About the author

Jiu Duan's life details are unknown, and available public information is limited. Surviving catalog records show that Jiu Duan wrote one work, Chan Bao (Precious Writings on Childbirth), which is classified under medicine and concerns obstetrics and childbirth, making it a obstetric text in traditional Chinese medicine. Since reliable records of birth and death dates, native place, teachers, and medical career are lacking, a full biography cannot be reconstructed, nor can the date of composition or textual history be established with certainty. The title Chan Bao points directly to matters of childbirth, reflecting ancient physicians' attention to delivery and postpartum care. Works of this kind generally draw on clinical experience, listing formulas and treatments in plain, practical language. Though Jiu Duan is little known today, the work offers a clue for studying the transmission of obstetric knowledge in premodern China, and its value awaits further examination through editions and medical bibliographies.

Written (1)

Publishers

Tibet People's Publishing House