Xue Xin: Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts, Major Works and Academic Contributions
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✵Xue Xin:A renowned herbalist and gynecologist of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was native to Kunshan County (present-day Kunshan, Jiangsu Province) and excelled in gynecology—the "women’s department" of traditional Chinese medicine. His clinical efficacy was widely acclaimed, earning him the epithet "Xue Yi Chan Jia" ("Herbalist Xue, Master of Gynecology"). He is the author of Nv Ke Wan Jin Fang (A Myriad-Gold Prescriptions for Gynecology) and several other foundational gynecological texts.
- Xue Xin
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Brief Introduction Chinese Name: 薛辛 (Xuē Xīn) Alias: 古愚 (Gǔ Yú) Style Name: 将仕 (Jiāng Shì) English Name: Xue Xin (family name first) Xin Xue (given name first) Hometown: Kunshan County, Southern Song Dynasty Dates: Lived during the 13th century (exact birth and death dates unknown) Major Works: 《女科萬金方》 (Nv Ke Wan Jin Fang, or A Myriad-Gold Prescriptions for Gynecology),《女科胎產問答要旨》(Nv Ke Tai Chan Wen Da Yao Zhi, or Essential Questions and Answers on Gynecology and Obstetrics),《薛氏濟陰萬金書》(Xue Shi Jin Yin Wan Jin Shu, or Master Xue’s Ten-Thousand-Gold Book on Saving Women),《玉峰鄭氏女科秘傳》(Yu Feng Zheng Shi Nv Ke Mi Chuan, or Secret Transmission of Gynecology by the Yu Feng Zheng Family),《產後歌訣治驗錄》(Chan Hou Ge Jue Zhi Yan Lu, or Record of Verified Efficacy and Rhymed Formulas for Postpartum Disorders) Representative Work: Nv Ke Wan Jin Fang (A Myriad-Gold Prescriptions for Gynecology) Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts
Xue Xin, a distinguished herbalist and gynecologist of the Southern Song Dynasty, used the style name Jiāng Shì (将仕) and self-title Gǔ Yú (古愚). Though his exact birth and death dates remain unknown, historical evidence places his life in the 13th century. He was a native of Kunshan County (modern-day Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province). Renowned for his mastery of gynecological diagnosis and treatment—including menstrual disorders, leukorrhea, pregnancy complications, and postpartum conditions—his therapeutic outcomes were consistently effective, establishing his reputation across Eastern Wu and beyond. Contemporaries honored him as "Xue Yi Chan Jia."
Having no biological sons, Xue Xin transmitted his medical knowledge to his son-in-law Qian; Qian, likewise childless, passed it on to *his* son-in-law Zheng Gongxian. Thus began the uninterrupted lineage of the Zheng family’s gynecological tradition—a legacy spanning twenty-nine generations and over eight centuries.Major Works and Academic Contributions
Nv Ke Wan Jin Fang (A Myriad-Gold Prescriptions for Gynecology), completed in 1265 CE (the first year of the Xianchun reign period under Emperor Duzong of the Southern Song Dynasty), is Xue Xin’s magnum opus: a single-volume compendium of clinically validated prescriptions and therapeutic principles for gynecological disorders. Other major works include Nv Ke Tai Chan Wen Da Yao Zhi (Essential Questions and Answers on Gynecology and Obstetrics), Xue Shi Jin Yin Wan Jin Shu (Master Xue’s Ten-Thousand-Gold Book on Saving Women), Yu Feng Zheng Shi Nv Ke Mi Chuan (Secret Transmission of Gynecology by the Yu Feng Zheng Family), and Chan Hou Ge Jue Zhi Yan Lu (Record of Verified Efficacy and Rhymed Formulas for Postpartum Disorders).
Though originally composed by Xue Xin, Nv Ke Wan Jin Fang was preserved exclusively within the Zheng family for generations—treated as a treasured, secret transmission. Hand-copied but never formally published, it remained inaccessible to the wider scholarly community until modern times. This careful stewardship ensured its survival across more than eight centuries and twenty-nine generations.
References:
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- 1.Xue Xin: Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts, Major Works and Academic Contributions
