Cíyòu xīnshū 慈幼新書
A New Book of Compassionate Childcare by 程雲鵬 Chéng Yúnpéng (撰); preface by 張希良 Zhāng Xīliáng
About the work
A fourteen-juǎn late-Míng / early-Qīng paediatric compendium by 程雲鵬 Chéng Yúnpéng (zì Fèngchú 鳳雛), a Húběi physician and wénzhāng essayist of the Shùnzhì — early Kāngxī generation. The catalog meta records the dynasty as 明; internal evidence (the recorded close association with the eminent Qīng scholar 魏禧 Wèi Xǐ, 1624–1681) confirms the work as in fact early Qīng (c. 1650–1700). The work covers paediatric medicine guǎngbó jīngwēi 廣博精微 (broadly and minutely) — from tāichǎn 胎產 (obstetrics) through dòuzhěn 痘疹 (smallpox-and-eruptive-fevers), jīngxián 驚癇 (convulsions and epilepsy), hánrè 寒熱 (cold-and-heat disorders), down to ěrmù hóuchǐ 耳目喉齒 (ear-eye-throat-teeth) and chuāngjiē jièxuǎn 瘡癤疥癬 (sores and skin disorders).
Prefaces
Preface by 張希良 Zhāng Xīliáng of Huáng’ān 黃安. Zhāng frames the work in terms of Confucian shì jūnzǐ 士君子 social-ethical obligation: a gentleman serves the world in any capacity, suī qióng ér zàixià 雖窮而在下 (even if poor and in a lowly position); medicine is one such service. Zhāng records his prior knowledge of Chéng’s reputation as a wénzhāng jùzǐ (literary giant) of the Chǔ region through 蔣慎齋 Jiǎng Shènzhāi’s recommendation during Zhāng’s tenure as sīduó 司鐸 (Provincial Education Officer) of Jiāngxià 江夏. He then records the famous Wèi-Xǐ-on-Chéng’s-medicine anecdote (魏禧 Wèi Xǐ’s Wǔhóu yòngbīng 武侯用兵 praise, Chéng’s Dèng Yǔ wèicháng wàngshā yīrén 鄧禹未嘗妄殺一人 deflection) and Chéng’s parallel inner-alchemy training with the Yánlíng and Huáshān adepts. Zhāng closes with a self-deprecating contrast: as a former Mùtiān (Hanlin) academic with administrative responsibility over the Zhèjiāng shìxí 士習 (scholarly customs), he had been frustrated by his inability to alleviate the chēxià chuāngyí 車下創痍 (the wounds of the people beside the road); Chéng, by contrast, can through his book jiē (raise) the people yú rénshòu zhī yù 於仁壽之域 (into the region of humaneness and longevity).
Abstract
The Cíyòu xīnshū is one of the more clinically grounded early-Qīng paediatric works, distinguished by its synthesis of mainstream paediatric zàngfǔ doctrine with the Wǔhóu yòngbīng (諸葛亮 Zhūgě Liàng-as-strategist) metaphor of clinical reasoning — i.e. an emphasis on case-specific tactical adaptation against the prescription-formulary norm. The work circulated in the Húběi region in manuscript and early print, with an early-Qīng imprint preserved in the jicheng.tw recension. Its fourteen juǎn (ctext.org preserves juǎn 4 dòuchuāng 痘瘡 as a representative chapter) cover the standard paediatric disease range; the section structure follows the conventional Wàn-family / Xuē-family Míng paediatric template rather than the 陳復正 Chén Fùzhèng jīng / chù polemical re-classification. The work is among the principal Húběi-regional paediatric works of the seventeenth century, complementing the better-known Yòuyòu jíchéng (Lǐngnán, 1750, KR3ej013) and Yīzōng jīnjiàn yòukē xīnfǎ (imperial, 1742, KR3ej029).
Translations and research
- No substantial English-language scholarship on the Cíyòu xīnshū located.
- Cíyòu xīnshū jiàozhù 慈幼新書校注 — modern punctuated edition (multiple imprints).
- 熊秉真 Xióng Bǐngzhēn (Hsiung Ping-chen), A Tender Voyage — context for the broader paediatric-literature tradition.
Other points of interest
The catalog meta’s dynasty attribution to Míng is incorrect. The Zhāng Xīliáng preface’s reference to Wèi Xǐ (1624–1681) makes the work early Qīng beyond doubt; a reasonable composition window is c. 1650–1700. The case-driven Wǔhóu yòngbīng metaphor of clinical reasoning is one of the most articulated statements of the case-specific-tactical position in early-Qīng paediatric writing.