Chóngdìng Línglán yàolǎn 重訂靈蘭要覽
Revised Essentials from the Spirit-Orchid [Library] originally by 王綸 (Wáng Lún, zì Rǔyán 汝言, hào Jiézhāi 節齋, 1455–1511) revised by 王肯堂 (Wáng Kěntáng, zì Yǔtài 宇泰, 1549–1613)
About the work
A two-juǎn compact internal-medicine handbook in the Zhū Dānxī tradition, originally compiled by the mid-Míng physician Wáng Lún and re-edited a century later by Wáng Kěntáng under the title Chóngdìng Línglán yàolǎn — “Revised Essentials from the Spirit-Orchid Library” (the Línglán 靈蘭 alluding to the storehouse of medical lore named in the Sùwèn “Línglán mìdiǎn lùn” 靈蘭祕典論). The work covers the cardinal Dānxī-school internal-medicine syndromes — fārè 發熱, tányǐn 痰飲, késòu 咳嗽, xièxiè 泄瀉, fēngzhèng 風症, xūláo 虛勞, etc. — with formula commentary keyed to the symptom presentation.
Abstract
The catalog meta records the work as anonymous; the surviving prefaces clearly identify the editorial chain: Wáng Lún is the original author, Wáng Kěntáng (Yǔtài) the late-Míng reviser. The text belongs to Wáng Kěntáng’s broader medical-encyclopedic project — the same retirement-period output that produced the six-section Zhèngzhì zhǔnshéng (1602–1608, see KR3eh011) — and the dating bracket of 1602–1613 reflects this, post quem the Zhèngzhì zhǔnshéng and ante quem Wáng Kěntáng’s death in 1613.
The original Línglán yàolǎn by Wáng Lún belongs to his late-15th-century / early-16th-century mature output, conceived as a handbook companion to his more famous Míngyī zázhù 明醫雜著. Wáng Kěntáng’s revision adds his own clinical annotations — drawing on the Zhèngzhì zhǔnshéng’s encyclopaedic source-base — and reorganises the material for greater pedagogical clarity. The work is included in the Wáng Kěntáng yīxué quánshū 王肯堂醫學全書 collected edition (Beijing: Zhōngyī gǔjí, 1999) where the dual authorship is made explicit.
Translations and research
- Wáng Kěntáng yīxué quánshū, ed. 李今庸 Lǐ Jīnyōng et al., Beijing: Zhōngyī gǔjí chūbǎnshè, 1999.
- No substantial Western-language treatment located.