Abstract
In this case, Xu quotes another physician present at the medical encounter as saying that the symptoms are perplexing, and that without knowing Zhang Ji’s methods and formulas one cannot cure at all. Other physicians, so it seems, were familiar to some extent with the Treatise. The quotation opens the door for Xu, drawing on his expertise, to explain more elaborately the doctrinal reasoning for applying this treatment, a reasoning that presupposes knowledge of the text.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Observation of the tongue was particularly detailed in Chinese medicine, since from it one can learn about the state of the visceral systems and the qi and blood. Tongue diagnosis includes observing the form and state, as well as color and moistness, of the tongue tissue. The doctor also inspects the color, thickness, moisture, and dispersal of the tongue’s coating. For further discussion on tongue diagnosis in Chinese medicine see Holroyde-Downing 2005 and 2017.
- 3.
Since a person’s yang and yin qi should be balanced, when Xu says that the ‘yang overcomes’ he means that the yang aspect of the patient became excessive. In such cases the yin aspect, especially the dispersed body fluids, becomes deficient. The next sentence refers to the opposite condition, in which the yin aspect became excessive, causing cold in the body.
- 4.
This can also be interpreted as the pulses at the Inch (cun) and Foot (chi) positions are both tense. The pulse at the Inch position is sometimes regarded as yang and the pulse at the Foot position is sometimes regarded as yin. If the palpated pulse at both positions is tense that can mean that both yin and yang pulses are tense.
- 5.
This is another way of saying that the patient’s yin qi is in excess.
- 6.
This is a quotation, though with some changes, from the Treatise (辨脈法, line 37), see Yu 1997, p. 20.
- 7.
The text originally has the equivalent of ‘lower jiao.’ This seems to be a copying mistake: the correct reading is ‘upper jiao.’ “Clearing” 清 is a treatment designed to expel heteropathy and allow orthopathic qi to recover. This method is applicable in cases where the aspect that demands priority in treatment is excess pathogenic qi. For further information see Sivin 1987, pp. 402–403.
The triple jiao, often incorrectly translated as “triple burner,” “triple warmer,” or “triple heater,” is one of the six fu visceral systems of functions in the body. It is made of upper, middle, and lower jiao. No one has yet proposed a defensible translation of jiao, nor can I, so I do not translate the word. See Porkert 1974, 107–108, and Sivin 1987, 124–133.
- 8.
This is a paraphrase of the Treatise (辨脈法, line 38), see Yu 1997, p. 21.
- 9.
This is a treatment strategy for cases in which the cold yin qi is flourishing and the yang qi is debilitated. The physician attempts to restrain, warm, and disperse the yin qi and at the same time to support and strengthen the yang qi. The aim is to restore the balance between yin and yang.
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Goldschmidt, A. (2019). Case Number 15. In: Medical Practice in Twelfth-century China – A Translation of Xu Shuwei’s Ninety Discussions [Cases] on Cold Damage Disorders. Archimedes, vol 54. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06103-6_16
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