Section on Asthma

Chen MengleiJun 2024

2.8

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Traditional Chinese culture has a long intellectual history, marked by a high degree of originality, inventiveness, and literary quality. Early forms of thought are highly distinctive: religious theology, classical Chinese medical texts, ancient military strategy, Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, and Hundred Schools thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and customs and local gazetteers are all profound and extensive. This "Essence of Classical Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series preserves the original appearance of the books, with emphasis on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers cultivate their temperament and subtly absorb the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Asthma Gate is a disease-specific section from a medical text compiled by Chen Menglei of the Qing dynasty, belonging to the category of collated classical Chinese medical literature. This edition is part of the "Essence of Classical Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series, which preserves the original appearance of the book and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional thought and culture. Its value lies in presenting early understandings of the causes, pulse patterns and symptoms, and prescriptions for asthma-like conditions, offering a window into the form of disease-specific literature in Chinese medicine. It should be read as traditional medical literature, not as a modern diagnostic or treatment guide, with attention to differences between ancient and modern disease names and symptom systems. It is suitable as reference reading for researchers in Chinese medical literature and medical history and for faculty and students at Chinese medicine institutions, and also for readers interested in traditional medical culture who wish to understand how ancient medical books were organized. It is best read alongside foundational Chinese medicine theory and medical history; prescriptions should never be self-applied, and modern medical diagnosis and treatment must take precedence.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers in Chinese medical literature and medical history who need to consult ancient disease-specific materials
Faculty and students at Chinese medicine institutions, as supplementary reading of original classical texts
Readers interested in traditional medical culture with basic knowledge of Chinese medicine

Not a good fit for

Asthma patients and their families, who must not use this book for self-diagnosis or self-medication
General readers without a Chinese medicine background who seek modern medical knowledge on prevention and treatment
Casual readers expecting popular science or wellness guides

Reading tips

First understand the organizational format of disease-specific sections in Chinese medicine, then work through the content in the order of causes, pulse patterns and symptoms, and prescriptions.
Read alongside foundational Chinese medicine theory and medical history textbooks, noting differences in how ancient and modern disease names and symptom patterns correspond.
Treat the prescriptions in the book as documentary information only and do not self-apply them; consult a professional physician for any health concerns.
Read in comparison with cough and panting chapters in other classical Chinese medical texts to compare the emphases of different physicians.

版权信息
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百八十三
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百八十四
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百八十五

FAQ

Can this book be used to guide asthma treatment?

No. This book is a collated edition of ancient disease-specific Chinese medical literature that preserves the original appearance of the text; its prescriptions and symptom systems belong to traditional medicine and cannot replace modern medical diagnosis and treatment. Asthma patients should follow their physicians' plans and must not self-medicate based on ancient texts.

Can I read this book without a Chinese medicine background?

You can browse it, but understanding it will be difficult. The book involves Chinese medicine terminology on causes, pulse patterns and symptoms, and prescriptions, which is easy to misread without a foundation. It is advisable to first acquire some basic Chinese medicine theory, or to treat it as cultural reading for understanding the format of ancient medical books rather than as a practical manual.

What are the features of this edition?

This edition is part of the "Essence of Classical Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series, emphasizing preservation of the original appearance of the book and the preservation and transmission of traditional thought and culture. It is suitable for browsing as source material rather than as a modern collated and annotated edition; in-depth research still requires authoritative collated editions of medical texts.

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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.