Section on Madness

Chen MengleiJun 2024

3.1

Word count: 35K words
Chapters: 23

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought and culture have a long history and are highly original, inventive and literary. Early forms of thought have striking characteristics: 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, and local customs and geography are all profound and extensive. This series, Classic Essence of Chinese Learning: 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 can cultivate their character and subtly appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Diankuang Men is included in the series Classic Essence of Chinese Learning: Original Texts. Its value lies not in offering a complete modern academic monograph, but in preserving the original appearance of traditional documents so that readers may directly encounter the textual forms in which the ancients wrote about the mind, illness and thought. The word diankuang (madness) in the title points to a highly charged theme in traditional medicine and intellectual history, intertwined with classical Chinese medical texts, religious theology and the thought of the Hundred Schools, and reveals how the ancients understood abnormal states of body and mind. The book's strength is its preservation of the original text: the editing aims chiefly at fidelity, without excessive rewriting according to modern ideas, making it suitable for readers willing to weigh and analyze the raw material for themselves. It should not be read as a popular history of medicine or a health manual, but as a door into the texture of traditional documents. It is better suited to slow reading, cross-referencing and note-taking, so that readers may appreciate the ancients' wisdom in framing ideas and classifying knowledge within the broader context of the Chinese classics.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in classical Chinese medical texts and original sources of traditional culture who are willing to read the original texts directly
Practitioners engaged in popularizing Chinese learning or collating documents who need to consult the original appearance of texts
Deep readers who enjoy slow reading and note-taking and who prefer to analyze raw material for themselves

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking modern medical diagnosis or treatment advice
Casual readers who prefer popular stories and fast-paced reading

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and preface to understand the book's place in the series, then decide whether to read it closely or selectively.
Keep a notebook handy to record terms, people and sources as you go, making it easier to cross-reference.
Mark unfamiliar concepts and skip them at first, then look them up after finishing a section, so as not to get stuck midway.

版权信息
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百九十五癫狂门
黄帝素问
灵枢经
扁鹊难经
中藏经【汉华佗】
千金方【唐孙思邈】
活人书【宋朱肱】
明理论【金成无己】
丹溪心法【元朱震亨】
证治要诀【明戴思恭】
总论
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百九十六癫狂门
论证
论治
伤寒发狂
石室秘箓【清陈士铎】
方
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百九十七癫狂门
单方
针灸
导引
医案

FAQ

Is this book a clinical manual of Chinese medicine?

No. It belongs to the series Classic Essence of Chinese Learning: Original Texts and focuses on preserving and transmitting the original appearance of traditional thought and culture. It is not a modern clinical guide, and readers should not use it to judge their condition or take medicine on their own.

Can I read it without any background in Chinese learning?

You can try, but patience is required. Start with the table of contents and preface to understand the book's structure, then choose sections that interest you and read them slowly. Mark unfamiliar terms as you go and look them up afterward; do not expect to understand everything at once.

Why is the emphasis on "preserving the original appearance of the text"?

The series is compiled on the principle of fidelity, avoiding rewriting the original content as far as possible so that readers may directly encounter the way traditional documents express things. This helps readers appreciate the ancients' approach to framing ideas and classifying knowledge, but it also means the book is relatively demanding.

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

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.