A Historical Study of Some Latin Texts on Traditional Chinese Medicine, 17th–19th Centuries

The article provides a detailed examination of five Latin-language texts on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) published between 1656 and 1840: Michal Boym’s Clavis Medica ad Chinarum Doctrinam de Pulsibus , Andreas Cleyer’s Specimen Medicinae Sinicae , Athanasius Kircher’s China Illustrata , Willem ten Rhijne’s Mantissa Schematica De Acupunctura , and Alexander Tatarinof’s Catalogus medicamentorum Sinensium . During the 17th and 18th centuries, Western sinologists—many of them were missionaries—produced a substantial body of scholarly literature in Latin, which remained the dominant medium of intellectual exchange in European academic circles. The article focuses mostly on these Latin translations and the historical background of the authors. The main finding of this research is that early sinologists presented Chinese medicine as an exotic and unfamiliar medical tradition rather than as a serious alternative to European medicine. They noticed that Chinese medicine differed considerably from Western medical theories and practices. They acknowledged that its extensive pharmacopoeia, diagnostic practices, dietary therapies, and techniques such as acupuncture, pulse measurement, or observation of the tongue’s color appeared effective. Yet Chinese medicine was usually viewed through the lens of wonder and comparison, as part of the broader fascination with Chinese civilization and Asian exoticism. TCM was a strange and fascinating system based on mysterious Chinese ideas, but its potential contribution to Western medicine was recognised only occasionally and cautiously, rather than systematically explored.