Trope and taxonomy : an examination of the classification and treatment of illness in traditional Thai medicine

Abstract

This work is an examination of the classification and treatment of illness in traditional Thai medicine. The study is based on a nineteenth century compilation of Central Thai court medical texts, as published by the Wat Pho Traditional. Medical Association under the title Phaetsat songkhrQ. Information from this source is supplemented by a synchronic analysis of illness terms in modem Thai, partly derived from interviews conducted with Thais in several regions of Thailand, as well as studies which have been made of other Tai groups. Drawing upon recent research on cognition and categorisation, the study explores the role played by imaginative processes such as metaphor and metonymy in Thai illness classification and the selection of materia medica. It is argued that through these processes the classification of illness makes an important contribution to the therapeutic process. An examination of one representative illness category, krasai, which includes a number of illnesses recognised in modem medicine such as kidney disease and hernia, shows that imaginative processes may be involved in classification in several ways. These include numerical symbolism emphasising form rather than content, flexibility in the semantic range of illness categories, and the identification of illness with familiar aspects of the environment, in particular animals. These processes are also important in determining the treatment of illness. A brief examination of the ingredients found in prescriptions for the treatment of krasai suggests that, apart from any pharmacological value they might possess, their selection is based on various criteria including taste, analogy, and the depiction of illness as a living entity. Some of the practical implications these findings have for classification theory and the efficacy of traditional medicine are considered.