[Siebold and Ishizaka Sotetsu's contribution to the reception of acupuncture in nineteenth century Europe: a comparative research based on the acupuncture manuscripts in the Siebold collection].

Abstract

This article examines Siebold and his relations with the Tokugawa shogunate acupuncture doctor Ishizaka Sotetsu, based on both Western and Japanese primary sources. It is well known that Siebold's contribution to a better understanding of Oriental medicine in Europe was limited to his interest in Japanese acupuncture, particularly Ishizaka Sotetsu's acupuncture. However, past research on this subject has only relied either on documents written in Dutch by Siebold's disciples or on Ishizaka Sotetsu's writings on acupuncture, therefore making it impossible to match the Dutch translations with the original Japanese manuscripts. This article brings new insights in Siebold's study on Ishizaka's acupuncture, investigating from a comparative point of view documents held by Leiden University, Leiden National Museum of Ethnology, Ruhr-Universittät Bochum, Toyo Bunko Library and the Ishizaka family's collection. The second part of the article analyzes also how Siebold's interest in Ishizaka Sotetsu's acupuncture differs from Rhyne's and Kaempfer's interest in Japanese acupuncture