Curing Doctors' Medicine

孟今氏Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJul 2024

2.7

Word count: 23K words
Chapters: 9

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Summary

An ancient book by Meng Jinshi, in three volumes. It opens with a Preface and an Author's Preface.

Editor's review

The title Yi Yi Yi, three identical characters in a row, is itself a pointed device: it signals that this is an old book that uses medical reasoning to discuss the way of medicine and, by extension, the ways of the world. The work is in three volumes and opens with a Preface and an Author's Preface, showing that Meng Jinshi did not dash it off but deliberately set out his reasons for writing and the aims of his argument at the start. For today's readers its value lies mainly in the documentary and intellectual realms: it preserves a premodern form of medical discourse and reflects how physicians of the time thought about professional mores, the cultivation of doctors, and the art of diagnosis and treatment. It should be read not as a practical clinical handbook but as a text for understanding how traditional medical argument was expressed. Best read in quiet stretches: begin with the prefaces to grasp the author's stance, then move into the main text, noting how discussions of medicine and of human conduct interweave, for a fuller reading experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in traditional medical discourse and ancient medical texts
Readers of history and letters curious about premodern physicians' reflections on their profession
Researchers with experience reading classical Chinese who are comfortable with literary Chinese
Readers who like to approach old books through titles, prefaces, and postscripts

Not a good fit for

General readers hoping to diagnose and medicate themselves from the book
Medical practitioners seeking modern clinical guidance
Beginners unaccustomed to literary Chinese and lacking patience for old texts

Reading tips

Read the opening Preface and Author's Preface first to grasp the author's motives and how the three volumes divide their work.
Read the main text volume by volume at a slow pace, jotting down passages that discuss medicine and the world together for easy cross-reference.
Keep reference works at hand for rare characters and terms; there is no need to finish in one pass—steady, piecemeal reading is safer.
After finishing, revisit the Author's Preface to check whether your understanding of the book's argument holds together.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
序
自叙
卷一
<篇名>朝廷对于医者之医方
卷二
<篇名>世界对于医者之医方
卷三
<篇名>医者自医之医方

FAQ

How should the title Yi Yi Yi be understood?

The three identical characters are a common way of naming old books and carry a tone of argument and reflection. From the available material, the book is in three volumes with an author's preface, indicating that the author meant to develop an argument through medically related topics. Its precise meaning requires close reading of the prefaces and main text; one should not take the title too literally.

Can I read this book without a background in Chinese medicine?

You can try, but adjust your expectations. This is an old book whose language and manner of expression differ from modern works, and its focus is not on providing treatments you can apply directly. Start with the prefaces and read it as a traditional medical discourse; with reference works for technical terms, the barrier to entry will be lower.

Is this book suitable for learning how to treat illness?

Not recommended. The material shows it is an old book in three volumes with an author's preface and does not indicate that it contains treatment plans modern readers can adopt directly. To learn to treat illness, choose modern medical textbooks or follow a doctor's advice; reading this book is better suited to learning about traditional medical discourse and texts.

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About the author

孟今氏 Author

Meng Jinshi is an author about whom very little biographical information is publicly available: his real name, nationality, and dates of birth and death cannot be verified. All that is known is that he wrote one work, Yi Yi Yi (roughly "Medicine, Doctors, and the Healing Art"), which is commonly classified under medicine. The repeated character in the title suggests a reflective or critical approach—likely a discussion of medical practice, physicians, and medicine itself rather than a mere recipe book or clinical manual. Because this is the only known work and there are no prefaces, publication records, or author biographies to draw on, his writing style and intellectual background cannot be assessed in detail. What can be said is that the book belongs to the medical category, indicating content related to drugs, medical theory, or healing practice, and that its distinctive title gives it some recognizability among similar texts. For those studying obscure medical works or traditional medical literature, Meng Jinshi and Yi Yi Yi are worth noting as a lead.