When was cancer first discovered?

the word cancer was first put forward by Hippocrates (46-37 BC), a famous Greek doctor, who was known as the "father of medicine". Hippocrates used "carcinos" and "carcinoma" to describe non-ulcerative and ulcerative tumors. In Greek, "carcinos" and "carcinoma" both refer to "crab". The reason why this disease is named with such a word is because cancer is diffusible, which is easily reminiscent of the crab when its pincers are open everywhere. Carcinoma is the most common type of cancer.

This shows that cancer has been discovered for more than 2, years.

You don't have to doubt this. China's medicine is not backward, and the word cancer will flow into China at the latest during the Opium War. In any case, even if it didn't exist, the old doctors in China would have known about it for a long time, so I think people in China would know about cancer for no less than 1, years.

Wang Lida (1958: 94) said. Wang said that it was inherited by some scholars, such as Hu Xinhua (1999: 47). However, according to the textual research of Huang Jingui (1995: 617) and He Huazhen (1998: 152), the word "cancer" was first found in Wei Ji Bao Shu (117). Wei Ji Bao Shu is a surgical monograph. Among them, Volume 7 has the theory of "five carbuncle": one is cancer, the other is carbuncle, the third is carbuncle, the fourth is carbuncle, and the fifth is carbuncle, with illustrations. What was "cancer" at that time? He said, "The first-onset cancer patient has no clue, but the flesh is hot and painful. After 17 or 27, suddenly the purple is slightly swollen, and the pain gradually stops, and the purple is soft and ripe, but it is not broken. It is advisable to take it from the cart, and then take the powder of Pai Zhong Bai Du Tori Internal and External Bu and so on. After breaking it, stick it with musk cream, and Wuji Pill powder to dispel wind and qi, and take the rest of the medicine. " "Cancer", as one of the "five causes" of traditional Chinese medicine, indicates the genus of carbuncle, which is not the same as "cancer" in the modern sense.

The word "cancer" began to have modern significance, which was first written in 1792 by Nobuzawa Ota, Japan. In this book, "cancer" is used to translate the Dutch kanker (Gao Bai, 1996: 22,24). In the mid-19th century, some English-Japanese dictionaries in Japan linked "cancer" with English cancer. According to Shi Youwei's (1998: 13) textual research, in the Pocket Dictionary of English-Chinese Translation compiled by Qu Tatsunosuke in 1857/1862, the word "cancer" was used to translate cancer.

In the mid-19th century, it was a different situation in China: cancer was not referred to as cancer, but as carbuncle and carbuncle. In 1857, Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), A Brief Introduction to Western Medicine, said: "Rectal carbuncle is born between one and two inches on the anus, which is rare and there is no cure." (See Brief Introduction to Western Medicine, Volume II, Shanghai: Renji yiguang. The medical book at the end of the curtain, the second issue, Tokyo: winter solstice study, Showa 61, page 77) "Rectal carbuncle", that is, rectal cancer. In the English-Chinese bilingual catalogue attached to the book "A Brief Introduction to Western Medicine", there is "Cancer, the theory of carbuncle" (ibid., p. 162). "carbuncle" and "carbuncle" were originally TCM terms, and Hexin also said: "The theory of carbuncle is based on the name of Middle Earth. Only the breast abscess is the same as that of the Middle Earth, and the rest is different. " (ditto, volume I, page 19)

So, when did China begin to use the word "cancer" to represent cancer? The documentary evidence listed in The Great Chinese Dictionary and The Great Chinese Dictionary under the note "Cancer" are all selected from a letter written by Lu Xun in 1925. Judging from this documentary evidence, Lu Xun had already used the word "cancer" to represent cancer at that time. Shi Youwei (1998: 12) said: "It was probably in the 192s or around that China decided to use' cancer' to translate cancer. For example, in the 1923 English-Chinese Webster's Dictionary, cancer was annotated with' cancer and cancer'." In a reference book published five years earlier than Webster's Dictionary, we also found the use case of the word "cancer". In 1918, in the Dictionary of Botany (Shanghai, Commercial Press) edited by Kong Qinglai and Wu Deliang, there was an article called Chelidonium majus, which read: "This plant is poisonous, but its underground part can be used as a medicine for treating gastric cancer." (See page 3, lower column) Chelidonium majus root is a kind of Chinese herbal medicine, which can break blood stasis and reduce swelling, stop bleeding and relieve pain, treat peptic ulcer disease, and also have certain curative effect on gastric cancer (Jiangsu New Hospital, 1986: 749).

In some early dictionaries in Japan, cancer was often referred to as "cancer swelling". But in 1915, Kenji Matsui said in the Great Japanese Mandarin Dictionary that "cancer" was the abbreviation of "cancer" (Shi Youwei, 1998: 13). It seems that at that time, perhaps even before, "cancer" could be abbreviated as "cancer". Therefore, the word "cancer" with modern significance was introduced into China from Japan, probably in the early 19th century. The above example in 1918 may not be the earliest.

In addition, the pronunciation of the word "cancer" is also worth mentioning. "Cancer" was originally read yan. Li Rong (199: 324) said: "In 1961, Xinhua Dictionary was overhauled. Considering that there is a better difference between' cancer' and '(inflammation', the editor refers to some dialects' rock' to pronounce it as' cliff', which is a kind of sound like ngai. There is no ng initial in Beijing pronunciation (unless it is continuous pronunciation or ng is a syllable), so it is recommended to pronounce' cancer' as ai. " However, Shi Youwei (1998: 1) said: "The word' cancer' has been read as' white' for a long time among the people. According to the author's recollection, in the 195s, most people in Shanghai involuntarily pronounced ai when speaking Mandarin, and so did the author at that time. " Chen Yuan (Chen Yuan, 1991: 28) also said: "In the 195s, the word' cancer' was changed to ai, and' stomach ai' was' gastric cancer', which was a major disease; Stomach yan' is' gastritis', a minor illness. Gastritis, pneumonia and enteritis are all pronounced yan according to the original method, while cancers of gastric cancer, lung cancer and intestinal cancer are changed to ai to show the difference. " Therefore, Shi Youwei (1998: 1) said: "In 1961, Xinhua Dictionary adhered to the principle of conventions and homophones, and it was indeed a natural act of kindness to change its pronunciation. But it is by no means a simple' recommendation', but a process of first having reality and then confirming it. "

References:

Chen Yuan, 1991, In the Dense Forest of Words, Beijing: Sanlian Bookstore.

Koos Kuiper, 1996, "Dutch loanwords and translated languages entering Chinese via Japan" (translated by Xu Wenkan), in Wang Yuanhua's "Academic Gathering" (Volume 7), Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House.

he huazhen, 1998, the origin of the word "cancer", Shanghai: dictionary research, No.1, 1998.

Hu Xinhua, 1999, On the Selection of Foreign Chinese Characters in Dictionaries, Hong Kong: Newsletter on Thesaurus Construction, No.2, 1999.

Huang Jingui, 1995, Textual Research on Lexical Collections of Ancient Culture, Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press.

Jiangsu New Hospital, 1986, Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press.

Li Rong, 199, Putonghua and Dialects, Beijing: China Language, No.5, 199.

Shi Youwei, 1998, Doubt about Cancer, Hong Kong: Newsletter on Thesaurus Construction, No.17, 1998.

Wang Lida, 1958, Vocabulary Borrowed from Japanese in Modern Chinese, Beijing: China Language, February 1958.

The above was published in Beijing's Research on Scientific Terminology, No.1, 22.