Early Chinese Humans and Their Health Practices
China is one of the cradles of human origin. Based on current archaeological evidence, humans have existed for approximately 3 million years. Some researchers suggest: “Humans did not first emerge in regions with naturally favorable environments… A regional and exceptionally severe force of natural selection became the primary factor driving the divergence of forest apes and the emergence of humans.” (Chen Enzhi: “The Theory of Human Origin Centers in China and South Asia,” Prehistoric Research, Issue 3, 1985). The Himalayan mountain range, formed around 18 million years ago by tectonic plate drift, collision, and uplift, represents a major ecological shift that may have contributed to human emergence. Fossil discoveries of Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus in the eastern Hengduan Mountains over recent decades confirm this region as one of humanity’s cradles.
Major ecological changes and harsh natural selection forced humans from their very origins through subsequent physical evolution to constantly struggle with nature, including disease and injury. The need for survival and health care was one of the fundamental conditions for the emergence of medicine. This presents medical historians with an unavoidable question: the study of prehistoric humans is indispensable to understanding the origins and history of medicine.