This article discusses the overlap between social history and medical history. The aim is to use the study of medical history to contribute to a better understanding of social history. Five points are discussed: 1.Understanding the body The concept of the circulation of the chi through the living body was central to Chinese medical theory rather than the study of anatomy through dissection. 2.The relationship between those who treated the sick: Shamans, Taoists and Confucians in Chinese history. Before Western medicine was introduced into China, the social background of those who treated the sick was different at different stages of Chinese history. At the earliest stage, before the Warring States, those who treated the sick had much in common with Shamans, from the Warring States until the T'ang Dynasty doctors were usually Taoists, and form the T'ang onward, doctors generally held Confucian beliefs. 3.Sexual health, pediatrics and health care in old age as family history. These include ideas about contraception, pregnancy, ways to influence the sex of a fetus, child-rearing and maintaining health in old age. All these can be seen as aspects of family history. 4.Medicine and cultural influence In this article I concentrate on the Indian influence on Chinese medicine in the medieval period: from the Indian system China only adopted technical skill of ophthalmology and pharmacopoeia. 5.Medical treatment reflecting social mentality I discuss the belief that supernatural beings influenced people's health and the use of methods such as exorcism in treatment.