Notes on Reading Ancient Medical Texts

Notes on Reading Ancient Medical Texts is a collection of research notes on classical medical works by Li Jinyong, a scholar of Chinese medical literature and professor at Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, containing twenty-one selected papers. Centered on Chinese medical classics such as the Huangdi Neijing, Nanjing, Shanghan Lun, and Jinkui Yaolue, the book discusses specific questions of dating and place of composition, chapter titles and textual meaning, punctuation and glossing, and formulas and drug names. Examples include examining the date and place of composition of the Huangdi Neijing and the date of the "Seven Chapters on Five Movements and Six Qi" in the Suwen; explaining "women at seven times seven, men at eight times eight" in the Suwen and "the reverse and forward flow of the vessels" in the Lingshu; analyzing "Tianxiong San" in the Jinkui Yaolue and the "powder" in the "Gancao Fenmi Tang" formula; and raising doubts about the punctuation of the Shanghan Lun. The author is skilled at using phonology, exegesis, and textual criticism to read and examine texts, and also draws on excavated documents and medical history materials such as the silk painting Daoyin Tu from the Mawangdui Han tomb and ancient understandings of fetal position. The writing is accessible yet rigorously researched, making this a rare reference for studying Chinese medical classics and a model for observing how older scholars read and ask questions.