Abstract
In this case Xu Shuwei presents a lively interaction between himself and another physician. Xu had returned from a long-distance travel – even before he became an official he apparently traveled long distances – and came upon a physician who is about to administer a strong laxative to an official. It is unclear how Xu obtained the detailed symptoms of the case, since the patient was in a secluded room. When Xu heard the diagnosis and the proposed treatment, he yelled at the other physician to stop. His appeal to a household goddess shows the danger he attributes to incorrect treatment in this case.
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Notes
- 1.
The pharmaceutical name is Natrii Sulfas which is known as sodium sulfate decahydrate; see Bensky, Clavey, and Stöger 2004, pp. 240–241.
- 2.
Zigu (子姑, alternatively, 紫姑; originally the Maiden of the Privy or Cegu 廁姑) is a name of a female household deity to whom every family made offerings at the new year. For further information see Boltz 2009.
- 3.
This is a reference to a closed room without windows in a house.
- 4.
Incessant Complex Diarrhea (協熱利) is a manifestation type, which points to coldness in the Spleen Stomach system of function, resulting from untimely draining downward. See Zhongyi da cidian, 2nd ed., p. 581.
- 5.
See Scheid et al. 2009, pp. 19.
- 6.
See Scheid et al. 2009, pp. 104–111.
- 7.
An almost identical discussion appears in Xu’s Shanghan fawei lun, p. 48–49.
- 8.
Xu is quoting from the Treatise. Although the quotation is not verbatim, he is clearly drawing from the Treatise (傷寒例, line 23); see Yu 1997, pp. 32–33.
- 9.
Therapy in Chinese medicine is based on two primary approaches: reinforcing or replenishing (bu 補) and attacking (gong 攻). The former is designed to support the body’s qi while the latter is designed to attack opposing forces or pathogens responsible for the disorder, whether of external or internal origin. For further discussion see Sivin 1987, pp. 177–196.
- 10.
Xu’s text has the character fang 方, which means ‘and only then’, but the original Treatise has the character nai 乃, meaning ‘then’. My translation fits both.
Bibliography
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Goldschmidt, A. (2019). Case Number 49. 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_50
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