Běncǎo Fēn Jīng 本草分經
Materia Medica Classified by Channel by 姚瀾 (Yáo Lán, zì Wéizhōu 維舟, hào Róngpǔ 蓉浦, fl. early 19th c., 清)
About the work
The Běncǎo fēn jīng is the principal Qīng pharmacopoeia organised entirely by channel-entry (歸經). The standard pharmacopoeias of the Qīng (Wāng Áng 汪昂 Bèiyào, 吳儀洛 Wú Yílò Cóngxīn, Huáng Gōngxiù 黃宮繡 Qiúzhēn) all record channel-entry as one piece of data within an entry whose primary organisation is morphological or therapeutic. The Fēn jīng inverts this: channel-entry becomes the principal organising axis, so that substances appear in chapters for each of the twelve regular channels (tàiyáng, yángmíng, shǎoyáng, tàiyīn, shǎoyīn, juéyīn — both hand and foot) plus the qí jīng bā mài extraordinary-vessel system.
This organisation is highly clinical: a physician who has identified a tài-yáng-channel pathology can turn to the tàiyáng chapter and read off the substances whose primary affinity is for that channel. The work in 4 juǎn covers approximately 800 substances. It was printed in 道光二十年 (1840) and reflects the maturity of Sòng-Yuán-derived channel-entry doctrine in the late-Qīng. The work is doctrinally close to the line that runs from Zhāng Yuánsù 張元素 Zhēnzhū náng (KR3ec015) through Lǐ Gǎo 李杲 to the late-Qīng integrators.
Prefaces
The local repository preserves the substance body. Standard editions preserve Yáo Lán’s own preface dated 道光二十年 (1840) explaining the fēn jīng method, and a series of fán lì (editorial conventions) explaining how cross-channel substances are handled (typically listed in the primary channel with cross-references to secondary channels).
Abstract
Yáo Lán (姚瀾, fl. early 19th c., no confident CBDB id), zì Wéizhōu 維舟, hào Róngpǔ 蓉浦, native of Cíxī 慈谿 (Níngbō, Zhèjiāng). He was a clinical physician of the Níngbō circle and also compiled the Yīxué chá jiǎn 醫學查鑑. The Fēn jīng was his principal contribution to the materia medica tradition.
The work’s significance is as the principal Qīng channel-organised pharmacopoeia. It influenced subsequent late-Qīng working pharmacopoeias (notably the Běncǎo biàn dú KR3ec068 of 張秉成 Zhāng Bǐngchéng) and underlies the modern TCM teaching convention of organising pharmacology by channel-affinity for clinical pedagogy. The work has been continuously in print since 1840.
Translations and research
- Zhèng Jīnshēng 鄭金生. 2007. Yào lín wài shǐ.
- Běncǎo fēn jīng jiào zhù 本草分經校注. 2001. Renmin weisheng.
- No Western-language treatment.
Links
- Wikidata: not yet assigned.
- 本草分經 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB