Wànshì nǚkē 萬氏女科
The Wàn Family’s Gynecology attributed to 萬全 (Wàn Quán = Wàn Mìzhāi, 1499–1582, mid-Míng)
About the work
A four-juǎn gynecology by the mid-Míng paediatric / family-medicine master 萬全 Wàn Quán 萬全 (Mìzhāi 密齋) of Luótián 羅田 (Húběi), part of his Wànshì yīshū shízhǒng 萬氏醫書十種 (萬氏醫書十種, Ten Works of Wàn Mìzhāi) family-lineage corpus. The KR hxwd _000.txt carries an appendix on the Huíshēng dān 回生丹 (回生丹, Resuscitation Pill) — a famous Qīng-period popular formula for emergency obstetrical conditions (especially zǐsǐ fùzhōng 子死腹中, fetal death in utero) — drawn from 何集庵 Hé Jíān’s late-Míng / Qīng compilation; the body of the work covers the canonical fùkē sequence.
Prefaces
The KR hxwd _000.txt opens with the Fùlù Huíshēng dān bìng lùn 附錄回生丹並論 appendix, indicating the recension has been augmented post-original-composition. The catalog meta records no author and dynasty unspecified; internal evidence (the work’s recurrent prescription patterns matching those of the Wànshì yīshū shízhǒng corpus) and standard Chinese-medicine bibliographic identification confirm Wàn Quán as author.
Abstract
萬全 Wàn Quán (1499–1582) was the bearer of the principal Míng-period Wàn-family medical lineage of Luótián 羅田 (Húběi). His comprehensive medical writings — the Wànshì yīshū shízhǒng — include separate works on paediatrics (Yòukē fāhuī 幼科發揮 幼科發揮), infant-care (Bǎoyīng zháiyào 保嬰擇要 保嬰擇要), gynecology (the present Fùrénkē / Wànshì nǚkē), constitutional health (Yǎngshēng sìyào 養生四要 養生四要), and Shānghán (Shānghán zhāijǐn 傷寒摘錦, KR3ef071). The gynecology component covers the standard tiáojīng → bēnglòu → dàixià → qiúzǐ → tāiqián → chǎnhòu sequence.
The work’s clinical context is family medicine in a rural mid-Míng setting; Wàn’s approach is conservative and broad-based, drawing on the 李杲 Lǐ Dōngyuán Bǔzhōng yìqì tāng spleen-stomach framework and the 朱震亨 Zhū Dānxī zīyīn jiànghuǒ yin-supplementing-fire-suppressing framework in conjunction. Wàn was active in clinical practice for over six decades and the works of his ten-volume yīshū corpus draw extensively on first-hand case records.
For composition: Wàn’s mature productive period spans roughly 1549 (age 50) to his death in 1582; notBefore 1549 / notAfter 1582 is a defensible bracket. The Qīng-era Huíshēng dān appendix is a later addition.
Translations and research
- Wànshì yīshū shízhǒng 萬氏醫書十種 (萬氏醫書十種) — comprehensive modern collected edition (Húběi kēxué jìshù chūbǎnshè).
- Charlotte Furth, A Flourishing Yin. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999 — discusses Wàn Quán as one of the principal mid-Míng family-medicine practitioners.
- No standalone English translation located.
Links
- Wikipedia (zh): 萬全 (medical entry)
- No separate Wikidata entry for the Wànshì nǚkē located.
- 萬氏女科 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB