Sociological study of the effects of Persian-Islamic medicine on Chinese medicine (Case study: the compilation of " Hui Hui Yao Fang" in China)

This article analyzes the effects of Persian-Islamic medicine on Chinese medicine from a historical and sociological point of view. It suggests that the most important factors in this regard were the policies of ancient Chinese governments, wars and tributes, commerce and also the spread of Persian language. With Mogul Empire’s occupation of China and Iran (the establishment of Yuan dynasty and Ilkhanate), the cultural exchange between the two countries reached a peak. The Islamic medicine has affected the Chinese medicine through spreading Persian and Islamic drugs and prescriptions, medical theories and compiling medical books. “Hui Hui Yao Fang” has been regarded as a Chinese- Islamic medical encyclopedia and one of the perfect examples of the influence of Persian-Islamic medicine on Chinese medicine. The resources and master copies of the book were the works of Muslim physicians in medieval times, such the medical books of Avicenna and Muhammad Ibn Zakariyā Rāzī. The contents of the book also embodied the Persian- Islamic medical theories, such as “four classical elements”. This article has applied comparative-civilizational sociology of science and has reviewed historical, especially Chinese, documents.