Research On Shen Kuo’s Medical Literature

Shen Kuo,also known as Cunzhong,a native of Qiantang(now Hangzhou,Zhejiang Province),is known as the most famous scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty.He has made remarkable achievements in mathematics,physics,chemistry,astronomy,geography,medicine and many other fields.In terms of medicine,Shen Kuo wrote two prescription books,Ling Yuan Fang and Liang Fang,and also discussed medicine in Meng Xi Bi Tan and other works.In this dissertation,a systematic study of Shen Kuo’s medical literature is carried out by means of philology.It is mainly divided into four parts.The first part analyzes Shen Kuo’s biography.Through the textual research of History of Song Dynasty,XU ZI ZHI TONG JIAN CHANG BIAN and some Epitaphs written by Shen Kuo,it is concluded that Shen Kuo was born in Renzong’s ten years of Tiansheng in the Northern Song Dynasty Renshen(the first year of Mingdao,the ten years of Tiansheng in November changed to Mingdao,1032)and died in the third year of Shaosheng of Song Zhezong Bingzi(1096).Shen Kuo has made great achievements in his life.His works involve many fields,and some of them have a far-reaching impact on future generations.The second part studies Shen Kuo’s medical works.Meng Xi Bi Tan is a note essay written by Shen Kuo.Through textual research on its contents,it is concluded that Shen Kuo first wrote 26 volumes of Bi Tan,and then added 30 volumes,and then made Bu Bi Tan and Xu Bi Tan to make up for the deficiency of 30 volumes of Bi Tan.Unfortunately,today’s 30 volumes of Bi Tan no longer exist,only 26 volumes of Bi Tan and Bu Bi Tan and Xu Bi Tan exist.Based on the analysis and statistics of 609 contents in the current edition of Meng Xi Bi Tan,it is found that 94 of them deal with medicine.Liang Fang was compiled by Shen Kuo.Later generations attached the book Bi Tan Yao Yi and Su Shi’s medical essays to form the book Su Shen Liang Fang.Based on the textual research on the author of 252 contents in Su Shen Liang Fang,it can be seen that 86 contents in this book are determined to be from Shen Kuo and 89 contents are speculated to be from Shen Kuo.Ling Yuan Fang is the first prescription book written by Shen Kuo,which have been lost,however,more than 100 contents of this book can be compiled through textual research on medical books such as Zheng Lei Ben Cao,You You Xin Shu,Fu Ren Da Quan Liang Fang and so on.In addition,Shen Kuo’s agricultural books Meng Xi Wang Huai Lu and his anthology Collected Writings of Changxing(Changxing Ji)also contain some medical contents.The third part discusses the medical theory,materia medica,prescriptions and clinical subjects,and systematically summarizes the medical contents involved in Shen Kuo’s works.In terms of medical theory,Shen Kuo talked about "Qi",Yin Yang and five elements theory and viscera theory,especially the application of five movements and six Qi.In terms of materia medica,it involves drug identification,planting and picking,character and taste,taste,efficacy,toxicity,etc.In terms of prescriptions,Shen Kuo attaches importance to the arrangement of prescriptions and gives play to them,detailing the compatibility relationship between monarchs,ministers,assistants and envoys and the difference of prescription forms.In the clinical aspect,Shen Kuo’s medicine involves internal medicine,external medicine,gynecology,pediatrics,facial features and other departments,including a wide range of diseases and syndromes.In addition,it also involves constitution,moxibustion,food treatment and so on.The above contents are fully demonstrated,and most of them have been recognized by later doctors.The fourth part explores Shen Kuo’s medical background and influencing factors.The government of the Northern Song Dynasty attached importance to medicine,and the trend of literati learning medicine prevailed.The development of science and technology popularized medical books and the epidemic environment of epidemic diseases provided a suitable background for Shen Kuo to study medicine.Shen Kuo’s family collected medical books and compiled medical prescriptions,which provided a good soil for Shen’s growth.Moreover,Shen communicated with doctors and people of all classes who knew medicine,which provided Shen Kuo with a large number of medical materials and rich theoretical knowledge and prescriptions.Shen Kuo’s in-depth study of traditional philosophy is convenient for him to understand and explain medical theory.In addition,Shen Kuo’s rigorous scholarship and emphasis on practice and deduction have deepened his understanding of medicine.This dissertation takes Shen Kuo’s medical literature as the breakthrough point,cites the methods of historical research,and combs the background of Shen Kuo,a scholar of Arts and science,and systematically reviews his medical contents,hoping to dig out the essence of Shen Kuo’s medical content and hope to supplement Shen Kuo’s research in medical field.