Tàiyī jú zhūkē chéngwén gé 太醫局諸科程文格
Examination Templates for the Various Specialties of the Imperial Medical Bureau by 何大任 (Hé Dàrèn, fl. 1206, 南宋) — compiler of the recovered text
About the work
A unique Southern-Sòng compilation of model examination questions and answers from the imperial medical academy (Tàiyī jú 太醫局), preserving the actual instructional and assessment material of Sòng imperial medical education. The Sòng medical curriculum had six question-types: (1) Mò yì 墨義 (memorization-and-citation: testing the breadth of memorized question-and-answer material); (2) Mài yì 脈義 (pulse: testing pulse-diagnosis precision); (3) Dà yì 大義 (major exposition: testing the cosmological-and-zàngfu foundations); (4) Lùn fāng 論方 (prescription analysis: testing the ancient prescription-formulation principles); (5) Jiǎ lìng 假令 (hypothetical case: testing therapy-by-pattern-recognition); (6) Yùn qì 運氣 (cycles-and-qi: testing the Sùwèn’s cosmological-pathological year-cycle doctrine and its bearing on individual health). The recovered text contains 9 mò yì, 6 mài yì, 37 dà yì, 8 lùn fāng, 18 jiǎ lìng, and 9 yùn qì — totaling 87 model question-and-answer items across all six categories. The work was lost in independent transmission and recovered by the SKQS editors from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. The catalog meta lists 何大任 as 編 (compiler/editor); given that Hé was the printer-publisher of KR3e0031 Xiǎo’ér wèishēng zǒngwēi lùn fāng in 1206, his role here was likely the same — printing-publication of an earlier compilation rather than original composition.
Tiyao
Tàiyī jú chéngwén, 9 juan, the Sòng-period system for examining medical learning. The question-types are six: (1) mò yì, testing memorized-recitation breadth; (2) mài yì, testing pulse-discernment; (3) dà yì, testing the heavens-and-earth subtleties and the zàngfǔ sources; (4) lùn fāng, testing the ancients’ prescription-formulation methods of zhǔzuǒfǔ (principal-and-supportive); (5) jiǎ lìng, testing symptom-and-treatment appropriateness; (6) yùn qì, testing the year’s yīnyáng host-and-guest and the principle of human-body resonance.
According to the Sòng shǐ, medical learning was originally under the Tàichángsì (Court of Imperial Sacrifices); in the Yuánfēng period (1078–1085) the post of Tíjǔ pànjú was first established, and three specialties were instituted to teach: Fāngmài kē 方脈科 (prescriptive-and-pulse), Zhēn kē 鍼科 (acupuncture), Yáng kē 瘍科 (external-medicine / surgery). For fāngmài, the major canons were the Sùwèn, Nán jīng, and Mài jīng; the minor canons were the Cháoshì bìngyuán, the Lóngshù lùn, and the Qiānjīn yìfāng. For zhēn kē and yáng kē, the Mài jīng was excluded and the Sānbù zhēnjiǔ jīng was added. Examinations were generally held in spring; medical students applied at will. In Chóngníng (1102–1106) the bureau was reassigned to the Imperial College (Guózǐ jiān), divided into Shàngshè, Nèishè, and Wàishè tiers. The examinations were: 1st session, 5 dà yì questions on the three classics; 2nd session, 2 fāngmài and clinical-yùn-qì questions; zhēnkē and yángkē answered with 3 minor-classic dà yì and 2 yùnqì questions; 3rd session, 3 jiǎ lìng therapy-cases. Those passing at the high tier became Imperial Pharmacy Physicians and below.
In the Qiándào period (1165–1173) the bureau was abolished and only the imperial-physician specialties retained; thereafter no further bureau was established, only a “Medical Studies” specialty surviving. In Chúnxī (1174–1189) the system was further slightly altered. This Tàiyī jú — established after Shàoxī 2 (1191) — uses mò yì as the first question, slightly different from the older system. The question-and-answer compilation was assembled by an unknown hand; no other transmission survives. We have now arranged the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn materials, recovering 9 mò yì, 6 mài yì, 37 dà yì, 8 lùn fāng, 18 jiǎ lìng, and 9 yùn qì; we have respectfully reorganized into 9 juan.
The texts run through the three classics, the sānbù zhēnjiǔ methods, the gold-and-stone (jīnshí 金石) and grass-and-tree (cǎomù 草木) materia medica properties, with sharp analytical detail — sufficient to stimulate reflection. The Sòng dynasty was particularly attentive to medical learning; from the Huángyòu (1049–1054) period onward, the ancient classical-and-prescriptive texts were all imperially commissioned to Sūn Zhào, Lín Yì, and Gāo Bǎohéng for collation and printing, becoming the standard. Students traced the streams of the source-tradition and each became famous in his specialty. Reading this compilation, one can see the meticulous-discussion of the time.
(Respectfully verified, 9th month of Qiánlóng 46 [1781]. Chief Compilers Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; Chief Collator Lù Fèichí.)
Abstract
Composition window: 1191–1206. The lower bound is fixed by the SKQS editors’ identification of the bureau as “post Shàoxī 2 (1191)” — referring to the Southern-Sòng reorganization of the imperial medical bureau under Guāngzōng. The upper bound (1206) is set by Hé Dàrèn’s documented active period as imperial-bureau printer-publisher; if Hé was responsible for the published compilation, this would also be the publication date.
The work’s significance:
(a) The unique witness for Sòng imperial medical education: this is the only surviving text recording the actual examination questions and answers used by the Sòng imperial medical academy. Through it we can reconstruct: the texts that were taught (the major canons and minor canons listed in the tíyào); the specialties recognized (fāngmài, zhēn, yáng); the examination structure (3 sessions, 6 question-types); and the conceptual content (the integration of cosmological yùnqì doctrine with hands-on clinical reasoning).
(b) The 6-question-type curricular framework: mò yì (memorization), mài yì (pulse), dà yì (cosmological foundations), lùn fāng (prescription analysis), jiǎ lìng (case-reasoning), yùn qì (year-cycle doctrine) — covers the full Sòng-medical pedagogical territory. The yùn qì question is particularly notable: it confirms that the Sùwèn’s seven great treatises and Liú Wēnshū’s Lùn’ào (KR3e0024) tradition were standard examination material in the Southern-Sòng bureau, anticipating the JīnYuán medical revolution by a generation.
(c) The Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery: without imperial-archive preservation, this work would have been entirely lost — and our reconstruction of Sòng imperial medical education would be substantially poorer.
The catalog meta retains 何大任 as 編 (editor/compiler); the prose makes clear that Hé’s role is more likely as printer-publisher of an earlier compilation (cf. his role on KR3e0031).
Translations and research
- Goldschmidt, Asaf. The Evolution of Chinese Medicine: Song Dynasty, 960–1200, London: Routledge, 2009 (extensive treatment of Sòng imperial medical education and this work).
- T. J. Hinrichs and Linda L. Barnes (eds.), Chinese Medicine and Healing: An Illustrated History, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013 (treats Sòng medical education).
- Chu Pingyi 祝平一, “Tài-yī jú yǔ Sòng-dài yī-xué jiào-yù” 太醫局與宋代醫學教育 [The Tài-yī jú and Sòng Medical Education], in his Liù-cháo Suí-Táng yī-xué jiào-yù yǔ kē-jǔ kǎo-shì zhī yǎn-jiū 六朝隋唐醫學教育與科舉考試之研究 series. Standard Chinese-language research.
- Mǎ Jìxīng 馬繼興, Zhōng-yī wénxiàn xué 中醫文獻學, Shànghǎi: Shànghǎi Kēxué Jìshù Chūbǎnshè, 1990 (entry on the Tài-yī jú chéng-wén).
Other points of interest
The Sòng imperial medical-education system documented in this work is one of the most sophisticated pre-modern medical-pedagogical systems anywhere in the world. The 6-question-type structure, the 3-session examination, the major-canon-and-minor-canon distinction, and the integration of theoretical-cosmological-clinical-pharmacological material under a unified curriculum represent a level of curricular development not matched in Western medical education until the late nineteenth century.
The actual content of the yùn qì questions — preserved in the recovered 9 questions and answers — is one of the most useful sources for understanding how the cosmological wǔyùnliùqì doctrine was applied in practical clinical reasoning under SòngJīnYuán medicine.