Fùkē yùchǐ 婦科玉尺
The Jade Ruler of Gynecology by 沈金鰲 (Shěn Jīn’áo, 1717–1776, mid-Qīng)
About the work
A six-juǎn systematic gynecology treatise forming one part of the great mid-Qiánlóng medical cóngshū 沈氏尊生書 沈氏尊生書 (1773) by 沈金鰲 Shěn Jīn’áo (Zhīwēi 芷薇, Zùnshēngzǐ 尊生子) of Wúxī 無錫. The Fùkē yùchǐ is companion-piece to Shěn’s 雜病源流犀燭 雜病源流犀燭 (internal medicine), 傷寒論綱目 傷寒論綱目, 幼科釋謎 幼科釋謎 (paediatrics), Màixiàng tǒnglèi KR3eb027, Zhūmài zhǔbìng shī KR3eb028, and others within the same 70-juǎn compilation. The Yùchǐ (“Jade Ruler”) title metaphorically frames the work as a standard of measurement (chǐ 尺) of unyielding accuracy (yù 玉) in gynecological diagnosis — an explicit response to the proverbial difficulty of fùkē practice.
Prefaces
The KR hxwd _000.txt carries the zìxù 自序 (author’s preface). Shěn explains the title via etymology of chǐ: a ruler divides distance and assesses correctness; a jade ruler is unchanging and exact. He extends this to medicine: gynecological diagnosis especially demands precision because women — through social position and modesty — frequently hide symptoms even from their physicians. Shěn cites the Shǐjì 史記 episode of 倉公 Cānggōng diagnosing a woman’s yùnánzǐ bùdé (“desiring a man and not obtaining”) condition through subtle pulse-reading (mài chū yújì yī cùn 脈出魚際一寸) as the paradigmatic ideal of gynecological pulse-diagnosis. Shěn presents the Fùkē yùchǐ in six juǎn as a systematic application of careful diagnostic measurement to women’s pathology.
Abstract
Shěn Jīn’áo (1717–1776, see 沈金鰲) was a mid-Qiánlóng Wúxī 無錫 jǔrén (1750 cohort) who turned to medicine after exam-track disappointments. The Zūnshēng shū (1773) was his magnum opus, a comprehensive 70-juǎn medical encyclopedia covering the entire Qīng medical curriculum. The work was widely reprinted in the late Qīng and early Republic as a standard medical textbook. The Fùkē yùchǐ is one of its principal sections, and a major late-imperial gynecology in its own right.
Doctrinally Shěn integrates the Lǐ-Zhū synthesis with extensive engagement with the Sùwèn / Língshū canonical foundation. His treatment of màifǎ 脈法 (pulse-method) in gynecology is particularly developed, reflecting the yùchǐ metaphor of the title. The work is in active use in modern PRC TCM gynecology education in its Zūnshēng shū collected form.
Translations and research
- Shěn-shì zūn-shēng shū — modern punctuated edition, multiple Chinese publishers. Standard reference for the entire Shěn corpus including the Fùkē yù-chǐ.
- Yi-Li Wu, Reproducing Women. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.
- No standalone English translation located.
Links
- Wikipedia (zh)
- No separate Wikidata entry for the Fùkē yùchǐ located.
- 婦科玉尺 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB