Traditional HEALERS
The physician was the primary HEALER in Chinese medicine. Physicians who had to treat women encountered numerous difficulties because men were not allowed to touch women directly who were not family members. Thus, a diag- nosis might be made through a ribbon that was attached to the woman’s wrist. As an alternative to demonstrating areas of pain or discomfort on a woman’s body, an alabaster figure was substituted. The area of pain was pointed out on the figurine (Dolan, 1973, p. 30).
Not much is known about women doctors except that they did exist. Women were known to possess a large store of medical talent. There were also midwives and female shamans. The female shamans possessed gifts of prophecy. They danced themselves into ecstatic trances and had a profound effect on the people around them. As the knowledge that these women possessed was nei- ther known nor understood by the general population, they were feared rather than respected. They were said to know all there was to know about life, death, and birth.