Biographies of Distinguished Medical Practitioners

Chen MengleiJul 2024

Rating 3.0
Word count
220K words
Chapters
26

Tags

Literary Appreciation Traditional MedicineBiographical SketchesMedical History AnecdotesMedical FiguresMaster PhysicianHealing PracticeMedical EthicsPhysician Lore

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought has a long history and is highly original, inventive, and literary. Early forms of thought are distinctive: religious theology, classical Chinese medical texts, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, customs and local gazetteers—all are profound and extensive. This series, “Essence of Classic Chinese Culture: Original Texts,” preserves the original appearance of the books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers cultivate character and subtly come to appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Biographies of Eminent Physicians belongs to the series “Essence of Classic Chinese Culture: Original Texts,” which preserves the original appearance of the books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. The book presents the lives of physicians across the dynasties and the lines of medical transmission in biographical form, allowing readers to learn about the lineage, writings, and medical practice of ancient medical figures and thereby sense the historical accumulation of Chinese medical culture. Its value lies not in providing clinical formulas to be applied directly, but in serving as a reader on medical history and traditional culture that helps readers form an overall understanding of the genealogy of Chinese medical figures and the origins of scholarly schools. Its contents belong to the same broad background as traditional cultural fields such as religious theology, Confucianism and Daoism, military strategy, history, and local gazetteers; it is suited to slow reading at one’s desk, cross-referenced with other classics of Chinese learning. When reading, one should attend to the relations between figures, their times, and their schools, seeing both the individual “eminent figures” and the collective picture of medical development. For readers who wish to understand the roots of Chinese medical culture through its figures, this is an anthology that is both documentary and readable.

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents to establish the chronological order of figures, then choose biographies to read closely according to interest.
  2. Keep a simple timeline of Chinese medical figures and note lineage and school relations as you read.
  3. After each biography, summarize in two or three sentences the physician’s main contributions and historical context.
  4. Read alongside other classics in the same series to understand the interaction between medicine and culture.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 医术名流列传
  3. 上古
  4. 商
  5. 周
  6. 秦
  7. 汉
  8. 后汉
  9. 魏
  10. 吴
  11. 晋
  12. 宋
  13. 南齐
  14. 梁
  15. 北魏
  16. 北齐
  17. 北周
  18. 隋
  19. 唐
  20. 唐
  21. 五代
  22. 辽
  23. 宋
  24. 金
  25. 元
  26. 明

FAQ

Is this book suitable for beginners with no background in Chinese medicine? It can be read, but expectations should be adjusted. It leans toward biographical accounts and cultural historical sources rather than being an introductory textbook. Beginners can start with shorter chapters on familiar figures, look up unfamiliar terms in reference works, and focus on the general outline of figures’ lives and medical transmission rather than insisting on understanding every word.
Can the contents be used directly to guide medical treatment and medication? Not recommended. The book is an edition of traditional cultural source texts, focusing on preserving and transmitting historical materials on medical figures and scholarship; it is not a modern clinical manual. Readers should treat it as a reader on medical history and culture, and consult professional medical personnel for specific health issues.
Does reading this book require a foundation in classical Chinese? Some ability to read classical Chinese will make it smoother, since the original appearance of the book is preserved. Readers with a weaker foundation can use annotations, reference works, and translations, first reading for the general meaning and then returning to key passages, without letting individual difficult characters interrupt the overall reading.

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About the author

Chen Menglei Author · China · 1651–1741

Chen Menglei (1651–1741), courtesy names Zizhen and Shengzhai, later styled the Old Man of Songhe, was a Qing dynasty scholar from Houguan, Fujian. He passed the imperial examination in the ninth year of the Kangxi reign and was appointed to the Hanlin Academy as a compiler. After 1698, by imperial order, he tutored the third prince, Yinzhii, and took the opportunity to compile a vast classified encyclopedia, the Hui Bian, using the collection of the Xieyi Hall; the Kangxi Emperor later bestowed on it the title Gujin Tushu Jicheng. The library holds more than 410 of his works, mostly sections of the officialdom chapters of that encyclopedia, covering institutions such as the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Imperial Observatory, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, prefectural governors, the Transmission Office, and the Imperial Medical Academy. These works address ancient bureaucratic systems, ritual norms, and administrative practice. His compilations are distinguished by systematic classification and extensive citation, preserving a wealth of source materials for later generations; they are commonly categorized under culture and Eastern philosophy. As public information on his life is limited, this note confines itself to his known scholarly contributions.