The ancient Egyptians, for instance, believed that painful afflictions other than wounds were caused by gods (2:3). In ancient India, pain was initially attributed to the god, Indra (2:3). About 500 B.C., Buddha attributed the universality of pain in life to the frustration of desire (2:3). While Hindu and Buddhist thought recognized pain as a sensation, both cultures tended to attach more significance to the emotional aspects of the experience (2:3).
Meanwhile, other civilizations created additional theories about pain. In ancient China, the practice of medicine can be traced back to the time of the Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti, who lived about 2600 B.C. (2:3). According to the Chinese concept, in a normal person, the two opposing forces, the Yin (the feminine, negative, passive force) and the Yang (the masculine, positive, active force), are in balance and assist the vital energy called the chi to circulate to all parts of the body via a network of channels (2:3-4). Any problem in chi circulation, the Chinese thought, caused an imbalance of the two forces which resulted in disease and pain (2:4). Thus, the practice of acupuncture was developed to correct these imbalances (2:4).
Tn ancient Greece, an analogous concept arose regarding four bodily fluids: the body's four humors included blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile (2:4). It was thought that pain was felt when one of these humors was in deficit or excess (2:4). In addition, Plato deduced that pain and pleasure--though opposite sensations--are linked (14:2) and originate from the heart as passions of the soul (2:4). Furthermore, Aristotle elaborated on Plato's concepts by calling pain an affect; a phenomenon more akin to feelings like sadness or bitterness and distinct from the classic five senses (5:220).
With the advance of Judeo-Hebraic civilization concepts of sin and punishment became prevalent (2:5). These ideas were also adopted in the Christian e...