TY - CONF

T1 - The Anatomical Accuracy of the robber King Ou Xi Fan (and his 56 dissected gang members)

AU - Shaw, Vivien

PY - 2014/12

Y1 - 2014/12

N2 - Anatomical drawings have formed the cornerstone ofanatomical education in the West for centuries before thearrival of photography, the internet and virtual resources. Theimages in Vesalius’ On the Fabric of the Human Body and laterin Gray’s Anatomy have been the textbooks for countlessphysicians. In China there is an anatomical atlas called theAnatomical Atlas of Truth, which dates back to the SongDynasty (906-1279CE). In it are drawings made by Cun Zhen Tu.The question posed in this study is ‘can this atlas be consideredcomparable to the works of Vesalius and Gray?’ There are somecharacteristics of anatomical drawing that are proposed to becrucial for an atlas of human anatomy to be considered valid.(i) Drawings must be based on dissection; (ii) dissection musthave been carried out on many individuals to account forvariation; (iii) the drawings must accurately depict the observedbody; (iv) information depicted must be verifiably true, i.e. stillbe visible on dissection today; (v) the author must demonstratea commitment to veracity.The Song dynasty drawings are substantially different in stylefrom that of the later European illustrators, making them seemclumsy. On close examination, however, with the focus onanatomical content rather than illustrative style, they arelabelled appropriately, the blood vessels connect betweenorgans and heart, retroperitoneal organs are shown next to thespine, and abdominal organs are in the space in front, etc.To conclude, the drawings are based on the body as seenthrough the dissection of 57 individuals, fulfilling criteria 1 and2 of this study. The structures recorded are in the right placecan be verified today, fulfilling criteria 3 and 4. Thecommitment of the author to fidelity can be seen in the title ofthe book ‘Anatomical Atlas of Truth’.In sum, this implies that Cun Zhen Tu, like Vesalius, wanted tocorrect the errors in anatomy that were current in his time. Hedid this by creating an accurate atlas. This in turn implies thatanatomists in China, as in Europe, had similar scholarly concernsand methods.

AB - Anatomical drawings have formed the cornerstone ofanatomical education in the West for centuries before thearrival of photography, the internet and virtual resources. Theimages in Vesalius’ On the Fabric of the Human Body and laterin Gray’s Anatomy have been the textbooks for countlessphysicians. In China there is an anatomical atlas called theAnatomical Atlas of Truth, which dates back to the SongDynasty (906-1279CE). In it are drawings made by Cun Zhen Tu.The question posed in this study is ‘can this atlas be consideredcomparable to the works of Vesalius and Gray?’ There are somecharacteristics of anatomical drawing that are proposed to becrucial for an atlas of human anatomy to be considered valid.(i) Drawings must be based on dissection; (ii) dissection musthave been carried out on many individuals to account forvariation; (iii) the drawings must accurately depict the observedbody; (iv) information depicted must be verifiably true, i.e. stillbe visible on dissection today; (v) the author must demonstratea commitment to veracity.The Song dynasty drawings are substantially different in stylefrom that of the later European illustrators, making them seemclumsy. On close examination, however, with the focus onanatomical content rather than illustrative style, they arelabelled appropriately, the blood vessels connect betweenorgans and heart, retroperitoneal organs are shown next to thespine, and abdominal organs are in the space in front, etc.To conclude, the drawings are based on the body as seenthrough the dissection of 57 individuals, fulfilling criteria 1 and2 of this study. The structures recorded are in the right placecan be verified today, fulfilling criteria 3 and 4. Thecommitment of the author to fidelity can be seen in the title ofthe book ‘Anatomical Atlas of Truth’.In sum, this implies that Cun Zhen Tu, like Vesalius, wanted tocorrect the errors in anatomy that were current in his time. Hedid this by creating an accurate atlas. This in turn implies thatanatomists in China, as in Europe, had similar scholarly concernsand methods.

M3 - Poster

SP - 912

T2 - Joint Meeting of the Anatomical Society and the Primate Society of Great Britain

Y2 - 15 December 2014 through 16 December 2014

ER -