Section on Beard and Hair

Chen MengleiJun 2024

3.0

Word count: 18K words
Chapters: 17

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 texts of Chinese medicine, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and the Hundred Schools, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and customs and local gazetteers are all vast and profound in content. This series, "Essence of Classic Chinese Culture: Original Texts," preserves the appearance of the original books, with its focus on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. Reading the literary essence left by ancient sages cultivates character and subtly introduces readers to the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Xufa Men is included in the "Essence of Classic Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series. Its subject is the traditional discourse on beard and hair within views of health preservation and the body—a topic rarely seen in similar Chinese classics publications. The book preserves the original appearance of the text without excessive vernacular rewriting, allowing readers to encounter the phrasing and knowledge system of ancient documents directly. Its value lies not in offering modern medical conclusions but in presenting how ancients understood the relationship between the body, aging and self-cultivation, offering a glimpse of how classical Chinese medicine, Daoist health practices and folk customs interweave. It should be read as cultural historical material and intellectual text, not as a practical diagnostic manual. It suits readers interested in traditional health concepts, the cultural history of the body, or the original appearance of ancient texts, who wish to read slowly and savor it. It is also suitable as supplementary material for expanding reading in Chinese classics, and will be more rewarding when read alongside annotated editions or related scholarly works.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in traditional health concepts and body culture
History and literature enthusiasts looking to expand their reading of Chinese classics
Beginner learners engaged in Chinese medicine culture or folk custom research
Readers who enjoy original ancient texts and are willing to read slowly and savor them

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking modern medical diagnostic advice
Readers who prefer light, popular reading and have little patience for classical Chinese
Readers seeking systematic, practical health preservation plans

Reading tips

First read through once to understand the book's structure, then read chapter by chapter, marking difficult characters and words.
Prepare a classical Chinese dictionary or a relevant annotated edition and consult it as you read to lower the threshold of understanding.
After finishing a topic, write a few notes distinguishing ancient concepts from today's medical understanding.
Read alongside books on Chinese medicine health preservation and Daoist culture to form a background reference.

版权信息
须发门
黄帝素问
金匮要略【汉张机】
中藏经【汉华佗】
脉诀【晋王叔和】
疮疡全书【金窦汉卿】
医说【宋张子充】
东垣十书【元李杲】
丹溪心法【元朱震亨】
医学入门【明李梴】
古今医统【明徐春甫】
古今医鉴【明龚信】
万病回春【明龚廷贤】
证治准绳【明正肯堂】
外科正宗【明陈实功】
石室秘箓【清陈士铎】

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no foundation in classical Chinese?

The book preserves the original appearance of the text and contains much classical Chinese phrasing, so readers with no foundation at all will encounter some obstacles. It is advisable to read with the help of classical Chinese reference books or relevant annotated editions, or to start with interpretive works and then return to the original text for comparison.

Can the health preservation claims in the book be followed directly?

They should not be followed directly. The book presents ancient understandings of the body, beard and hair; it is traditional cultural material, not modern medical guidance. Where health issues are concerned, the opinions of qualified medical institutions should take precedence, and the book's content should be treated as an object of cultural understanding.

What is special about this book within the series?

The series covers a wide range of content including religion, Chinese medicine, military strategy, the Hundred Schools, and historical and local records, while this book focuses on the specific topic of beard and hair. Its angle is more specialized, making it suitable as supplementary reading for readers who want to understand traditional culture from the perspective of views of the body.

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.