Medical Works of Xue Lizhai: Complete Collection of Famous Physicians' Works from Ming and Qing Dynasties

Author: Sheng Weizhong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-08-01
Features: Xue Ji (1487–1559), styled Xinfu, styled Lizhai. He was a native of Wuxian (now part of Jiangsu). Throughout his life, he authored extensively, and this book collects 12 of his works, along with one posthumously compiled collection of Xue Ji's medical cases, totaling 13. In internal medicine, there are two volumes of Abstract of Internal Medicine, which is a representative work of Xue Ji's internal medicine, containing over 200 medical cases. The entire book is based on the theory of deficiency syndromes, arguing that all diseases stem from the exhaustion of the spleen and stomach, the decline of the kidney's gate of life, and the waning of the life gate fire, with treatment focusing on reinforcing the spleen and stomach and nourishing the liver and kidneys. The individual cases are concise yet profound. In infectious diseases, there is Essentials of Leprosy, a three-volume work dedicated to leprosy, systematically introducing its primary, variant, concurrent, and similar symptoms. In surgery, orthopedics, and stomatology, there are Development of Surgery (eight volumes), Essentials of Surgical Methods (seven volumes), Essentials of Surgery (four volumes), Experiential Formulas of Surgery (one volume), General Principles of Correcting the Body (two volumes), and Essentials of Stomatology (one volume), which respectively describe the general principles of diagnosis and treatment, treatment cases, and prescriptions for relevant conditions. In gynecology, there are Essentials of Gynecology (two volumes) and Annotated Good Formulas for Women (twenty-four volumes). The former lists the syndromes, treatments, and prescriptions for 30 common gynecological and obstetric diseases, along with treatment cases. The latter "intermittently takes the chapters of Good Formulas for Women by Chen Liangfu of Linchuan as a basis, supplements them with annotations, and adds treatment cases," with its "elucidation of meridians, measurement of yin and yang, and comprehensive coverage of all diseases, making it clear how women's conditions that are difficult for others to recognize are presented." In pediatrics, there is Essentials of Protecting Infants (twenty volumes), which discusses pediatric diagnostic methods and the differentiation and treatment of various pediatric internal, surgical, and smallpox-related conditions, offering rich treatment methods and numerous medical cases. In herbal medicine, there is Brief Words on Herbal Medicine (four volumes), which is "compiled over the years from the herbal classics, categorizing the daily indispensable herbs into two types," one being Herbal Medicine on Properties (two volumes) and the other Food Herbal Medicine (two volumes), totaling 594 herbs, classified by their botanical families, with descriptions of their properties, flavors, meridian tropism, efficacy, morphology, and processing methods. Additionally, the included Discernment and Explanation of Xue Ji's Medical Cases is, as its title suggests, a posthumous compilation and analysis of Xue Ji's medical cases. At the end of the book, there is an essay titled Research on the Medical Academic Thought of Xue Lizhai and a bibliography of modern scholars' research on Xue Ji's medical academic thought. The entire Complete Medical Works of Xue Lizhai is comprehensive, with theory and practice closely integrated, fully reflecting Xue Ji's characteristic of using warm-toned tonics, making it a valuable reference for readers.