Anatomical drawings have formed the cornerstone of
anatomical education in the West for centuries before the
arrival of photography, the internet and virtual resources. The
images in Vesalius’ On the Fabric of the Human Body and later
in Gray’s Anatomy have been the textbooks for countless
physicians. In China there is an anatomical atlas called the
Anatomical Atlas of Truth, which dates back to the Song
Dynasty (906-1279CE). In it are drawings made by Cun Zhen Tu.
The question posed in this study is ‘can this atlas be considered
comparable to the works of Vesalius and Gray?’ There are some
characteristics of anatomical drawing that are proposed to be
crucial for an atlas of human anatomy to be considered valid.
(i) Drawings must be based on dissection; (ii) dissection must
have been carried out on many individuals to account for
variation; (iii) the drawings must accurately depict the observed
body; (iv) information depicted must be verifiably true, i.e. still
be visible on dissection today; (v) the author must demonstrate
a commitment to veracity.
The Song dynasty drawings are substantially different in style
from that of the later European illustrators, making them seem
clumsy. On close examination, however, with the focus on
anatomical content rather than illustrative style, they are
labelled appropriately, the blood vessels connect between
organs and heart, retroperitoneal organs are shown next to the
spine, and abdominal organs are in the space in front, etc.
To conclude, the drawings are based on the body as seen
through the dissection of 57 individuals, fulfilling criteria 1 and
2 of this study. The structures recorded are in the right place
can be verified today, fulfilling criteria 3 and 4. The
commitment of the author to fidelity can be seen in the title of
the book ‘Anatomical Atlas of Truth’.
In sum, this implies that Cun Zhen Tu, like Vesalius, wanted to
correct the errors in anatomy that were current in his time. He
did this by creating an accurate atlas. This in turn implies that
anatomists in China, as in Europe, had similar scholarly concerns
and methods.