Běncǎo Jīng Jiě 本草經解
Exegesis of the Materia Medica Classic by 姚球 (Yáo Qiú, fl. early 18th c., 清); originally circulated under the pseudepigraphic attribution to 葉桂 (Yè Guì, zì Tiānshì 天士, 1666–1745)
About the work
The Běncǎo jīng jiě is one of the most successful early-Qīng Běnjīng exegeses, organised as a commentary on the Shénnóng běncǎo jīng substance-by-substance. The work was originally published in 1724 under the title attribution of Yè Tiānshì — the celebrated Sūzhōu wēnbìng school physician. However, modern textual scholarship has shown that the actual author was the lesser-known Yáo Qiú (姚球), and that Yè Tiānshì had no part in the composition; the work was published under Yè’s name to capitalise on his reputation. The catalog meta correctly notes “姚球（原題葉天士撰）” — Yáo Qiú (originally attributed to Yè Tiānshì).
The work in 4 juǎn gives the Běnjīng text for each substance and then provides exegetical commentary on its qìwèi, guījīng, and main effects. The exegesis is theoretically clear and pedagogically accessible, which explains the work’s success.
Prefaces
The local repository preserves the substance entries. Standard editions preserve the yuán tí (original-title) preface in Yè Tiānshì’s name and the subsequent corrected attribution to Yáo Qiú.
Abstract
Yáo Qiú (姚球, CBDB 442423 or 562713 — no confident dates), fl. early 18th century, native of Sūzhōu region. His biographical details are obscure; he is essentially known only as the actual author of the Běncǎo jīng jiě. The pseudepigraphic attribution to Yè Tiānshì was eventually corrected by Qīng kǎojù scholars who noted that the work’s pharmacological doctrine differs from Yè’s actual writings (the Lín zhèng zhǐ nán yī àn 臨證指南醫案 and Wèn yì lùn 溫熱論). The case is a classic example of late-Qīng publishing’s use of celebrity-attribution to drive sales — parallel to the pseudepigraphic ascription of Zhēnzhū náng bǔyí yàoxìng fù (KR3ec016) to Lǐ Gǎo.
The work is widely studied for its clinical exegesis but is now correctly attributed in scholarly references. Yè Guì (葉桂, zì Tiānshì 天士, 1666–1745, CBDB 65971) was the leading Sūzhōu physician of his generation and the founder of the wēnbìng (warm-disease) school proper; he did not write pharmacological exegeses of this kind.
Translations and research
- Yú Yìng 余瑩. 1991. Yè Tiānshì yīxué quánshū 葉天士醫學全書. Renmin weisheng. — places the Běncǎo jīng jiě in its proper attribution.
- Hanson, Marta. 2011. Speaking of Epidemics in Chinese Medicine. Routledge. — extensive treatment of Yè Tiānshì.
- No Western-language translation.
Links
- Wikidata: not yet assigned.
- 本草經解 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB