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Envision 'Disability': 'Abnormal people' and 'The wizards' in early ancient times

Authors :
Shengping Li
Source :
Chinese Medicine and Culture, Vol 3, Iss 2, Pp 87-93 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2020.

Abstract

As a natural phenomenon, people with disabilities were not stigmatized from the very beginning. In antiquity, some parts of their body being “different from those of normal persons,” they were considered to have a special ability to communicate with heaven, earth, and the Gods. As a result, people with disabilities were able to hold the position of “wizard,” which had a high status and important influence. However, with the division of labor in the human society, people with disabilities gradually lost the prerogative in labor production due to the limitation of their ability to work, which affected their social status and led to the social discrimination and “stigmatization” toward them gradually. Before this transformation happened, people's envision on people with disabilities, including a variety of images, was indicative of the social consciousness at that time.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
25899473 and 25899627
Volume :
3
Issue :
2
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Chinese Medicine and Culture
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....82717cb0972bdf829fda4282a9d1da4a