Zēngdìng Yīfāng Gējué 增訂醫方歌訣
Augmented and Revised Mnemonic Verses on Medical Formulas by 王泰林 (Wáng Tàilín = Wáng Xùgāo 王旭高, 1798–1862, 清)
About the work
The Zēngdìng yīfāng gējué is a 2-juǎn augmented and revised rhymed-formulary by Wáng Xùgāo, one of the Wáng Xùgāo yīshū liùzhǒng posthumous collection of 1862. The title’s zēngdìng “augmented and revised” indicates it is an extension and editorial improvement on Wáng’s earlier rhymed-formulary work. The first division of the work — bǔyì zhī jì 補益之劑 (supplementing-and-benefiting recipes) — opens with the Míróng wán 麋茸丸 of Xǔ Xuéshì 許學士 (= Xǔ Shūwēi 許叔微, from his Pǔjì běnshì fāng KR3ed015) and proceeds through the major bǔyǎng formulas of the post-Hàn corpus.
Prefaces
The source opens with the parenthetical editorial note:
補益之劑（此中間有錯字，因無副本可勘，暫仍其舊。）
(“Supplementing-and-benefiting recipes. [Note: there are typographical errors in this section, but as there is no duplicate copy for collation, the readings are provisionally retained as transmitted.]“)
This editorial transparency — explicit flagging of suspected scribal errors that cannot yet be corrected — is characteristic of the careful editorial method of the Wáng Xùgāo yīshū compilers (probably Wáng’s disciples Wáng Lùxiān 王陸仙, Wáng Kuǐzhāi 王逵齋, or Liǔ Bǎoyí 柳寶詒, the editorial team responsible for printing the liùzhǒng collection in 1862).
The opening verse on the Míróng wán — itself a carefully chosen example, since Xǔ Shūwēi’s Míróng wán is one of the most subtle bǔyǎng formulas in the entire Sòng corpus, exemplifying Xǔ’s wēnróu (warm-and-yielding) approach to xūhán yāotòng (deficiency-cold lumbar pain) without the dryness of fùzǐ or báizhú — is followed by a substantial editorial note explaining the prescribing rationale and contrasting Xǔ’s method with the older zàojì (drying-supplementing) approach.
Abstract
The work covers the post-Hàn formulary corpus in rhymed verse with extensive editorial glosses, organized by therapeutic category beginning with bǔyì (supplementing). Wáng’s selections favor the subtle-supplementing formulas of the Xǔ Shūwēi / Yè Tiānshì / Wáng Xùgāo lineage: warming, yielding, non-aggressive, carefully matched to the patient’s zhèng (correct qì) so as not to deplete it further while addressing the xié (heterodox qì).
The work’s title zēngdìng indicates it is the most editorially mature of Wáng’s rhymed-formulary projects — the result of going back over earlier compositions with the benefit of further clinical experience and adding the most considered prescribing notes. The composition window: c. 1855–1862, presumably the very last years of Wáng’s life. The work entered print as part of the Wáng Xùgāo yīshū liùzhǒng in 1862.
Translations and research
- Wáng Xùgāo yī-shū liù-zhǒng (modern punctuated editions, multiple printings).
Other points of interest
The careful editorial flagging of typographical errors that cannot yet be corrected is methodologically interesting: it represents the late-Qīng professional yīxué editorial standard at its best, refusing the temptation to silently emend uncertain readings and preferring transparent statement of editorial limits. The standard is the same as that of contemporary classical kǎozhèng scholarship and reflects the deep integration of medical and philological editorial practice in the late Qīng.
Links
- Wikidata: no dedicated entry.
- 增訂醫方歌訣 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB