Treasure of Childbirth cover

Treasure of Childbirth

Rating 4.2
Word count
10K words
Chapters
19

Tags

Summary

What gives rise to human life? Qi and blood, nothing more. What gives rise to blood? Qi, nothing more. Qi is fire; blood is water. Store water in a cauldron, place fire beneath and bring it to a boil: what steams and stirs is water, yet what makes it so is not water but qi—the function of fire. Therefore, to treat blood one must first regulate qi. When qi moves, blood moves; when qi stagnates, blood stagnates. Movement brings life; stagnation brings death. Seeing blood stagnation, one attacks it to drive it downward.

Editor's review

Baobao (Precious Childbirth) takes qi, fire, water, and blood as its framework, presenting the principles of regulating qi and blood in obstetrics with concision and structure. Using the image of steam rising from a cauldron, it explains that qi is the commander of blood and that treating blood requires first regulating qi, grounding abstract postpartum care in an understandable account of qi and blood movement. Its value lies not in listing formulas but in offering a diagnostic approach to postpartum and blood disorders: on seeing blood stasis, one must not simply attack and purge, but first examine whether the qi mechanism is unobstructed. The prose is terse and classical, making it a useful supplementary reader for tracing the theory of TCM gynecology and broadening clinical thinking. It can be read alongside Chanjian (Mirror of Childbirth): one book emphasizes the theory of regulating qi, the other the diagnosis and treatment of obstetrics, and comparing them makes it easier to grasp the traditional view of childbirth.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • TCM gynecology clinicians seeking to broaden their approach to qi and blood pattern identification
  • Researchers in TCM texts and medical history focused on the origins of obstetric theory
  • TCM college students and faculty using it as selected readings in gynecological classics
  • Traditional culture enthusiasts with a basic interest in qi and blood theory

Not a good fit for

  • Ordinary pregnant and postpartum women without TCM training, who should not self-treat based on it
  • Readers seeking specific formulas and procedural guides
  • Readers who prefer modern evidence-based obstetric knowledge

Reading tips

  1. Read the passage on qi, blood, water, and fire first to grasp the main thread that treating blood requires regulating qi, then review the rest of the book.
  2. Read alongside Chanjian, comparing how the two books emphasize different aspects of obstetric care, and take brief notes.
  3. Look up archaic characters and phrases in reference works first rather than hastily mapping them onto modern disease names; keep the theoretical context.
  4. After reading, summarize the key points of pattern identification for qi movement and blood movement, qi stagnation and blood stasis, and test them in clinical or classroom discussion.

About the publisher

Tibet People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1971

Tibet People's Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher known for collating Tibetan and Chinese ancient texts and publishing traditional culture. Judging from the books in its catalogue, its publishing focuses on medicine, Eastern philosophy, classics, and ancient poetry. It offers traditional Chinese medical and health-preserving works such as the Compendium of Materia Medica, Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold, and Principles of Correct Diet, as well as canonical and philosophical texts including the Book of Changes, Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, Annotated Edition of the Erya, and Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, along with historical and geographical works such as The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores. Its authors include figures such as Li Shizhen, Sun Simiao, King Wen of Zhou, Zuo Qiuming, Guo Pu, Dong Zhongshu, Hu Sihui, and Ma Huan. The house emphasizes the collation and republication of ancient texts, balancing scholarship and accessibility, and has developed its own strengths in transmitting Tibetan and Chinese cultural classics. Public information is limited, so other publishing details are omitted here.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 序
  3. 产后总论
  4. 血崩血晕
  5. 手足厥冷
  6. 类伤寒
  7. 类中风
  8. 类疟
  9. 妄言妄见
  10. 气短
  11. 发喘
  12. 自汗
  13. 盗汗
  14. 大便不通
  15. 小便不通
  16. 呕吐不纳谷
  17. 膨胀
  18. 泄泻
  19. 痢疾

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers without a TCM foundation?
Not really. The book argues from qi, blood, water, and fire in terse classical prose, and readers lacking basics may mistake theoretical metaphors for concrete treatments. It is best to acquire basic TCM theory first, or read selected passages with an experienced teacher.
How should 'treating blood requires first regulating qi' be understood?
The original uses the image of steam rising from a cauldron: blood is like water and qi like fire, and the movement of blood depends on the driving force of qi. Thus on seeing blood stasis one must not simply attack and purge, but first examine whether the qi mechanism is unobstructed; when qi moves, blood moves. This reflects the holistic approach of traditional obstetric care.
How are Baobao and Chanjian related for reading?
Both belong to traditional discourse on childbirth. Baobao emphasizes exposition of qi and blood theory, while Chanjian emphasizes obstetric diagnosis and treatment and the weight of responsibility involved. Reading them together clarifies the two threads of theory and diagnosis, avoiding the error of taking one side and losing the whole.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

咎段 Author

Jiu Duan's life details are unknown, and available public information is limited. Surviving catalog records show that Jiu Duan wrote one work, Chan Bao (Precious Writings on Childbirth), which is classified under medicine and concerns obstetrics and childbirth, making it a obstetric text in traditional Chinese medicine. Since reliable records of birth and death dates, native place, teachers, and medical career are lacking, a full biography cannot be reconstructed, nor can the date of composition or textual history be established with certainty. The title Chan Bao points directly to matters of childbirth, reflecting ancient physicians' attention to delivery and postpartum care. Works of this kind generally draw on clinical experience, listing formulas and treatments in plain, practical language. Though Jiu Duan is little known today, the work offers a clue for studying the transmission of obstetric knowledge in premodern China, and its value awaits further examination through editions and medical bibliographies.

Top rated in the same category