Zhanshan's Medical Case Records

Name: Zhanshan's Medical Case Records
ISBN: 9787513234573

Wu ZhiwangChina Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine · ChinaNov 2017

3.8

Word count: 147K words
Chapters: 77
ISBN: 9787513234573

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Summary

Zhan Shan Medical Cases, by Ren Xiandou of the Qing Dynasty. Written between 1814 and 1823, it was initially not printed and was only copied and kept among his disciples, so it had no wide influence. Only after its formal publication in the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924) did it attract widespread attention in medical circles. The book has four volumes; though titled medical cases, it is in fact a comprehensive medical work. For each disease, it first discusses the theoretical origins and elaborations, then appends outstanding verified cases from his life—a medical work of significant value. It mainly records Ren Zhanshan's verified cases in internal medicine, external medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics, including typhoid, common cold, dizziness, palpitations and fright, cough, hoarseness, malaria, pediatric heat malaria, dysentery, summerheat injury, dampness patterns, fire patterns, food stagnation, deficiency damage, headache, swelling, measles and smallpox, blood patterns, crying patterns, laughing patterns, regulating menstruation, calming the fetus, retained blood, retained placenta, throat, jaundice, eyes, mania and dementia, arthralgia, convulsive pain, urinary retention, short urination, excessive urination, turbid urine, strangury, nocturnal emissions, spermatorrhea, constipation, vomiting, nausea, belching, hypochondriac pain, heart and abdominal pain, insomnia, clever patterns, panting and prolapse patterns, distinguishing yellow vine poison, differentiating rabid dog bites, hernia, phlegm-fluid retention, acid regurgitation and vomiting of acid, hunger patterns, three types of wasting, beriberi, cholera, flaccidity patterns, diarrhea, accumulations, dysphagia, blockage patterns, and hiccups. It additionally appends 176 formulas. The book reflects Ren Zhanshan's medical thought and clinical experience and has unique academic value. This edition uses the 1924 Liuyang Tang Wen Tai Shi movable-type woodblock edition held in the library of the Shaanxi Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine as the base text for collation and annotation, for reference by TCM clinicians, educators, and researchers.

Editor's review

Though titled medical cases, Zhan Shan Medical Cases is a medical work of a comprehensive, discursive nature: for each disease it first traces the theoretical origins, then appends verified cases from the author's life, and finally adds formulas and medicinals, forming a coherent "theory—cases—formulas" structure. This edition uses the 1924 Liuyang Tang Wen Tai Shi movable-type woodblock edition as the base text, with collation and annotation, offering reference value for readers interested in Qing Dynasty TCM clinical thinking and local physicians' experience. Its strength lies not in easy reading but in showing how Ren Zhanshan placed different diseases—typhoid, miscellaneous internal diseases, gynecology, pediatrics—within a single diagnostic framework; the book also covers complex patterns such as emotional disorders, phlegm-fluid retention, accumulations, and urinary retention, making it suitable for problem-driven comparative study. You need not read it straight through; you can jump by disease index, first reading the theoretical overview, then the turning points in the cases and the modifications of formulas, to better appreciate the clinical reasoning path. A caveat: this is a professionally collated ancient text, and its terminology and format are not friendly to general readers; without a TCM foundation, one may mistake statements in the cases for general protocols, which is inappropriate.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Clinicians with a TCM foundation who want to study Qing Dynasty medical cases
Educators needing reference on ancient disease discussions and formula thinking
Researchers interested in TCM textual collation and regional physicians' experience
Advanced readers who can jump by disease and habitually take notes against the original text

Not a good fit for

General readers with no TCM foundation seeking popular health-preservation books
People who want to look up treatment plans directly by modern disease name
Readers who use ancient medical cases as a basis for self-diagnosis
Those who prefer light reading and avoid terminology and collation formats

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and collation notes first to understand the base text and format, then try three to five familiar diseases.
For each case, read the disease's theoretical overview first, then the turning points and formula modifications, and finally review the appended formulas.
Keep a notebook with four columns—disease/pattern/treatment/formula—for easy horizontal comparison.
Look up annotations when encountering unfamiliar terms; do not skip them, or you may misread the reasoning in the cases.

About the publisher

China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine China · Founded in 1989

China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on publishing books in traditional Chinese medicine, covering Chinese medical classics, clinical medicine, acupuncture and tuina, materia medica and formulae, and medical history and literature; its catalogue includes 3,277 titles. Representative books include Xiao Er Yao Zheng Zhi Jue, Shang Han Lun, Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu, Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, Yi Zong Jin Jian, and Guo Aichun's Annotated Huangdi Neijing Suwen (Second Edition). These works involve writings by historical physicians such as Qian Yi, Zhang Zhongjing, Wang Shuhe, and Zhang Xichun, as well as documentary studies compiled by contemporary authors including Zhao Xin, Zhen Xueyan, Zhang Yongtai, and Wang Xiangang. In terms of publishing characteristics, the press emphasizes collation and annotation of original Chinese medical classics and the systematic presentation of famous physicians' works, balancing the transmission of ancient editions with reference for clinical application. Public information is limited, and no other publishing fields are covered here.

版权信息
内容提要
校注说明
序
按时察病总诀
认证法则
顺气一日分四时
六气
八卦值月
病愈待候
卷一
伤寒
伤风
眩晕
怔忡惊悸恐
咳嗽
声喑
疟疾
小儿热疟
痢疾
伤暑
湿证
火证
卷二
食滞
虚损
头痛
肿胀
麻痘
血证
哭证
笑证
调经
安胎
瘀血不下
胞衣不下
咽喉
黄疸
眼目
癫狂痴呆
卷三
痹痛
痉病
癃闭
尿短
尿多
便浊
淋证
梦遗
遗精
便闭
呕吐
恶心
嗳气
胁痛
心腹痛
不寐
巧病
气喘
卷四
亸病
辨黄藤毒
狾犬辨原
疝气
痰饮
吞酸吐酸
饥证
三消
脚气
霍乱
痿证
泄泻
积聚
噎膈
关格
呃逆
附方

FAQ

Can someone without a TCM foundation read this book?

Not really suited for reading straight through. This is a collated Qing Dynasty medical case text; terminology, disease names, and pattern-differentiation expressions all require some foundation; readers without it may mistake individual case experience for general protocols. If merely curious, read the collation notes and table of contents first, then try a few well-annotated chapters.

Is this book a mere compilation of medical cases?

Not entirely. The materials show that for each disease it first discusses theoretical origins, then appends verified cases, and finally adds 176 formulas—combining discussion with cases and formulas; though titled medical cases, it is in fact a comprehensive medical work. When reading, note both the pattern-differentiation turns in the cases and the correspondence between the disease's overview and appended formulas.

Is it suitable for lookup by modern disease name?

Not recommended. The book's disease and pattern classifications and expressions belong to the traditional TCM system and cannot directly correspond to modern disease diagnoses, still less should they be used for self-medication. Clinical readers can treat it as reference for pattern-differentiation thinking and formula modification, not as a plan to copy after looking up a modern disease name.

Should one read it straight through or jump around?

For most readers, jumping is more practical. Start with diseases you are familiar with, reading a few in the order of "theoretical overview—verified cases—appended formulas" to get a sense of the format; then expand to gynecology, pediatrics, and other categories. Reading straight through easily loses focus amid terminology and repetitive format.

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About the author

Wu Zhiwang Author · Chinese · 1552–1629

Wu Zhiwang (1552–1629) was a physician of the Ming dynasty, especially known for his expertise in gynecology. He compiled and edited medical works such as Ji Yin Gang Mu and Ji Yang Gang Mu, drawing on the experience of earlier practitioners and arranging the material clearly for easy consultation; these books circulated widely in medical circles during the Ming and Qing periods. The work listed here is Zhanshan Yi'an (Medical Cases from Zhanshan), a health-related medical text. Publicly available sources contain limited detail about his life, so this introduction relies on the surviving bibliographic and attribution information. The book reflects his concern with recording case histories and testing medical principles against actual examples, and it offers a useful reference for understanding the writing of medical cases and clinical reasoning in the Ming dynasty.