Close reading and reflective representation of medical narratives in Yi’s Medical Case
10.12026/j.issn.1001-8565.2026.09.14
- VernacularTitle:《易氏医按》医学叙事的文本细读与反思再现
- Author:
Fengbiao MA
1
;
Siqi LIU
1
;
Yiliang XIONG
1
;
Chaoqun PENG
1
;
Qicheng ZHANG
1
Author Information
1. School of Chinese Classics， Beijing University of Chinese Medicine， Beijing 102401， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
narrative medicine;
Yi’s Medical Case;
Yi Dagen;
close reading
- From:
Chinese Medical Ethics
2026;39(9):1237-1244
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
From the perspective of narrative medicine， focusing on the “three focal points，” integrating the “three elements，” and grounding in the “four relationships，” this study employed a close reading framework of “metaphor， time， space， and voice” to conduct a detailed interpretation on the approach and methodology of the medical narrative in the classic traditional Chinese medical case record Yi’s Medical Case. The close reading revealed that the author of the case record， Yi Dagen， demonstrated exceptional sensitivity to time and space. He excelled in tracing the complete process of disease occurrence and development within the natural rhythms of life， and in discerning the full truth of disease within the unified “body-society-nature” heaven-human field. When facing different subjects in diagnosis and treatment， Yi Dagen consistently rejected one-way knowledge inculcation and instead chose egalitarian dialogue. He was particularly adept at using metaphorical tools to embed obscure medical theories into patients’ disease stories through the form of life experience， thereby building shared medical understanding among different subjects and achieving the “co-creation of meaning” of disease stories. Through a reflective representation of the findings from the close reading， it was argued that Yi Dagen’s diagnostic and therapeutic narrative logic of “pulse-pattern-symptom-treatment” and the metaphorical narrative possessing dual functions of ontological cognition and an interpretive tool were an important means for fostering empathy and facilitating healing， as well as a concentrated manifestation of Yi Dagen’s “patient-centered” medical attitude. Analyzing Yi Dagen’s sophisticated narrative strategies and techniques provides wisdom references for cultivating medical staff’s narrative competence and offers historical insights for the localized development of narrative medicine.
