Common Origins of Confucianism and Medicine: A Critical Examination of the Interplay between Ancient Chinese Medical Systems and Confucian Thought

本文通过梳理周秦汉唐至宋元明清的医典文献与儒家著述，考证古代医学体系与儒家思想在理论构建、实践伦理、知识传承三个维度的深度互渗。研究发现，阴阳五行学说在董仲舒天人感应论与《黄帝内经》中的同构性发展，宋代新儒家“格物致知”方法对金元医家学术争鸣的催化作用，以及“医儒同道”观念在明清医疗实践中的制度化呈现，共同构成了中国传统医学独特的儒化特征，并深刻影响着东亚医学体系的演进路径。This study examines the profound mutual permeation between ancient Chinese medical systems and Confucian thought across three dimensions - theoretical construction, practical ethics, and knowledge transmission, through textual analysis of medical canons and Confucian treatises spanning Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang to Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The research reveals that: 1) The isomorphic development of Yin-Yang and Five Phases theory in Dong Zhongshu’s Heaven-Man Resonance cosmology and Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon); 2) The catalytic role of Neo-Confucian gewu zhizhi (investigation of things and extension of knowledge) methodology in stimulating scholastic contention among Jin-Yuan medical scholars; 3) The institutionalized manifestation of “medical-Confucian syncretism” (yi ru tong dao) in Ming-Qing clinical practice. These three historical processes collectively shaped the distinctive Confucianized characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, fundamentally influencing the evolutionary trajectory of East Asian medical systems.