Lántái guǐfàn 蘭臺軌範
The Standards of the Orchid Terrace by 徐大椿 (Xú Dàchūn, zì Língtāi, hào Huíxī lǎorén, 1693–1771, of Wújiāng, 清)
About the work
Xú Dàchūn’s comprehensive clinical-medicine reference, in 8 juan, completed Qiánlóng 29 (1764). The title’s “Orchid Terrace” (Lántái 蘭臺) alludes to the imperial archives, signaling Xú’s authoritative-canonical aspiration. The work covers all major disease-categories: Tōngzhì fāng 通治方 (general-treatment prescriptions, juan 1); Fēng 風, Bì lìjié 痺歷節, Wěi 痿, Jué 厥, Xūláo 虛勞, Xiāozhèng 消症 (juan 2); Shānghán, Bǎihé 百合, Gǎnmào 感冒, Hánrè, Huòluàn 霍亂, Chì 痓, Lóngbì lì lín (juan 3); Shī 濕, Yē 暍, Jiēnüè, Lì 痢 (juan 4); etc. Each disease-gate provides discussion plus selected prescriptions drawn from Xú’s careful evaluation of the medical canon. The work is one of the major Qīng-period systematic medical references.
Tiyao
[Source 000 file’s tíyào truncated; Kyoto Zinbun 0214106.]
The work organizes clinical medicine by disease-category, with each gate providing theoretical discussion plus curated prescriptions. The categorical sequence follows a careful ordering: general → wind / impediment / atrophy / collapse / deficiency / wasting → cold-damage / Bǎihé / cold-and-heat / convulsion / urinary-blockage → damp / heat-stroke / malaria / dysentery → other major specialty topics. The work is based on Xú’s lifetime clinical experience and represents his mature medical-clinical synthesis.
Abstract
Composition window: 1764/1764, the date of the Lántái guǐfàn completion (per Xú’s preface).
The work’s significance:
(a) The major Qīng-period systematic clinical reference: Xú’s 8-juan systematic disease-treatment reference is one of the more authoritative Qīng clinical works, drawing on Xú’s careful Confucian-philological method and lifetime clinical experience.
(b) The “Orchid Terrace” framing: the title’s claim to imperial-archive authority signals Xú’s confidence in the work’s standard-setting role. Xú lived in retirement and refused official appointments, but the work claims for itself a quasi-official authority.
(c) The integration of Xú’s specialized works: the Lántái guǐfàn synthesizes the doctrinal-and-prescriptive reasoning developed across Xú’s specialty works (the Bǎizhǒng lù on materia medica, the Lèifāng on prescriptions, the Yuánliú lùn on theory).
The catalog meta dynasty 清 is correct.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western translation of this specific work.
- See the 徐大椿 person note for the principal references on Xú Dàchūn.
- Mǎ Jìxīng 馬繼興, Zhōng-yī wénxiàn xué 中醫文獻學, Shànghǎi: Shànghǎi Kēxué Jìshù Chūbǎnshè, 1990 (entry on the Lán-tái guǐ-fàn).