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產科發蒙

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Text ID
KR3ei065
Date
1799–1799
Dynasty
江戶

Sǎnkē fāméng 產科發蒙

Enlightenment in Obstetrics (Japanese: Sanka hatsumō) by 片倉元周 (Katakura Genshū / Kakuryō 片倉鶴陵, 1751–1822)

About the work

A six-juǎn (plus appendix) systematic obstetrical compendium of 1799 by 片倉元周 Katakura Genshū (= 片倉鶴陵 Kakuryō), one of the foremost second-generation physicians of the Kagawa school of Japanese obstetrics founded by 賀川玄悅 Kagawa Gen’etsu. The work extends the Kagawa-school techniques into a fully systematic teaching manual organised around: (i) general obstetrical methodology; (ii) the disorders of pregnancy; (iii) parturition and its emergencies; (iv) post-partum disorders; (v) gynecological disorders (menstrual irregularity, leukorrhoea, bēnglòu haemorrhage, breast disorders, vulvar/vaginal disorders); (vi) the appendix of “verified obstetrical prescriptions” (chǎnqián chǎnhòu jīngyàn fāng) drawn from Katakura’s own clinical practice.

Abstract

Published in 1799 (Kansei 11). The work’s clinical signature is its combination of Kagawa-school manual obstetrical intervention with extensive Chinese-derived herbal pharmacology, drawing on Zhū Dānxī, Zhāng Jièbīn, the Yī xué rù mén, the Yī tōng, the Yī fāng kǎo, and many other Chinese authorities. This is in deliberate contrast with the more puristic Sǎn lùn (KR3ei062) of Kagawa Gen’etsu, which had rejected reliance on Chinese textbook authority.

Distinctive features:

  1. The Chángdé sǎn 長德散 — Katakura’s signature post-partum formula, attributed by tradition to the Chángdé temple of Bùsōng village, Wǔzhōu — Wǔzhōu Zúlìjùn Pǔhélǐng Zhīcūn Chángdésì mìfāng — the “secret formula of Chōtoku-ji in Bushū.” This is a clear borrowing of the Bamboo-Grove obstetrical formulary genre from Chinese practice (cf. Yi-Li Wu 2000 on the Bamboo-Grove monastery formulary).
  2. The Mòcài tāng 莕菜湯 / Chángróng tāng 長榮湯 — another local Japanese folk-formula adopted into the canonical pharmacopoeia.
  3. The Qǔtóuguǎn 曲頭管 — a curved-tip tube of bronze or silver designed by Katakura for administering medicine through clenched teeth in emergencies. Described and illustrated in the work; one of the few documented Edo-period obstetrical instruments.
  4. The Cǎocǎo zīshēn preface — Shibata’s celebrated preface, which the Hǎiwài huíguī editors call “the most-elegant Japanese kanbun preface on Chinese-medical themes” of its period.

The catalog meta gives Katakura Genshū and identifies the dynasty as 清, reflecting the Hǎiwài huíguī editorial convention of dating Japanese works by their Chinese-dynasty contemporary. The actual context is Edo-period Japan.

Translations and research

  • Susan L. Burns, “Body and Birth in Tokugawa Japan” (1994).
  • 大塚敬節 Ōtsuka Keisetsu, ed., Edo-jidai no sanka igaku. Tōkyō: Meicho shuppan — for the Kagawa school as a whole.
  • Yi-Li Wu, Reproducing Women (2010) — for the comparison with Chinese gynaecological practice.
  • No standalone English translation located.

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