Mìzhēn jìyīn 秘珍濟陰
The Secret Pearl of Aiding-the-Yin by 周詒觀 (Zhōu Yíguān = Xiāngménxiānshēng 湘門先生, mid-Qīng)
About the work
A three-juǎn (shàng / zhōng / xià) systematic gynecology by the mid-Qīng physician 周詒觀 Zhōu Yíguān (hào Xiāngmén 湘門), composed in seven-character rhymed mnemonic verses (gējué 歌訣) for clinical-pedagogical memorisation. The work follows the standard fùkē sequence — tiáojīng, bēnglòu, dàixià, qiúzǐ, tāiqián, línchǎn, chǎnhòu — with each topical entry given in verse with attached prose commentary and prescribed formulas. The verse-mnemonic format follows the Yīzōng jīnjiàn·Fùkē xīnfǎ yàojué (1742; see KR3ei007) and Fù Qīngzhǔ gēkuò (see KR3ei021) tradition.
Prefaces
The KR hxwd _000.txt carries two prefaces. The first, by 陶鴻響 Táo Hóngyǎn of Yányá Liánpǔ 研牙蓮浦, dated Dàoguāng shínián chūxià 道光拾年初夏 (= early summer 1830, Dàoguāng 10), opens with the 范仲淹 Fàn Zhòngyān (范文正公) maxim “if not a good prime minister, then a good physician” (bù wéi liángxiàng, dāng wéi liángyī 不為良相，當為良醫). Táo identifies Zhōu Xiāngmén as his old friend who, having failed repeatedly in the examination track, turned to medicine and studied under “the Lún and Shùhuì teachers” (Lún Shùhuì liǎngwēng 綸樹蕙兩翁). Táo notes that Zhōu’s compilation rendered the work in verse-mnemonics (gējué) for ease of memorisation. The second preface, partially preserved, similarly endorses the work.
Abstract
周詒觀 Zhōu Yíguān (hào Xiāngmén 湘門) was a mid-Qīng physician who turned to medicine after failing the civil examinations. He studied with two teachers identified in the preface only by their hào — Lúnwēng 綸翁 and Shùhuìwēng 樹蕙翁. His Mìzhēn jìyīn was printed in 1830 (Dàoguāng 10) — see Táo Hóngyǎn’s preface — through the sponsorship of Zhōu’s grandson Xiùměi 秀美 (mentioned in the preface as having arranged the imprint).
The mìzhēn 秘珍 (“secret pearl”) title and jìyīn 濟陰 (aiding-the-yin) terminology follow the established late-Míng / Qīng gynecological literary conventions (compare 武之望 Wǔ Zhīwàng’s Jìyīn gāngmù KR3ei006 and the Xuēshì jìyīn wànjīn shū KR3ei033). The work’s contribution is its accessible verse-mnemonic distillation of Qīng gynecology for popular-practitioner audiences in the late Jiāqìng / Dàoguāng era.
Translations and research
- Yi-Li Wu, Reproducing Women. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.
- No dedicated study located.
Links
- No verified Wikipedia or Wikidata entry located.
- 秘珍濟陰 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB
- 范仲淹 CBDB