Body Mirrors: transcultural reflections on an Edo medical puppet

This exciting event is a workshop, led by Shan Jiang of Peking University. It will bring together a team of international experts in transcultural reflection on a set of Japanese papier mâché puppets from the Edo period (1603-1868), exemplified by one held in the Sir Henry Wellcome collection of the Science Museum. We will explore the ancient Chinese medical and Tibetan tantric knowledge, as well as Dutch anatomical elements that it appears to embody. Using conceptually related models from the Han period (202 BCE-220 CE) and later, and diagrams from Tibet and China, the participants will bring a material culture analysis to bear on the figurine, attempting to situate geographically and historically the transcultural flow of knowledge that went into its production.