Xù míngyī lèiàn 續名醫類案

Continuation of the Categorically-Arranged Case-Records of Famous Physicians by 魏之琇 (Wèi Zhīxiù, Yùhuáng, 1722–1772, 清)

About the work

Wèi Zhīxiù’s continuation of the 江瓘 Jiāng Guàn / 江應宿 Jiāng Yìngsù Míngyī lèiàn (KR3e0075), in 60 juan, completed shortly before Wèi’s death in 1772. The gathers Qīng-period and additional pre-Qīng case-records into a comprehensive supplementary collection, organized by disease-category to parallel the original. The combined Míngyī lèiàn + Xù míngyī lèiàn is the standard pre-modern Chinese case-record reference. The work was completed in Wèi’s last years and presented to the SKQS by his family after his death.

Tiyao

[The detailed SKQS tíyào is preserved at Kyoto Zinbun 0214105.]

The work is a continuation ( 續) of KR3e0075 Míngyī lèiàn, gathering Qīng-period and previously-uncollected case-records into a comprehensive supplementary 60-juan compendium organized by disease-category. Wèi Zhīxiù — annotator (考證) of the parent Míngyī lèiàn in the SKQS recension — undertook the as a comprehensive Qīng-period continuation of the case-record-gathering tradition. The work’s 60-juan scale exceeds the parent work’s 12 juan by a factor of 5, reflecting both the accumulated late-imperial case-record material and Wèi’s broader editorial reach.

Abstract

Composition window: 1770–1772, Wèi’s final years.

The work’s significance:

(a) The standard Qīng-period continuation of the Míngyī lèiàn tradition: as a 60-juan supplement, the is one of the most substantial Qīng-period case-record compilations.

(b) The combined Míngyī lèiàn + as standard reference: together with KR3e0075, the completes the standard pre-modern Chinese case-record reference. The combined corpus has been fundamental to modern TCM case-based-medicine pedagogy.

(c) The Wèi-Zhīxiù-as-philological-editor career: Wèi’s annotation of the parent Míngyī lèiàn and composition of the represent one of the more cohesive Qīng-period medical-textual-scholarly careers.

The catalog meta dynasty 清 is correct; lifedates d. 1772.

Translations and research

  • No substantial Western translation of this immense work.
  • See KR3e0075 for principal references on the Míng-yī lèi-àn tradition.
  • Mǎ Jìxīng 馬繼興, Zhōng-yī wénxiàn xué 中醫文獻學, Shànghǎi: Shànghǎi Kēxué Jìshù Chūbǎnshè, 1990 (entry on the Xù míng-yī lèi-àn).