Medicine and Its Objects presents

Watchful Hands: The Tacit Dimension of Surgical Needling in Late Imperial Chinese Ophthalmology
Alec Chao Wang, University of Chicago, History
Discussant: Jay Schutte, University of Chicago, Anthropology

Thursday, January 7th
4:30-6:00pm
Haskell Mezzanine 102

Abstract:
This paper explores the historical transmission of a Chinese eye surgery named Jinhen bozhang (Golden-needle surgery 金針撥障), a skill of using a lancet-shaped needle to couch the cataract. As a surgical intervention in the tradition of Chinese medicine, the practice offers a unique perspective in understanding how the assumptions of mastering the embodied knowledge (esp. hand/eye coordination) were informed by texts that characterized the attempt to shape an expertise out of the structured experience of skilled practitioners. In surveying the post-Song medical literature on this method, I argue that doctors gradually related the visual knowledge of the eye to the language of touch. In emphasizing the hand/eye coordination, Ming and Qing physicians constructed a training regime designed to educate the attention of the practitioner based on the tacit knowing of the body.
The tacit dimension of surgical needling is mainly illustrated from three aspects of late imperial writings on ophthalmology. The first shows how physicians related the expression of yi (shade 翳) to the training of skilled vision, and argues that late imperial texts adopted a pragmatic approach to apply visual knowledge to surgical practice. The second aspect deals with the technical description of needling as embodied knowledge, and compares the ways in which two Qing physicians structured the surgical experience. The last focuses on the materiality of needle as extended body of the surgeon, and argues that the connoisseurship of surgical instruments reflected individual claims of expertise in comprehending the skill.

For a copy of the paper, please contact Hiroko Kumaki (hkumaki@uchicago.edu).

For any questions and concerns about the workshop, or if you need assistance in order to attend, please contact Hiroko Kumaki (hkumaki@uchicago.edu).

We look forward to seeing you soon!