Mìchuán wàikē fāng 秘傳外科方
Secretly Transmitted Prescriptions for External Medicine by 趙宜真 (Zhào Yízhēn, d. 1382) — compiler in the lineage of 楊清叟 (Yáng Qīngsǒu, fl. mid-Yuán).
About the work
A parallel / abridged recension of the same Yáng Qīngsǒu → Zhào Yízhēn surgical tradition catalogued separately as KR3ek004 Xiānchuán wàikē jíyàn fāng. The present text circulated under the abridged title Mìchuán wàikē fāng and was issued together with Xiānshòu lǐshāng xùduàn mìfāng 仙授理傷續斷秘方 in a joint edition of Hóngwǔ 28 (1395); its dynasty tag 明 in the catalog meta reflects the publication date of this particular recension, not Zhào’s life (he died in 1382).
Abstract
The text reproduces — in differently arranged and somewhat abridged form — the same body of doctrine and prescriptions as KR3ek004: the foundational yīnyáng differentiation of yōng 癰 and jū 疽, the three signature plasters huíyáng yùlóng gāo 回陽玉龍膏 / hóngbǎo dān 洪寶丹 / chōnghé xiān gāo 沖和仙膏, and treatment protocols for liúzhù 流注, fùgǔ jū 附骨疽, rǔyōng 乳癰, yángméi chuāng 楊梅瘡 and others. The double recension is itself a textual datum: it documents the fluidity of the Yáng–Zhào surgical tradition in the early Míng and confirms the conservatorial role of the Jìngmíng / Quánzhēn Daoist lineages in preserving and disseminating surgical knowledge through the dynastic transition. Both recensions are preserved in the Zhèngtǒng dàozàng; modern punctuated editions ordinarily treat them together.
The composition bracket adopted here (1378–1395) reflects the parallel compilation window with KR3ek004 (1378) and the joint publication of the abridged recension with the Xiānshòu lǐshāng xùduàn mìfāng in 1395.
Translations and research
- See entries under KR3ek004. Modern Dào-zàng punctuated editions cover both recensions together.
- No standalone Western-language translation located.
Other points of interest
The transmission of essentially the same therapeutic doctrine under two distinct titles — Xiānchuán wàikē jíyàn fāng and Mìchuán wàikē fāng — is itself characteristic of early-Míng Daoist-medical book circulation, where the addition of mìchuán 秘傳 (“secretly transmitted”) or xiānchuán 仙傳 (“immortals’ transmitted”) to a title functioned as a paratextual gesture of esoteric authority rather than as a different work.
Links
- See KR3ek004 for shared resources.
- Kanseki DB
- 秘傳外科方