[The evolution of the thought of "Yojo" and its function as a theoretical bases for development of health culture].

PubMed

Takizawa, T

1997-12-01

The purpose of this monograph is to clarify the role of "Yojo" on public health in Japan. Yojo is a traditional concept which has been used for the nourishment of life in Eastern cultures. These thoughts on Yojo were published under the title of Yojoron in ancient China. Yojoron was imported into Japan somewhere from the 7th to 10th centuries. In ancient and medievel Japan, there were few writings about Yojoron. However during the Edo period, Yojoron suddenly flourished. Dominant in Yojoron was diet. Issues such as exercise, mental control, and sexual restraint were also considered in the Bunka, Bunsei, and Tenpo periods (the first half of 19th century). Yojoron included not only matters of physical and mental health but various other matters regarding the general quality of life such as morality, domestic economy, culture and education. However other health-related issues such as longevity and absence of diseases, showed a simultaneous decrease in the importance. Also principles of Yojoron such as restraint and austerity in behaviour were liberalized. These trends indicated the basic shift in Yojoron from personal health care to self-culture for the entire quality of life. Writings on Yojoron were still published after the Meiji restoration (1868). The principle of Yojoron in the Meiji period was based on both social Darwinism and social revolution theories. The primary concerns of Yojoron were consolidated into achieving health and longevity by personal effort. Therefore Yojoron can be seen as the theory of lifestyle and quality of life in traditional societies in Japan. The public saw in Yojoron a design for living through improved health. This meant the Yojoron was a very refined art of living, and therefore, implies that health care should be integrated with entire self-development. The principle of Yojo offers the ideal foundation of 'health culture' in modern societies.

Envisioning the inner body during the Edo period in Japan: Inshoku yojo kagami (Rules of Dietary Life) and Boji yojo kagami (Rules of Sexual Life).

PubMed

Shirasugi, Etsuo

2007-03-01

There are two ukiyoe, Japanese woodblock prints, that were produced around 1850 and give a good picture of the images of the insides of the human body that were widely accepted among the common people in the Edo period. The Inshoku yojo kagami (Rules of Dietary Life) shows a man drinking sake. The Boji yojo kagami (Rules of Sexual Life) shows a woman, apparently a courtesan. The purpose of the two ukiyoe was to educate viewers about the functions of the principal inner organs in the traditional East Asian concept of the body and to admonish them against excessive eating, drinking and sexual intercourse. The contrivance of the two ukiyoe lies in their fusion of two formats. One is the format of a see-through body displaying the internal organs. The other is that of explaining the functions of the various internal organs in the form of familiar scenes from the living space of cities and households. Miniature sketches can be seen in the prints of people at work, performing the tasks believed to be that of each organ. However, the scheme of the two ukiyoe was not an innovation of the author of the ukioye. Already in the kibyoshi (Yellow Cover booklets), the scheme of likening the interior of the body to a living space had been adopted. After entering the 18th century, Chinese medical knowledge and anatomical drawings became available. As sex manuals, Yellow Cover booklets, and ukiyoe publications, incorporated and disseminated the newly acquired medical knowledge and the medical concept of the body gradually became the common sense view among people in the street.