Zhubing yuanhou lun
Zhubing yuanhou lun (Chinese: 諸病源候論; pinyin: Zhūbìng yuánhòu lùn), also known as Zhubing yuanhou zonglun (Chinese: 諸病源候總論; pinyin: Zhūbìng yuánhòu zǒnglùn) or Chaoshi bingyuan (Chinese: 巢氏病源; pinyin: Cháoshì bìngyuán), is a Chinese monograph comprising fifty volumes. Written during the Sui dynasty (581–618), its authorship has been popularly attributed to court physician Chao Yuanfang, although this is contradicted by some early sources. Discussing some 1739 syndromes and sixty-seven disease categories, the Zhubing yuanhou lun is the oldest extant medical encyclopedia on disease aetiology and symptomatology in traditional Chinese medicine.
Contents
The text is divided into fifty volumes. It discusses some 1739 illnesses that are classified under categories including dermatology; gynaecology; ophthalmology; otorhinolaryngology; urology; paediatrics; and surgery. Instead of prescribing herbal therapy or acupuncture, the text recommends qigong as a cure for most diseases.
Authorship
According to the preface of one surviving manuscript, written by Song Shou, the text was written by court physician Chao Yuanfang, who "collected and compiled the pith of the various scholarly opinions by an intensive study of them and sorted them all out" during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui. However, according to researchers Yan Liang, Abdulbaset M. Salim, Wendy Wu, and Paul E. Kilgore, "it is far from certain that the sole author ... is Chao Yuanfang." The Suishu jingji zhi (隋書經籍志), compiled between 641 and 656, identifies Wu Jingxian (吳景賢) as the author of the Zhubing yuanhou lun. On the other hand, the Jiutangshu jingji zhi (旧唐书经籍志), compiled during the Later Jin Dynasty, claims that the text was written by Wu Jing (吴景).
Legacy
The Zhubing yuanhou lun is the oldest extant medical encyclopedia on disease aetiology and symptomatology in traditional Chinese medicine. The text was well-received upon its initial publication in the Sui dynasty, as well as later on in the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, when it became a mainstream medical textbook. From the early 8th century onwards, it was introduced to the rest of the world and was extensively quoted in works like the earliest surviving Japanese medical text, the Ishinpō, and Avicenna's Canon of Medicine.
Citations
Bibliography
- Bi, Bo (2021). "A Sogdian Medical Text from Turfan". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 31 (3): 463–477. doi:10.1017/S1356186320000747. S2CID 233964708.
- Buck, Charles (2014). Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine: Roots of Modern Practice. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9780857011336.
- Burns, Susan L. (2019). Kingdom of the Sick. University of Hawaii Press. doi:10.1515/9780824879488. ISBN 9780824879488.
- Lu, Di (2022). "History of Disease: Pre-Han to Qing". In Vivienne Lo; Dolly Yang; Michael Stanley-Baker (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine. Routledge. pp. 217–229. doi:10.4324/9780203740262-17. ISBN 9780203740262.
- Doran, Rebecca (2015). "The Cat Demon, Gender, and Religious Practice: Towards Reconstructing a Medieval Chinese Cultural Pattern". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 135 (4): 689–707. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.135.4.689.
- Liu, Tianjin; Xiao, Mei Qiang (2013). Chinese Medical Qigong. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9780857011497.
- Ma, Boying (2020). A History Of Medicine In Chinese Culture. World Scientific. doi:10.1142/10932. ISBN 9789813238008. S2CID 167098508.
- Nienhauser, William H. (2016). Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader. Vol. 2. World Scientific. doi:10.1142/9771. ISBN 9789814719544.
- Pregadio, Fabrizio (2013). "Chao Yuanfang". In Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures. Springer Netherlands. p. 185. ISBN 9789401714167.
- Unschuld, Paul U.; Zheng, Jinsheng (2014). Chinese Traditional Healing: The Berlin Collections of Manuscript Volumes from the 16th Through the Early 20th Century. Brill. ISBN 9789004229099.
- Yan, Liang; Salim, Abdulbaset M.; Wu, Wendy; Kilgore, Paul E. (2016). "Chao Yuanfang: Imperial Physician of the Sui Dynasty and an Early Pertussis Observer?". Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 3 (1): ofw017. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofw017. PMC 4786867. PMID 26977422.
- Zheng, Jinsheng; Kirk, Nalini; Buell, Paul D.; Unschuld, Paul U. (2018). Ben Cao Gang Mu Dictionary. Vol. 3. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520291973.
- Zhao, Lu (2022). "You are What Eats at You: Anxiety in Medieval Chinese Divinatory and Medical Manuals". In David Konstan (ed.). Emotions Across Cultures: Ancient China and Greece. pp. 19–40. doi:10.1515/9783110784312-002. ISBN 9783110784312.