Qiánshì xiǎo’ér zhíjué 錢氏小兒直訣
Master Qián’s Direct Determinations for Children by 錢乙 Qián Yǐ (撰); annotated by 薛己 Xuē Jǐ (校注)
About the work
The standard Míng / Qīng recension of 錢乙 Qián Yǐ’s foundational paediatric work (compiled 1119 by 閻孝忠 Yán Xiàozhōng) with extensive interlinear commentary (Xuē àn 薛按) by 薛己 Xuē Jǐ (1487–1559, zì Lìzhāi 立齋), the imperial physician of Sūzhōu. This recension is distinct from the Xiǎo’ér yàozhèng zhíjué 小兒藥證直訣 (KR3ej020, the Xuéhǎi lèibiān recension): the Qiánshì xiǎo’ér zhíjué is the 4-juǎn version with Xuē Jǐ’s clinical-pedagogical commentary integrated. The catalog meta correctly identifies Qián Yǐ as the original author and the Sòng dynasty as the dynasty of composition; the Xuē Jǐ commentary layer dates from the Jiājìng era (mid-16th c.). The work is included in the Xuēshì yīàn 薛氏醫案 (KR3e0070) as Xuē Jǐ’s edited-and-commented Qián Yǐ recension and is the textual base for most Míng-Qīng paediatric citation of Qián Yǐ.
Prefaces
The received recension here transmitted lacks a front-matter prefatory file. The standard Xuē Jǐ recension carries Xuē’s editorial fánlì 凡例 and a preface, but these are not present in the front-matter as transmitted.
Abstract
The Qiánshì xiǎo’ér zhíjué is the most-cited form of Qián Yǐ’s paediatric corpus in late-imperial paediatric scholarship, owing to Xuē Jǐ’s clarifying interlinear commentary. The four juǎn preserve and supplement Qián Yǐ’s: (juǎn 1) màifǎ 脈法 (paediatric pulse-doctrine), miànbù zhèng 面部症 (facial-region zàngfǔ symptom correspondences: left cheek liver, right cheek lung, forehead heart, nose spleen, chin kidney), mùbù zhèng 目部症 (ocular zàngfǔ indicators), wǔzàng xūshí hánrè 五臟虛實寒熱 (five-zàng deficiency-excess-cold-heat differentiation, the core of Qiánshì paediatric biànzhèng), with Xuē Jǐ’s commentary expanding each symptom-prescription pair with additional indications and prescription-modification rules drawn from his own Sūzhōu clinical practice; (juǎn 2) clinical case histories (jìshū 紀述); (juǎn 3) prescriptions (fānglùn 方論); (juǎn 4) the Qiánshì xiǎo’ér zhíjué supplementary discussion. Xuē’s commentary draws extensively on the Sòng jiāfāng prescription tradition, on 李東垣 Lǐ Dōngyuán’s Píwèi lùn doctrine, and on 朱丹溪 Zhū Dānxī’s zīyīn therapy — integrating the post-Qián Yǐ paediatric tradition with the founding Qiánshì schema. The 1119 date refers to the founding Yán Xiàozhōng compilation; the Xuē commentary layer is from c. 1540–1559.
Translations and research
- Hinrichs and Barnes, Chinese Medicine and Healing. Harvard UP, 2013 — Qián Yǐ doctrine.
- 熊秉真 Xióng Bǐngzhēn (Hsiung Ping-chen), A Tender Voyage. Stanford UP, 2005 — extensive Qián Yǐ discussion.
- Furth, A Flourishing Yin. Berkeley: UC Press, 1999 — discusses Xuē Jǐ’s clinical work.
- Qiánshì xiǎo’ér zhíjué jiàozhù 錢氏小兒直訣校注 — modern critical edition (various imprints).
- No complete English translation located.
Other points of interest
The two parallel Kanripo entries KR3ej020 and KR3ej021 are not duplicates: they represent two distinct Qīng-period editorial recensions of the founding Qián Yǐ paediatric corpus. KR3ej020 is the Xuéhǎi lèibiān recension (with comparative editorial notes against the Wǔyīngdiàn jùzhēnbǎn); KR3ej021 is the Xuēshì yīàn recension (with Xuē Jǐ’s interlinear clinical commentary).