Jiàozhù Fùrén liángfāng 校註婦人良方
Annotated Edition of “Good Recipes for Women” collated, annotated, and supplemented with case-records by 薛己 (Xuē Jǐ = Xuē Lìzhāi, 1487–1559), 1547
About the work
A 24-juǎn mid-Míng critical annotated edition of 陳自明 Chén Zìmíng’s Fùrén dàquán liángfāng 婦人大全良方 (KR3e0038, 1237) — the principal Sòng fùkē synthesis — prepared by the imperial physician 薛己 Xuē Jǐ (1487–1559, Tàiyīyuàn yuànshǐ 太醫院院使) during his post-imperial retirement. Xuē supplies extensive commentary on Chén Zìmíng’s Sòng text, supplements with his own zhìyàn 治驗 (clinical-verification case-records), and provides systematic critical apparatus.
Prefaces
The KR hxwd _000.txt carries an external preface dated Jiājìng dīngwèi dōng shíyuè jìwàng 嘉靖丁未冬十月既望 = the 16th day of the tenth lunar month of Jiājìng 26 (= late 1547), by an anonymous Wújùn 吳郡 colleague. The preface narrates: Xuē Jǐ (“Xuējūn Lìzhāi”) was a Wújùn (Sūzhōu) physician of distinction, expert in pulse-diagnosis, who in extensive clinical practice “xiào bù shìgōng, bù jìchéng, qī zài bìqǐ” 不示功，不計程，期在必起 (“not displaying meritorious efforts, not calculating the timing of treatment, with the only objective being that the patient must recover”). The prefacer praises Xuē for taking Chén Zìmíng’s Liángfāng and providing complete annotation and clinical-case supplementation.
Abstract
薛己 Xuē Jǐ (1487–1559) is the most prolific late-Míng medical writer. The Jiàozhù fùrén liángfāng is one of his three core works on women’s medicine — alongside the Nǚkē cuōyào 女科撮要 (KR3ei009) and his contributions to the Bǎoyīng cuōyào 保嬰撮要 (保嬰撮要, paediatrics, completed by his son 薛鎧 Xuē Kǎi). The 1547 imprint date in the preface places the work in Xuē’s mature post-Tàiyīyuàn period.
The work is doctrinally significant as a 16th-century critical engagement with the principal Sòng gynecological text: Chén Zìmíng’s Fùrén dàquán liángfāng (1237) was the dominant Sòng-Yuán-Míng fùkē reference, and Xuē’s critical annotation became the principal channel through which Chén’s Sòng work entered Míng-Qīng circulation. Xuē applies his characteristic 李杲 Lǐ Dōngyuán spleen-stomach plus Liùwèi / Bāwèi dìhuáng wán kidney-yīn-and-yáng-tonification synthesis to Chén’s older prescriptions. Many of Chén’s original Sòng formulae are revised in Xuē’s annotation to reflect the late-Míng Bǔzhōng yìqì tāng doctrinal framework.
The Jiàozhù fùrén liángfāng remained the principal Míng-Qīng standard-edition of the Fùrén dàquán liángfāng and was widely reprinted through the late imperial period. It is the foundational source for both KR3ei006 Jìyīn gāngmù and KR3ei030 Zhèngzhì zhǔnshéng·Nǚkē.
Translations and research
- Xuē Lìzhāi yīxué quánshū 薛立齋醫學全書 (薛立齋醫學全書) — comprehensive modern collected edition.
- Charlotte Furth, A Flourishing Yin. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
- Asaf Goldschmidt, The Evolution of Chinese Medicine: Song Dynasty, 960–1200. London: Routledge, 2008 — for the original Chén Zìmíng Sòng context.
- No standalone English translation located.
Links
- No verified Wikipedia or Wikidata entry located for the Jiàozhù recension specifically.
- 校註婦人良方 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB