Rénduān lù 仁端錄
Record of the Foundations of Humaneness by 徐謙 Xú Qiān (撰)
About the work
A late-Míng smallpox-and-paediatric monograph in 16 juǎn by Xú Qiān 徐謙 (style Yìngqiū 應秋), of Jiāshàn 嘉善 (Zhèjiāng). The work is one of the major paediatric smallpox treatises of the Wànlì / Chóngzhēn era and is listed in the Sìkù quánshū in the Yījiālèi 醫家類 category of zǐbù 子部 (Masters Section). The hxwd source file KR3ej071_001.txt contains only the file header; substantive content must be consulted via the Sìkù quánshū edition or other surviving recensions.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào lists the work and notes that Xú Qiān composed it to systematise his clinical experience in paediatric smallpox treatment.
Abstract
The Rénduān lù is a comprehensive 16-juǎn late-Míng paediatric monograph, organised systematically by phase of smallpox-eruption and by complication. The title Rénduān lù — “Record of the Foundations of Humaneness” — explicitly frames the work in the Confucian rén 仁 / yī wéi rénshù 醫為仁術 (medicine as the art of humaneness) tradition, presenting paediatric practice as a moral as well as technical undertaking. Xú Qiān was a Wànlì / Chóngzhēn era physician of Jiāshàn 嘉善 (Zhèjiāng), active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
The work is structured around the standard late-Míng smallpox-phase organization (pre-eruption fever, eruption, guànjiāng pus-filling, shōuyè scab-formation, complications), with extensive case-history sections drawing on Xú’s own clinical practice. The work covers paediatric dòuzhěn (smallpox-eruption), mázhěn (measles), and ancillary paediatric disorders.
The work was sufficiently respected to be included in the Sìkù quánshū (1772–1782), where it is preserved with tíyào (descriptive notice). The dating range 1591–1645 reflects Xú Qiān’s productive lifespan; specific composition date is not precisely fixed by the Sìkù sources but is conventionally placed in the late Wànlì / early Chóngzhēn era.
CBDB does not provide precise birth-death dates for this Xú Qiān; the conventional dating is fl. 1591–1645.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language scholarship on this specific work located.
- The work is available in the Sì-kù quán-shū electronic and reprint editions.
Other points of interest
The work’s title — Rénduān lù “Record of the Foundations of Humaneness” — places it explicitly within the Confucian rén / yī wéi rénshù (medicine as humaneness) tradition that dominated late-Míng medical writing. The Sìkù inclusion of this work reflects the high Qīng official endorsement of selected late-Míng paediatric authorities.
Links
- 仁端錄 jicheng.tw
- Kanseki DB
- Renduan lu Wikidata — related entries for the work.