Xuē Xuě 薛雪 (1681–1770), zì Shēngbái 生白 (hence often cited 薛生白), hào Yīpiáo 一瓢, was the major Sūzhōu 蘇州 physician of the high-Qiánlóng era and the foundational theorist of shī wēn 濕溫 (humid-warm-disease) within the Qīng wēnbìng (warm-disease) tradition. A xiùcái and a substantial classical poet (he is anthologized in standard Qīng poetry collections), Xuē was the most accomplished classical scholar of any mid-Qīng physician. He is conventionally paired with Yè Tiānshì 葉天士 in the historiography of Qīng medicine: Yè the unparalleled clinician, Xuē the unparalleled scholar. Major works:
- Shī rè tiáo biàn 濕熱條辨 (also 濕熱病篇) — the first systematic treatise on humid-warm-disease pathology, the foundation document for one of the four categories of Qīng wēnbìng.
- Yī jīng yuán zhǐ 醫經原旨, 6 juan, 1754 (KR3ea041) — a topically-organized condensation and exposition of the Nèijīng.
- Lǐ Niàné xiān shēng Nèijīng zhī yào 李念莪先生內經知要 (1764) — Xuē’s annotated re-edition of 李中梓’s Nèijīng zhī yào, in which form it became one of the standard Qīng Nèijīng primers.
- Yī piáo shī wén jí 一瓢詩文集 — his collected literary works.
He died in 1770 at the exceptional age of 89.