Doctoral

Mujeeb's doctoral project investigated Ishinpō, the earliest extant Sino-Japanese medical work, which was presented to the Heian court in 984. Building on the topical research of mostly Japanese scholars, his dissertation examined the nature of Ishinpō as a comprehensive medical text. In order to elucidate how Yasuyori conceptualized medical knowledge, it analyzed how Yasuyori collated Ishinpō, the sources of Ishinpō, and the nature of medical communication within the continent, between Japan and the continent, and within Japan. His doctoral project, therefore, not only identified Ishinpō’s uniqueness as an individual Sino-Japanese medical text but also emphasized the place of Japan within the construction of medicine within East Asia.

Mujeeb's dissertation research represents the first step in historically contextualizing his research within the broader trends and traditions of medicine in the Islamic world and Japan. Besides this historical contextualization, he is extending the methodological perspectives utilized in his doctoral dissertation from history of science, history of medicine, and comparative studies to inform his postdoctoral research at the University of Tokyo.

For a brief derivative study based on his dissertation, see the following short article:
2017 “Critique in Early Japan: Ishinpō as a Case Study of How to Read a Text.” New Ideas in East Asian Studies, 2017 special issue.