Links Between Health and Ethics in Early Chinese Culture

The belief in China that there was a strong link between a person's ethical behaviour and their health dates back at least as far as 400BCE and transcends divisions between what later became thought of as separate "schools" now known as Daoist and Confucian. Indeed the notion that physical health, emotions, and ethical conduct were linked was a pan Chinese cultural phenomenon that continues to exert influence today. We will examine these ideas by looking at texts dating from the fourth century BCE through the second century CE. These texts span areas of Confucian and Daoist thought and early Chinese medical theory.