The symbolic context of Chinese medicine: a comparative approach to the study of traditional medical and psychiatric forms of care in Chinese culture.

This article explores a distinctly different aspect of Chinese medicine, and of health care in Chinese culture, from that receiving most attention and serious study at present in this country. It examines the symbolic structure and significance of illness and care in the Chinese context by (a) applying concepts developed in anthropology and the cross-cultural study of medicine and psychiatry; (b) examining recent studies of folk and popular forms of health care in contemporary Chinese communities; and (c) raising questions about the congnitive structure, cultural background, and bio-social significance of traditional Chinese healing beliefs and practices. An attempt is made to place this analysis in a comparative framework, so that Chinese cases can be related to health care systems in other cultural settings.