Rethinking Yi’an (Medical Cases) as a Tool for Narrative Medicine in China

Abstract

When narrative medicine (NM) was introduced into China, traditional Chinese medicine scholars found that the core concepts advocated by NM are manifested in Chinese yi’an. But why NM echoes with ancient Chinese yi’an? How can we better integrate NM into Chinese medical practices? To answer those questions, this article first investigates how NM establishes itself as a remedy to biomedicine by taking traditional healing models including TCM as its ideal Other. Then, the narrative traditions of both case histories and yi’an are examined respectively. This article argues that NM is searching for a lost tradition of narrative case histories, but yi’an functions as a living tradition of TCM. The Parallel Chart in NM, designed as a complement to the dehumanized hospital chart, is still based on a dichotomy of science and art and a conflictual doctor-patient model. But yi’an exemplifies the holistic and humane healthcare that NM hopes to achieve. A comparison of both genres also inspired us to rethink the genre of yi’an in NM. Thus, it is concluded that yi’an should be viewed as an epistemic genre integrating individualization and generalization, a bridge linking medicine and literature. And narrative yi’an can well serve as a tool for NM in China. It is also proposed that a thick description of yi’an be encouraged to further promote a pluralistic NM in China.