The Great Pulse: Japanese Midwifery and Obstetrics through the Ages

192 pp. CONTENTS: Foreword; Acknowledgments; 1. Yang and Yin: The Oriental Adam and Eve; 2. Out of the Everywhere Into the Here: The Divine Age; 3. The Mandarin Touch: The Pre-Nara and Nara Periods; 4. A Tiger Bone for Luck: The Heian Period; 5. The Force of Superstition: The Kamakura Period; 6. The "Formalities" of Birth: the Muromachi Period; 7. The Old Woman Who Picks Up Babies: The Early Edo Period; 8. Master of the Iron Hook: The Late Edo Period; 9. The Natural Way in Modern Times: Meiji, Taisho, and Showa Eras; 10. The Unwanted Child: The Era of Enlightened Peace; 11. The Benevolence of Charms: The Timeless Past; 12. Some Old Wives' Tales: Japan, Past and Present; Glossary; Footnotes; Index.