Gāo Shūlián tāichǎn fāngàn 高淑濂胎產方案
Gāo Shū-lián’s Prescriptional Cases for Pregnancy and Childbirth by 高淑濂 (Gāo Shūlián, fl. late-19th – early-20th c.)
About the work
A four-cè obstetrical-and-gynaecological manual of Tàiān 泰安 (Shāndōng) family-medicine origin, printed in December 1934 (Mínguó 23) by the author’s son 高宗岳 Gāo Zōngyuè at the Yī Dài shānfáng 依岱山房 / Dàlù shūshè 大陸書社 in Tàiān. Originally titled Tāichǎn mìshū 胎產秘書; renamed Tāichǎn fāngàn (Prescriptional Cases for Pregnancy and Childbirth) in 1934 to reflect the work’s clinical-case format. Comprises systematic coverage of 34 pre-partum disorders, 4 parturient disorders, 47 post-partum disorders, plus full sections on difficult-labour management protocols, ante- and post-partum nursing, and an appended Bǎoyīng quánshū on neonatal care.
Abstract
Composed and refined over the medical career of Gāo Shūlián, a Tàiān physician specialising in obstetrics-and-gynaecology for over thirty years. Per the colophon of his son Gāo Zōngyuè (dated Mínguó 23 dōng shíyī yuè — November/December 1934):
“My late father, because of difficulty obtaining medical care for the elder generation, studied the Língshū and Sùwèn, the Nán jīng, all branches of medicine, and through close clinical study made few errors. Only the obstetrical specialty had no specialist work, and the Dáshēng biān and the obstetrical chapters in other works were brief and incomplete. He therefore gathered the ancient discussions and his own prescriptions, choosing those that had been repeatedly verified.”
The work was printed in a small run of 200 copies in 1934, of which 100 were reserved for the rénshòu shūdiàn 仁壽書店 in Tàiān for distribution as free copies (the zèngběn 贈本) to the author’s relatives and friends, and to charitable causes — explicitly not for sale (fēi màipǐn). The remaining 100 went to the Dàlù shūshè for commercial sale at 1 yuán 2 jiǎo per copy. The Hǎiwài huíguī recension preserves the 1934 print witness.
Distinctive features:
- The Bǎochì yī wén postface by 李承寅 Lǐ Chéngyín (清庠生 / Qīng xiùcái), titled Dú Gāoshì Tāichǎn fāngàn zhuìyán 讀高氏胎產方案贅言, framing the work in the Fàn Zhòngyān “if not a worthy minister, then a worthy physician” tradition.
- The complete Bǎoyīng yàojué 保嬰要訣 appendix — neonatal first-aid and care protocols including the mǎyá (newborn aphthous oral mass), the qífēng (umbilical tetanus), and the xīdòu xiānfāng (smallpox-attenuation) prescriptions.
- The use of a strict case-based format — each disorder gets its own zhèng (presentation), zhìfǎ (treatment principle), fāng (prescription), jiājiǎn (modifications), and frequently a yànàn (verified case) attached.
The composition reflects the late-Qīng / Republican-era císhàn (charitable-printing) ethic, in which physician-authors prepared manuals for free distribution as an expression of merit-accumulation. The “free distribution from April 1, 1935” pledge in the 1934 colophon is one of the clearest examples of the explicitly philanthropic medical-publishing model of the period.
The catalog meta gives 高淑濂 only; no birth/death dates are recorded in standard reference works. The catalog gives no dynasty, but the actual context is Republican-era (Mínguó) China. Composition window precisely 1934.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature located.
- No standalone English translation located.
Links
- 海外回歸中醫善本古籍叢書 (Hǎiwài huíguī Zhōngyī shànběn gǔjí cóngshū) — preserves the 1934 Dàlù shūshè recension.
- 高淑濂胎產方案 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB