Yuányòu xīnfǎ 原幼心法
Heart-Method on the Origins of Paediatric Care by 彭用光 Péng Yòngguāng (撰)
About the work
A mid-to-late Míng paediatric xīnfǎ 心法 (heart-method) treatise by 彭用光 Péng Yòngguāng. The catalog meta records the dynasty as 明 with Péng as author; lifedates and native place are not securely recorded. The work is structured as an annotated paediatric compilation, with yòngguāng àn 用光按 (Yòngguāng’s editorial-comment) format distinguishing the compiler’s own remarks from the quoted predecessor authorities. The principal source is the Quányīng 全嬰 (i.e. 魯伯嗣 Lǔ Bósì’s Yīngtóng bǎiwèn 嬰童百問 KR3ej006, 1506) and the broader Sòng-Yuán paediatric corpus.
Prefaces
The received text begins with an fùlù jiéjìng shī 附錄捷徑詩 (Appended Verse on Quick Methods) — a mnemonic verse for prescription selection in paediatric emergencies: xiǎo’ér yījiā lìng yǒu kē 小兒醫家另有科 (paediatric medicine is a separate department), and lists the principal prescriptions: Bǎomìng dān 保命丹 for jīngfēng fārè bìng tánsòu 驚風發熱並痰嗽 (convulsion-and-fever with phlegm-cough); Zǐjīn dìng 紫金錠 for jímàn èrjīng 急慢二驚 (acute and chronic convulsion); Shényì mó 神異磨 for un-erupted measles; Zhùwèi sǎn 助胃散 (or similar) for tùxiè fùtòng 吐瀉腹痛 (vomiting-diarrhoea-and-abdominal-pain); Huàdú 化毒 (preparations) for mouth-ulcers; Bàolóng wán 抱龍丸 and Xīngxīng sǎn 惺惺散 for cháorè 潮熱 (tidal fever); Shāozhēn wán 燒針丸 for vomiting; Lúhuì wán 蘆薈丸 for zhū gān 諸疳 (the various chronic-malnutrition syndromes). Following the verse, Yòngguāng’s yòngguāng àn (editorial commentary) cites the Quányīng on the three-pass finger-vein diagnostic method (hǔkǒu dì èr zhǐ shàng yǒu màiwén 虎口第二指上有脈紋), the prognostic significance of pulse-pattern extension into yínguān 寅關, mǎoguān 卯關, and chénguān 辰關. Each prescription is then specified with full ingredient list, dosing, and preparation. No separate author’s preface is preserved in the front-matter fragment here.
Abstract
The Yuányòu xīnfǎ is a Míng-period paediatric handbook of the prescription-formulary type, structured around mnemonic verses for rapid clinical prescription selection. Its principal content is the standard mid-Míng paediatric formulary: Bǎomìng dān, Zǐjīn dìng, Shényì dān, Lúhuì wán, Bàolóng wán, Xīngxīng sǎn, and the conventional paediatric specialty prescriptions for jīng, tán, xiè, gān, and dòu. The work circulated as one of the secondary paediatric prescription-handbook tradition alongside the Wàn-family Yùyīng jiāmì (KR3ej043) and the Quányīng (Yīngtóng bǎiwèn KR3ej006). Date bracket conservative: c. 1550 (after the 萬全 Wàn Quán Yùyīng jiāmì clearly assumed by Péng) to 1644 (Míng-Qīng transition).
Translations and research
- No substantial scholarship on the Yuányòu xīnfǎ located.
- Yuányòu xīnfǎ jiàozhù 原幼心法校注 — modern punctuated edition (multiple imprints).