This dissertation shows how a Song-period Chinese physician changed the medical understanding of emotions. By situating his ideas within the broader evolution of psychological theories and therapeutic practices, the study illuminates overlooked aspects of Chinese medical history.
In 1174 Chen Wuze 陳無擇 (ca. 1121–1190) published a book that introduced a new category for emotions: the ‘Seven Affects’ (七情). Though Chen’s book had a significant impact on later medical discourses, international scholars have merely described his affect theory as a change of terminology. I therefore ask: What did Chen’s Seven-Affects theory actually entail? How did it relate to earlier and later theories and practices? And what does it take to understand such premodern Chinese medical affect theory?
My analysis reveals how Chen produced his Seven-Affects theory through an innovative synthesis of pre-existing medical ideas, terminology from the Confucian and Buddhist traditions, and his own therapeutic experiences and preferences. By standardising a set of core human affects Chen managed to clarify and expand their role in medical practice. His framework heightened the significance of emotions and created a new foundation for medical psychology from which later Chinese physicians could elaborate, argue, and diversify their positions. Chen’s work thus played a pivotal role in bridging earlier and later medical approaches to the human psyche.
Minh Khai Mai-Thisuccessfully defended her thesis on 20 April 2026.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: Discuss methodological problems in combining longue durée and thick description approaches.
Evaluation committee
- Professor Vivienne Lo, University College London (first opponent)
- Professor Angelika Messner, Kiel University (second opponent)
- Professor John Ødemark, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Professor Rune Svarverud, University of Oslo
Supervisors
- Professor Halvor Eifring, University of Oslo
- Professor Marta Hanson, CAS-E (Center for Advanced Studies-Erlangen and Associate Professor Emeritus, John Hopkins School of Medicine)