Traditional Beliefs Reflected in Zhou Mi's Medical Notes

Zhou Mi, a renowned literatus of the late Song and early Yuan dynasties, in his masterpieces QiDongYeYu and GuiXinZaShi, recorded a large number of medical anecdotes from the Song-Yuan period. These accounts revealed that Zhou Mi's medical thinking was greatly influenced by traditional beliefs. Among them, the impact of popular deity worship, traditional notions of retribution, and Buddhist-Daoist religious thought was particularly notable. The traditional beliefs of Emperor Zhang of Cishan provided a direction for his treatment in moments of medical urgency. The concept of retribution influenced his view of etiology. Buddhist and Daoist religious concepts provided theoretical support for him to explain unusual medical phenomena and guided his approaches to health preservation. These traditional beliefs formed the cognitive foundation for Zhou Mi's medical reasoning and decision-making.