Yòukē zhèngzhì dàquán 幼科證治大全
Comprehensive Paediatric Diagnosis and Treatment by 下津壽泉 Shimotsu Jusen (撰)
About the work
A Japanese Edo-period paediatric compendium by 下津壽泉 Shimotsu Jusen of Settsu (Sèyáng 攝陽, modern Ōsaka region), completed in Hōei 6 = 1709. The work is a substantial compilation of more than a thousand paediatric prescriptions (yīngtóng liángfāng shùqiān, yú cǎizhí yīqiān yú jiàn 嬰童良方數千，愚採摭一千餘件) drawn from the principal Chinese paediatric authorities — the Yīlín 醫林, 薛己 Xuēshì Yīàn 薛氏醫案, the Yītǒng 醫統 (王肯堂 Wáng Kěntáng), the Dàquán 大全, the Hǎogǔ 好古 (王好古 Wáng Hǎogǔ) — with supplementary clinical commentary from contemporary Japanese paediatricians 南豐李氏 Nánfēng Lǐshì (Mr Lǐ of Nánfēng — a Japanese physician of unclear identification, possibly a sinicised name) and 東井翁 Dōngjǐng wēng (the Dōngjǐng gentleman). The work circulated principally in Japanese Edo-period paediatric practice and is one of the better-organised Sino-Japanese paediatric compilations of the Hōei–Shōtoku eras.
Prefaces
Author’s self-preface by 下津壽泉 Shimotsu of Sèyáng 攝陽, dated Hōei 6 jǐchǒu suì dōng shíyuè jídàn 寶永六年己丑歲冬十月吉旦 = 1709 winter tenth month auspicious dawn. The preface modestly characterises the work as a cǎi 採 (compiled) collection of paediatric prescriptions selected from the existing corpus for rìyòng 日用 (daily clinical use), arranged so as to function as a yàosì 藥笥 (medicine-chest reference). Shimotsu acknowledges that two or three readers have suggested that the work, drawing entirely on qiánxián jiùfāng 前賢舊方 (older prescriptions of the worthies), with each entry distilled to its yàodiǎn 要點 (essential points), can serve as a clinical reminder for prescription-formulary recall.
Abstract
The body of the Yòukē zhèngzhì dàquán is organised by paediatric disorder. The first section is Tāihán 胎寒 (fetal cold) — neonatal fùtòng tíkū (abdominal pain and crying) attributed to maternal fùtòng zhì hán 腹痛而致寒 (abdominal pain leading to cold), maternal consumption of shēnglěng 生冷 (raw and cold foods) during pregnancy, or maternal wàigǎn fēnghánshǔshī 外感風寒暑濕 (external invasion of wind-cold-heat-damp) treated with cooling medicines that damage the fetal tāiqì 胎氣. Prescription: Chuānbáijiāng sǎn 川白姜散 (Sìchuān White-ginger Powder), Liùjūnzǐ tāng 六君子湯 (with Xuēshì annotations: add pàojiāng 炮姜 for wēnzhōng), Dāngguī sǎn 當歸散 (in two variants, Yītǒng and Dàquán-Yángshì recensions). Each prescription is annotated with citations from the principal Chinese sources and with Japanese commentary in the kobō-ha style. The work proceeds through the standard paediatric disorders: jīngfēng, gān, mázhěn dòuzhěn, and the miscellaneous categories. The work’s distinctive feature is its careful preservation of multiple variant recensions of each prescription — Yīlín, Xuēshì, Yītǒng, Dàquán, Dàquán (Yángshì), and Japanese supplements — making the work a useful primary source for comparative philological study of late-Míng / early-Qīng paediatric prescription transmission.
Translations and research
- Mathias Vigouroux, “The Reception of the Circulation Channels Theory in Japan (1500–1800)” (in Memory, Medicine, and Religion in East Asia, 2017) — context for Edo-period Sino-Japanese medical synthesis.
- Marta Hanson, Speaking of Epidemics in Chinese Medicine (Routledge, 2011) — context for the kobō-ha / kaō-ha paediatric reception.
- No substantial English-language study of this specific work located.