Zhútíng yīàn 竹亭醫案
Medical Case Records of Zhútíng by Zhútíngxiānshēng 竹亭先生 (the hào by which the author is identified in the preface — an unnamed Sūzhōu physician of Chóngchuān 崇川 ancestry, fl. mid-to-late nineteenth century).
About the work
A single-juǎn casebook with a long opening preface by Gù Dàtián 顧大田 (preface dated as “Gù Dàtián xù” 顧大田序). The preface identifies the author as Zhútíng xiānshēng 竹亭先生: of Chóngchuān 崇川 (Tōngzhōu 通州, Jiāngsū) ancestry, having moved to Sūzhōu where he made his name as a physician, specialising in internal-and-external, large-and-small medicine but particularly distinguished for fùrén kē 婦人科 (women’s medicine). Together with the yīàn he compiled a separate clinical-prescription record under the title Zhuìzhū biān 綴珠編 (“String-of-Pearls Compilation”). The work is one of several mid-to-late-Qīng Sūzhōu casebooks by physicians of literati background.
Prefaces
The hxwd _000.txt opens with the Gù Dàtián xù 顧大田序: “Zhútíngxiānshēng is of an old family of Chóngchuān 崇川. After moving to Sūzhōu he became renowned for his medical art, refined in internal, external, and the various other branches large and small — but especially distinguished in gynaecology. In his leisure he assembled his examined-and-verified prescription-cases over many juǎn, giving them the heading Zhuìzhū biān 綴珠編 (‘String-of-Pearls Compilation’). The Master is one who, being a rú (Confucian scholar), also practises medicine. The matter of literary composition opens out to xìngmìng 性命 (nature-and-destiny), and the cause of gain-and-loss runs through Heaven-and-the-Human; the Way of Xuān-Qí and the Way of the Kǒng-school are, throughout the millennia, one same principle. My late dūyùn 都運 [‘governing-transport’ — an official title, perhaps Salt-Transport Commissioner] returned home from office and remained at home for twenty years, also enjoying reading the Língshū and Sùwèn. I still recall that on his first meeting Master Zhútíng, on a brief conversation he immediately treated him with deep respect, saying: ‘Sir, considering your aspirations, your Way must spread widely.’ On looking at his book, [I found] much that hits the mark with cleverness — one can see that with mind clear and intelligence skilled he can use intention to penetrate, and truly attained the inheritance of Cāng [Cānggōng 倉公 = Chúnyú Yì 淳于意] and Biǎn [Biǎn Què 扁鵲] and Yuánhuà [Huá Tuó 華佗]. Were there a fine historian like Zǐcháng [Sīmǎ Qiān] or Chéngzuò [Chén Shòu], they would surely have included him. This spring I was lucky enough to be in attendance at the side and heard the tíngxùn 庭訓 [paternal instruction]…”
The preface celebrates the literati-physician (rúyī) ideal in the standard idiom and dates from a moment when the author’s clinical reputation was already established.
Abstract
Zhútíngxiānshēng 竹亭先生 — Sūzhōu physician of mid-to-late nineteenth century, of Chóngchuān (Tōngzhōu) ancestry, distinguished particularly in gynaecology. His personal name is not recorded in the catalog meta or in the surviving preface; only the hào Zhútíng 竹亭 (“Bamboo Pavilion”) is known. The composition window 1840–1900 reflects his conventional mid-to-late nineteenth-century floruit. The work is one of several mid-to-late-Qīng Sūzhōu casebooks by literati-physicians.
The work’s principal interest is its place in the late-Qīng Sūzhōu gynaecological tradition (compare KR3ep029 Huāyùnlóu yīàn of Gù Mányún — also a Sūzhōu gynaecological casebook of the same era).
Translations and research
No substantial European-language secondary literature located.
Links
- Compare other late-Qīng Sūzhōu gynaecological casebooks: KR3ep029 Huāyùnlóu yīàn.
- Kanseki DB
- 竹亭醫案