Premodern China Colloquium – Winter Semester 2022 / 2023
Prof. Dr. Olivia Milburn (Hong Kong University).
"Insanity and Brain Damage: Accounts from Early and Medieval China"
Wednesday, 23 Nov 2022, 10:00 c.t.
Meeting Link https://zoom.us/j/99914456710?pwd=QUx5UnlQOTJZandRbjhORVpZb28vQT09
Meeting-ID: 99914456710, Passcode: 016912
Abstract: Until the development of brain scanning technology in 1978, words for insanity and brain damage were vague, because the causes of many kinds of insanity were not known, and the symptoms of different conditions could overlap. MRI scanning has allowed for a number of syndromes hitherto regarded as mental health issues, such as Capgras or Othello, to be identified as exclusively caused by brain lesions. However, while modern medicine has made some strides in developing treatment for conditions caused by chemical imbalances and trauma, brain lesions remain completely incurable. Early and medieval Chinese texts recorded individuals affected by a wide variety of conditions, including stroke, dementia, the effects of poisoning and lyssaviruses, Korsakoff syndrome and so on. These records have great intrinsic interest, to understand the history of mental health issues in China, and also offer continuities with the present, given that these conditions remain intractable.
Bio: Olivia Milburn is currently Professor at the School of Chinese, Hong Kong University and was formerly employed at the Department of Chinese, Seoul National University. She received her MA from Cambridge and PhD from SOAS, University of London. Her research focuses mainly on the history and culture of the ancient kingdoms of Wu and Yue, and the position of minorities and marginalized groups in early and medieval China, such as intersex persons, the disabled, and so on. In addition, Olivia Milburn has engaged in research on the early history of the novel in China. Her modern literature translations, recognized with the Special Book Award of China in 2018, include works by Mai Jia, Feng Jicai, Jiang Zilong, Fang Fang, and Su Tong.