intended to jog memoryof more thanjust the Twelve EarthlyBranches. Liu Wenshu titledthe second circle in his book "Liushi nian jiyun tu" ("Diagram of the Sexagenary Periods of Circulation") and used it to further develop the concepts he illustratedin the first circle-diagram(figure9). The circle shows how to combine the Ten thesequence Heavenly StemswiththeTwelve EarthlyBranchesto form of sixtypairs in the sexagenary cycle already well known to Chinese and scholars of Chinese historyand culture. I focus instead on the circle diagram, or tu , here as a technical image intendedto convey specificknowledgeand used simultaneously to reinforceretentionthroughvisual representation. Furthermore this must be as understood the of the shorthand written image completion on the two hand diagramsthatdirectlyfollowed it. The six pairs of EarthlyBranches are listed horizontallyaround the rim of the inner band. Alternating Heavenly Stems are listed verin the six subsections of the outermost band in the second of tically three rows fromthe rightline. The three rows of the outermostband list the followingcategories: 41For table ofEnglish translation ofthe see SciNeedham, 24fortnightly periods, Joseph ence andCivilisation inChina exU.P., 1959) 3,p. 405.Needham (Cambridge: Cambridge that these tothe 15 degree inlongitude motion ofthe sun onthe plains periods correspond andareanaverage of15.218 ecliptic days. 34

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HAND MNEMONICS 1. theFive Phases,each one alignedwiththeheavenlystemto itsleft, butin contrast to theHeavenlyStemshand mnemonic, theyare written in themutualconquestsequence (Earth, Water,Fire,Metal, Wood); 2. fiveoftheHeavenlyStems(thefirst fivefollowed by thesecond five and repeatedthreetimes);and of convergence or divergence: 3. thefivepossiblecelestialpredictions shunhua JiHtft (SequentialChange), buhe (Inharmonious), tianfu tianli xiaoni (HeavenlyConvergence), (HeavenlyBenefit), (MinorRetreat). The physician would match the branch and stem of any given year to the dominatingphase and the celestial predictionforthatyear. These two circle-diagrams summarizethe conceptual foundationupon which numerological epidemiology was developed throughthe phase-energetics doctrinesof classical Chinese medicine fromthe eleventh centuryonward.42 Moving fromthe sexagenary cycle to the yearly cycle, the next circle-diagram(figure10), specifies each of the six steps listed in the inner circle going clockwise from8 o'clock - AttenuatedYin, Minor Yin, Minor Yang, Major Yin, Yang Brilliance, and Major Yang. The Six Steps of Qi - and not the fivecirculatory phases - governthe range of climatic conditions affecting humans over the course of a year (the Govern-heavenqi, mentionedabove), but theyhave multiplelayers of meaning depending on the period of the year and the functionof the climatic qi as a host qi or visitor qi during the year indicated by the monthsin thesecond ring.43 theGovern-heaven Depending on whether qi are excessive or insufficient, theycause illness or, in the worstyears, widespread epidemics. These "six steps" of the annual cycle were each further divided into four periods of fifteen days, totally twenty-four distinct"seasonal nodes" [shijie fifth outermostband in figure8 and the outermostband in circle diagram in figure10). THE CONTOURS OF THE PALM AND THE LOGIC OF THE EARTHLY BRANCHES HAND MNEMONIC To assist memorization of these layers of correspondence, Liu Wenshuinscribedthe"six steps"within thecircumference oftheTwelve ofthecircle EarthlyBranchesand projectedthesetwoessentialfeatures 42Seeappendix Five the SixQi,and the Climatic inUnschuld, Periods, 4,"The Changes," Di nei suwen , pp.436-41. Huang jing 43SeeUnschuld's inappendix SixQi"ibid., explanation 3,"The pp.414-33. 341

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MARTAE. HANSON called the "Zhuqi zhi tu" 3:0,51181 ("Diagram of Host q) directlyonto the palm of the lefthand. (Compare figures11 and 12.) Liu Wenshu's second "EarthlyBranches" hand mnemonicclearly but because of the naturalconstraints summarizedthiscircle-diagram, of the lines of the leftpalm the charactersare mapped out differently. The relationshipsbetween the paired EarthlyBranches are visualized across the circle and matchedwithone of the six steps linked withjust one branch, both moving clockwise. For example, zi-wu (1-7, winter and summersolstice, nth and 5th month)are across fromeach other at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock in the circle-diagram. They both correspond "Lesser Yin" at 10 o'clock, however,thereis no clear visual to Shaoyin These correspondencesare indicated on the cue linkingthemtogether. different leftpalm, however, in a slightly way thattakes advantage of makes the connections and the palm's contours physicallyclearer in contrastto the textuallimitationsof the circle's concentricrings. The hand diagramfollowsthesame principleofdiagonal alignment as in the circle diagram: touch zi on the base crease of the ringfinger, and notice the diagonal then touch wu on the tip of the middle finger, that zi-wu (1-7) forms.Similarly,chou-wei (2-8) are diagonally opposite fromeach other on the hand: touch chouat the base crease of the Taken together and weion the tip of the ringfinger. middle finger you as crisscan imagine the "diagonal lines" formedby zi-wuand chou-wei crossing each other vertically.A comparable horizontal crisscrossing is created by the "diagonal lines" formedby mao-you (4-10) fromsecand chen-xu ond crease of pointerto thirdcrease of pinkyfinger (5-1 1) from thirdcrease ofpointerto second crease ofpinky.Now forthefinal touch (3-9) and si-hai(6-12) form, crisscrossing diagonals thatyin-shen the base of the pointerat theyinlocation and the tip ofthe pinkyfinger at the shenlocation; then touch the tip of the pointerat the si location and the base of the pinkyat the hai location. (See figure12.) In thishand mnemonic,the correspondencebetween the Earthly Branches and the Six Steps of Qi are more closely linked to the logic of these diagonal alignmentsthan in the circle diagram. The text acto begin with thepractitioner companyingthehand mnemonicinstructs and count clockwise of the middle at the central division , finger, jueyin then to taiyin to shaoyin , , just below at the base of the middle finger, the index the three divisions of and finger, ending up shaoyang yangming The paired EarthlyBranches withtaiyang&t thetip ofthemiddle finger. associated withjueyin(middle space of middle finger)is si-hai (6-12), which is located on the diagonal line fromsi at the upper lefttip of the 42

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HAND MNEMONICS to hai at the lower-right second crease of the ringfinger. pointerfinger a form to upper-right (3-9) diagonal fromlower-left Similarly, yin-shen hand and the shaoyang "Lesser Yang" they are both associated withis located in the middle of the pointer finger, roughlyon a comparable diagonal. The diagonal alignmentargumentalso works fortwo other pairs of stems and their correspondingstep of qi, but slightlydifferis directlydiagonal and to the leftof the first branch zi ently. Shaoyin at the bottom of middle followed (located segment finger) by taiyin which is directlydiagonal and to the left of the second branch chou theircor(located at the bottomsegmentof pointerfinger), facilitating on the palm. Only the two pairs of respondence by physical proximity stemsthatcrisscrosshorizontallydo not align on a diagonal withtheir (4-10) withyangming correspondingsteps of qi: mao-you (tip of pointer) and chen-xu with of middle (5-1 1) (tip finger).(Compare table 6 taiyang and figure12.) But withthe patternsof diagonal alignmentand physical proximity withinthe palm assistingmemoryof the otherfourpairs and theircorrespondingsteps of qi, the practitioner could more likely than not fillin the blanks. MEDICAL HAND MNEMONICS AND NORTHERN SONG INTELLECTUAL TRANSFORMATIONS The first hand diagramin Liu Wenshu's treatiserepresents thefive of Heaven and the Ten Stem that divisions circulatory phases Heavenly were theoretically in an ideal The second hand aligned diagram year. illustratedthe correspondingsix climatic qi of earth and the Twelve EarthlyBranch divisions of any given year that actually occurred. In these two earliest examples of medical hand mnemonics,Liu summarized the most importantdimensions of the doctrine of five circulatoryphases and of six climatic qi thathad become fashionable among medical and scholarlybureaucratsin the NorthernSong government. Aspects of this doctrinewere then summarizedin Chinese by the following three shortelliptical phrases: 1. thefivecirculatory ), often phases and six climaticqi (wuyun liuqi shortened to yunqi("phasesand qi") as in Liu Wenshu'sbook title Suwenrushi yunqilun'ao; and in-the-source" 2. the "govern-heaven (sitianzaiquan) phrase, whichreferred to a divisionof a yearintosix periodsof sixty days each, threeofwhichweregovernedby Heaven (yang)and threeof whichwereinfluenced ; and by Earth(yin) the related "southern and northern 3. governance"(nanbeizheng 343

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MARTAE. HANSON seasonal pulsesby indicatdoctrine forreadingappropriate ihffi) or Earth theforces ofHeaven (southern, yang,warmer) ingwhether in chargeoftheweather dur(northern, yin,colder)wereprimarily ingthesame six periodsof sixty days each year. The physician's hand helped rememberthe most importantand subtlemacro-microclimatic relationshipscentralto healing in the Inner Canontradition.On these hand images, the divisions of the palm-side of the fingers provided topographicallocations forprojectingChinese characters not numbers. Physicians projected on to these locations "shorthand"forthe most complex concepts developed in the literate medical tradition.This "shorthand"was both a mnemonic for medical concepts used in practice and an attemptto revive and popularize some of the more esotericmedical doctrinesof the InnerCanoncurrent of learning. The social currency of the new phase-energetics systemat the end of the eleventh centurymay well be linked to two new historicalphenomena: first, the intellectualfashions of the famous NorthernSong and (1017-1073) and cosmologists Zhou Dunyi philosophers Shao Yong SI 1 (1011-1077), both of whose doctrinesinvolved using the calendar and calculating cosmological cycles;44 and second, the publishingof medical textsunder the NorthernSong, state-sponsored in which these doctrineswere included, were newlyrequired forstate For the firsttime, a medical examinations and widely distributed.45 medical text coming out of the Imperial Medical Bureau published diagrams and essays that solely discussed the five circulatoryphases Medicine was one more vehicle for the and six climatic qi system.46 orientations of influential NorthernSong philosopherscosmological such as Zhou and Shao to gain followersamong Chinese elites and thesenew securetheemperor'spatronage.By systematically integrating in his affiliations doctrines his Liu reaffirmed treatise, phase-energetics with the scholar-officials and intellectualfashionsfavored withinthe NorthernSong court at which he was an imperial physician. The first two of the 200 juan thatcomprise Huizong's MedicalEn(Shengjizonglu ) were devoted to phase energetics.In them, cyclopedia one the entire sexagesimal cycle is depicted in sixtycircle-diagrams, 44For intellectual Zhou and Shao discussion of the broader context including Yong, Dunyi seeDespeux, ofFive Phases," Circulatory pp.134-35. "System 45SeeGoldschmidt, and Dis"Transformations of Chinese Medicine," "Song pp.197-221; pp.53-90. continuity," 46SeeDespeux, ofFive Phases," p. 136. "System Circulatory 344

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HAND MNEMONICS foreach of the sixtypossible combinationsof the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. A lengthyessay follows each diagram explaining among other things"minbing^J" ("illnesses of the people"), namely the epidemics predicted to spread throughthe population in years considered most susceptible to celestial disjunctureof the sexagenary sequence.47 Although the predictions are based on a numerological system,this is the earliest example of a systematic epidemiology promoted by the Chinese state bureaucracy. Despite skepticismamong contemporarySong scholars regardingthe genuineness of the seven , nevertheinterpolatedchapterson phase energeticsin the InnerCanon less these chaptersbecame integratedinto classical Chinese medicine as legitimatewithinthe InnerCanontextualtradition.The patronage of the emperor Renzong (r. 102 2-1063) of the liurencosmic-board divination(in whichcomparable circle diagramsand calculationsusing the Heavenly Stems and EarthlyBranches were used) may have also contributedto the contentof Liu Wenshu's treatiseand later to Hui.48 zong's inclusion of phase energeticsin his MedicalEncyclopedia The medical hand mnemonicsof the InnerCanoncurrent of medical learning including and following Liu Wenshu's earliest two examples have the followingcharacteristics: they are always of the left hand (the leftthumbbeing used to point,perhaps while the righthand wrote or kept place in a book); they representthe hand of the practitioner(never of the patient); the hands are all gender neutral; they are always explained in an accompanyingtext,sometimeswitha mnemonic rhyme;and theyare found only in essays thatdiscuss the three basic doctrinesof phase energetics- wuyun liuqi ("phase energetics"), sitian zaiquan ("govern-heaven and in-the-source"),and nanbeizheng ("southern-northern governance"). They are all also based on the two most common and related systemsfor structuring time and seasonal in Chinese culture: the old calendrical based change sexagenary system on the Ten Heavenly Stems and Twelve EarthlyBranches thatappear as early as the oracle bones late in the Shang dynasty,and the new cosmological doctrineof five circulatory phases and six climatic qi of "phase energetics" dating no earlier than the eighth century.These were not considered merelyabstractmacro-microcosmic concepts but 47Although this text was tothe in1117, itwas not until presented emperor 1300. published For the two the 60circle seethe edition, juanwith diagrams, following zonglu Shengji Renmin For a clear , byZhao exchubanshe, JiUfo(Beijing: 1982), weisheng pp.1-169. of these charts and inEnglish, doctrines seeUnschuld, planation "phase energetics" appendix toHuang Di nei suwen , pp.385-494. jing 48Ho,Chinese Mathematical and for ,p.36,for Astrology Renzong's patronage, pp.136-37 reference tohand calculations for liuren divinations. 345

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MARTAE. HANSON ratherconcrete technical factsthatwere projected onto the leftpalm as a corporeal and kinestheticmnemonic intended to facilitatetheir memorizationand thus promotetheirapplication. some of role in promulgating Hand mnemonicsplayed a significant the most complex doctrinesin Chinese medicine while simultaneously aiding physicians to memorize and rememberthem in their clinical practice. The two examples discussed here were reproduced in medical sources fromat least the time of the Yuan edition of 1339 to the Daozang edition of 1444-45, and theyremain practical mnemonicsysof Chinese medicine, circulatingas theystilldo tems forpractitioners in Chinese medical publications in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.49 Comparable hand mnemonicsare readily foundin modern Chinese almanacs, geomancy manuals, guides to the Book of Changes , handbooks. In Taoist and Buddhistreligioustexts,and fortune-telling all ofthese cases thehand is more thana ready tool foraiding memory, its jointed structure of sectional squares reinforcedthe relationships the Chinese characters among imaginatively projectedon itand thereby naturalizedthe doctrinesthese charactersrepresentedby fitting neatly take advantage between thejoints of the fingers.50 These illustrations of the positional,sequential,and directionalpossibilitiesof the natural divisions of the fingersto simplify the basic points of each doctrine. The shape of the hand and natural divisions of finger joints, instead an inner realityand predetermined fate of an individual, of reflecting What ratherconfirm geographic,calendrical, and cosmological truths. in the lines of thejoints of the fingers as was written legitimated natural and self-evident what were culturalinterpretations of macrocosmacted microcosmrelationships. The physician'spalm-sideofthefingers as both a mnemonicmeans towardpractical masteryover disease and a symbolic means by which the new phase energeticsdoctrine of the InnerCanoncurrentof medical learningwere reinforcedas the natural patternsof the cosmos. 49For that tocirculate incontemporary evidence these medical hand mnemonics continue Lij,ZJiouyi chubanseeYang China, (Taipei: Jianhong yu zhongyi yunqi Lipublished this with illuswhich seven book she, 2002), Yang appendix, reprints examples. trations ofthe same with the title seven hand mnemonics original previously Zhongyi yunqi xue kexue chubanshe, 5.9and5.10, 1995): figs. p. 34;fig. (Beijing: Beijing jishu in3,p. 823.Shedidnot 5.14, 17.5, 36.10, fig. p.40;fig. p. 222;fig. p.483;andappendix, inher first clude hand illustrations Ml fflP (Beipublication, any ZJiouyi yu zhongyixue kexue chubanshe, 1989). jing: Beijing jishu 50SeeDavid inParts: Fantasies Hillman and Carla The Mazzio, eds., Body ofCorporeality none of the inEarly Modern York/London: (New 1997). Routledge, Although examples Europe the asmnemonic the overall discusses the hand oreven inthis book device, separately body that toreside isinformed ofEuropean culture were in, on,and imagined byaspects analysis of the human about individual parts body. 346

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HAND MNEMONICS POSTSCRIPT: THE MEANING OF CLOUDS AND THE LOGIC OF WRITING ON HANDS In the mid-fifteenth-century Daozang version of Liu Wenshu's Suwenrushi , the images of the hand mnemonicshave subtle yunqilun'ao changes. Instead of being cut off just aftera bracelet, as in the earlier *339 edition, the hands in the Daozang version come out of clouds of qi. (Compare figurei withfigure13.) Resembling the naturalpatterns foundon tortoiseshells - withcertainresonance withdivinationpractices ofold usingtortoiseplastrons- these swirlswere not merelydecothedoctrineswritten on thepalms above rative,theyvisuallyreinforced them as the natural order of thingsand as having cosmic signficiance. This visual detail could be compared to the parallel verse structure of classical Chinese poetry; the cloud-vapor pedestal resonates withand further on the hands arisingout of it. Using gramamplifiesthe writing mar as a metaphor,one could also argue thattheswirling clouds convey the mass noun - a capitalized " Qi* - and the characterswritten on the hand break down the particulartypes of the mass noun - lower case clouds uqf - thatcharacterizedseasonal change each year.The swirling of qi out of which the hands arose visuallyreinforced the specifictypes of qi written on the hands just as the physical contoursof the leftpalm itselfnaturalized the logic of the doctrineswritten on them.

347

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i. Medical HandMnemonics Figure Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao,133g edn.(seen. 26). Clockwise upyunqi from Twelve corner: Ten Stems andthe Phases; perright-hand Circulatory Earthly Heavenly Branches That Govern Five Phases Heaven; ; andProduction Conquest Cycle of Cycle of . Five Phases inthe rare books collection of This isa photocopy of the earliest extant edition of1339, kept the head of the Chinese Rare Book atPrincSoren University library. Edgren, Beijing Project eton down andmade a photocopy ofthis for me. Franciscus Vereltracked University, page lenfirst this tomy attention inthe "Efficacious TheUseof Designs: brought example paper inthe Taoist atthe conference held atthe de France, Canon," Collge Graphics presented inChinese "From toAction: TheDynamics ofVisual Intellectual and Image Representation as"The Ritual and ContemCulture," 2-5,2001, Religious Design: Sept. published Dynamic inTaoist inBenjamin Daoism in in Honed., plative Graphics Scriptures," Penny, History: Essays our LiuTs'un-Tan (London: 2006), Routledge-Curzon, of pp.159-86. Table i. Summary Written OnandAround 2 3 Palm, Figure ofCharacters Left LEFT INDEX MIDDLE LITTLE RIGHT RING OUTOUTSIDE SIDE [above] YangHf Metal Tip UreaseFire^ CrZ Woo* Bsau (6) Ji (5) Wujjc <4)Di"ST (3) Bing Water 7R YangB (2)YiZ, Metal z Yin (7) Gengm (8)Xin2S Water* (9) Ren (10>Gui^ (Ojia? Earth iL Yang Yin& Wood7fc Yang|S Fire* Yin^

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Ten Stems andCirculatory Phases Mnemonic 2. The Figure Heavenly Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi edn. lun'ao,133g yunqi Table Directions Ten Stems Celestial 2. Summary of forCounting of Hand 2 , Figure Left CELES- CHINESE PHASE YIN/ (ORDER NO.) FINGER LOCA- TIAL GRAPH YANG TION STEM : bot(1) Begin tom crease, ring finger (2) Bottom middle crease, finger (3) Bottom crease, pointer finger (4) Middle crease, pointer (5) Top crease, pointer (6) Tip ofpointer (7) Tip ofmiddle (8) Tip ofring (9) Top crease, ring (10)End:middle crease, ring Jia Yi Bing Ding Wu Ji Geng Xin Rgn Z H T ^ ^ g Earth Metal Water W(jod Fire Earth Metal Yang Yin

Water Yang Wood Yin e Yin Yang Yin 0 yin

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Branches andGovern-Heaven . Twelve [Qil Mnemonic Figure Earthly Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao,133g edn. yunqi

Table andTheir inFigure Locations 4. Summary 4 C33 ofCharacters OUTSIDE INDEX Tip 6: Si E INDEX MIDDLE 7: Wu Yan||Bgng Tai|jg Shaoyang ' Taiyin Jueyin Shaoyin 2: Chou 1: Zi ? 8: Wei* 9: Shen . You @ _. Xu v tf 11: 12: Hai ^ RING LITTLE

rf ChenS Crease 5-Uhen Middle 4: - g rn Crease Mao Crease 3: Yin *

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Twelve Branches That Govern Heaven Figure 4. Mnemonic ofthe Earthly Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi the igs-26 Shanghai lunqilun'ao.I usehere edn. Ming 1444-45 e^nZJiengtong ofthe Daozang (DZ 1022,ce fthe 664)yp. 2b. Table Branches Mnemonic , Figure 4. Summary 4 ofTwelve Earthly TWELVE STEP CHINESE OF (NUMBER) FINGER LOCATION BRANCHES GRAPH QI crease, (1)Bottom ring finger Bottom middle crease, (2) X finger crease, (3)Bottom pointer finger crease of (4)Middle pointer of (5)Topcrease pointer (6)Tipof pointer middle (7)Tipof of (8)Tip ring little (9)Tipof of little (10)Topcrease Middle crease of little (11) crease of little (12)Bottom 2ji ^ Mao Chen Si Wu Wei Shen Xu Hai ~F -n ir ^ 5P M ^ Taiyang . Taiyang J 0 ^ ^ ^ Jueyin Shaoyin Shaoyin Shaoyang Shaoyang Taiyin Taiyin Yangming Yangming

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andEnglish Translation Table Ft. Summary 5 Figure of 10 Tou Chicken 11Xu Dog 12Hai Pig 7 Wu Horse 8 Wei Sheep 4 Mao Rabbit 5 Chen Dragon 1# Rat 2 Chou Ox 3 Tin Tiger

6 Si 9 Shen Monkey Snake

Mnemonic Palm pj. Figure Earthly ofTwelve andSquare Branches Diagram ofTwelve tothe Twelve Animals Zodiac Corresponding Branches Earthly Shilin Chen guangji Tuanjing (1325 Japanese edn.).

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6. Square Grid Figure of Earthly Branches andCorresponding Tin Stars Chen , Shilin guangji.

Meditation Hands Figure 7. Buddhist Dunhuang from 8th Serindia n. (ig2i) (see gj). Probably

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8. Circle FiveCirculatory andSix Climatic Phases Figure Diagram ofthe qi Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao (Daozang edn.; , iQ2^-26). rpt. Shanghai yunqi

Table 6. Pairs Branches Phases , SixCirculating Qi,SixSteps , Five , Months of Earthly ofQi i with 7 Zi-Wu Shaoyin Lesser Yin 11th & 5thmo. 2 with 8 3 with g 4 with 10 5 with ii Chen-Xu 6 with 12 Si-Hai Jueyin Attenuatedyin 4th& 10th mo. Chou-Wei Yin-Shen Mao-You Taiyin Greater Yin 12th & 6thmo.

Shaoyang Yangming Taiyang Lesser Yang 0 1st& 7th mo. erigntness 2nd& 8th mo. Greater y 0 3rd& 9th mo.

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Q. Circle Figure Diagram ofthe Sexagenary Cycle Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao edn rpt. , ig2^-26). (Daozang Shanghai yunqi

the SixSteps Phases Table Five Condition 7. Summary of of Qi, , Climatic INITIAL Qi SECOND QI THIRD QI FOURTH QI FIFTH QI SIXTH QI

Jueyin Shaoyin Shaoyang Taiyin Yangming Taiyang Yin Lesser Attenu- Lesser Greater Greater Yang atedYin Yin Yang Brightness Yang Wind Cold Ruling Minister Dampness Dryness Fire Fire Wood Fire Fire Earth Metal Water qi Warmth Scorching Clouds Windy Myriad Cold qi circulates circulates heatcircu- andrain things are circulates lates circulate dry

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io. Correspondence between the Six Governing , Figure qi, Months andSeasonal Nodes Liu Wenshu, lun'ao (Daozflng Suwenrushi edn.; , rpt. Shanghai yunqi 19^3-26).

. Diasram Host Feme of qi Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao (Daozflng edn.; rpt. Shanghai, yunqi 1923-26).

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Twelve 12. Mnemonic Figure ofthe Earthly Branches That Govern Heaven Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao yunqi edn .; (Daozang rpt. ig2-26). Shanghai,

i . From toLeft Stems Figure , the , Ten , Right Sexagenary Cycle Heavenly andTwelve Branches Earthly Liu Wenshu, Suwenrushi lun'ao (Daozang edn.; rpt. Shanghai, igs-26). yunqi

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