A study on the Discussion on Life and Death of Oriental Medicine

동양의학(東洋醫學)의 생사론(生死論) 연구(硏究)

Oriental medicine thinks life and death as the following. 1. The universe seems to be a kind of organism which is divided into 3 branches, as Heaven, Earth and Man. Man is not created from nihil by the Creator. Heaven and Earth by their interaction operate to produce man. This is similiar that zygote is not created from nihil, and that sperm and ovum are transformed into zygote by their interaction. The symbolic meaning of sperm is Heaven, and that of ovum is Earth. Mind and body, as well as spirit and body, are not the real, but artificial words for the purpose of observing and expressing one man. So there is not spiritual substance as distinct from body. The expected life span of man is subjected to change, and is always becoming through life. Fate, the Creator and the world to come cannot be said to be. 2. After one's death, man is transformend into Heaven and Earth. Dying is this process of transformation. Although man comes into existence and closes one's life, the total life of the universe does not change. The criteria of determination of death is not in cell death, but in somatic death. Somatic death divided into 2 branches, one is heart-lung death, the other is brain death. For the standard of health changes ceaselessly as time goes by, aging and dying is not the process of losing health. Because of mind cannot be seperated from body, we'll feel at ease bodily and mentally in healthy dying. The completion of lifetimes is the value of healthy dying. 3. From the viewpoint of these, we must think to let a person die healthily is the right medical ethics. The way to let a person die healthily is divided into 3 branches, one is treatment, another is prevention and the other is promotion of health. We should treat and prevent death of sickness, but take care of healthy dying.