Hua Shou: Biographical introduction and historical accounts, major works and academic contributions

 ✵Hua Shou: a great physician of the Yuan Dynasty. His contributions mainly include interpretations of the Nei Jing (The Inner Canon) and the Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic), pulse manifestations, and annotations and supplements on acupuncture and meridian theory. He authored works on the study of the Shanghan, titled Shang Han Li Chao; however, this book has not survived to the present day.

Hua Shou

  

Brief Introduction
Chinese Name:	滑壽 (Huá Shòu)	Alias:	伯仁 (Bó Rén)
Popular Name:	櫻寧生 (Yīngníng Shēng)	English Name:	Hua Shou (family name first) or Shou Hua (given name first)
Hometown:	Xiangcheng, or Yizheng	Dates:	ca. 1304–1386 CE
Main works:	《讀素問鈔》(Du Su Wen Chao), 3 volumes; 《難經本義》(Nan Jing Ben Yi), 2 volumes; 《十四經發揮》(Shi Si Jing Fa Hui), 3 volumes; 《本草韻合》(Ben Cao Yun He), 1 volume; 《傷寒例鈔》(Shang Han Li Chao), 3 volumes; 《診家樞要》(Zhen Jia Shu Yao), 1 volume; 《滑氏脈訣》(Hua Shi Mai Jue), 1 volume; 《脈理存真》(Mai Li Cun Zhen), 1 volume; 《櫻寧生要方》(Ying Ning Sheng Yao Fang), 1 volume; 《醫學引彀》(Yi Xue Yin Gou), 1 volume; 《櫻寧生補瀉心要》(Ying Ning Sheng Bu Xie Xin Yao), 1 volume; 《醫學蠢事書》(Yi Xue Chun Shi Shu), 5 volumes; 《滑氏方脈》(Hua Shi Fang Mai); 《滑氏醫韻》(Hua Shi Yi Yun); 《麻診全書》(Ma Zhen Quan Shu), 4 volumes; 《痔瘺篇》(Zhi Lou Pian); 《滑伯仁正人明堂圖》(Hua Bo Ren Zheng Ren Ming Tang Tu), etc.
Representative Works:	Du Su Wen Chao (3 volumes), Nan Jing Ben Yi (2 volumes), Shi Si Jing Fa Hui (3 volumes).

Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts

  Hua Shou (ca. 1304–1386 CE), whose alias was Bo Ren and who styled himself Yingning Sheng in his later years, was a renowned physician of the Yuan dynasty. His ancestral hometown was Xiangcheng; his grandfather relocated to Yizheng (present-day Yizheng City, Jiangsu Province) and later to Yuyao (present-day Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province). He died during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty (1368–1398) at the age of over seventy. Not only was he proficient in the Su Wen (The Plain Questions) and the Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic), but he also synthesized the theories of Zhang Zhongjing, Liu Wansu (Liu Shouzhen), and Li Gao (Li Dongyuan). This enabled him to achieve “remarkable therapeutic efficacy” in treating diseases. He compiled numerous medical works. As recorded: "All vied to invite him for diagnosis; none regretted receiving a life-or-death assessment from him." People lauded his lofty medical ethics: "He treated the rich and poor alike and asked for no reward."

 Hua Shou was intelligent and studious from childhood. He excelled in poetry and prose and possessed thorough knowledge of classical history. In his early years, he studied traditional Chinese medicine under the eminent physician (王居中, Wáng Jūzhōng) in Jingkou (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province). After mastering the Su Wen (The Plain Questions) and the Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic), he authored two seminal works: Du Su Wen Chao and Nan Jing Ben Yi. He then intensively studied the theories of Zhang Zhongjing, Liu Wansu, and Li Gao—scholars who were both erudite and highly accomplished. Later, he studied acupuncture under the renowned physician Gao Dongyang (高洞阳, Gāo Dòngyáng) and meticulously investigated meridian theory, drawing primarily from the Nei Jing (The Inner Canon) and other classical texts. He also examined meridian doctrines as presented in acupuncture and moxibustion literature. Subsequently, he compiled the influential work Shi Si Jing Fa Hui.

 During Hua Shou’s time, acupuncture and moxibustion had fallen into decline, and meridian studies were largely neglected. He reversed this trend and revitalized acupuncture during the Yuan dynasty. He established foundational standards for subsequent generations of acupuncture and moxibustion practice. Since the Yuan dynasty, Shi Si Jing Fa Hui has been widely studied and recited.

Major Works and Academic Contributions

 Hua Shou was intelligent and diligent from an early age. He studied Confucian classics, poetry, and prose. While the eminent physician Wang Juzhong of Jingkou resided in Yizheng, Hua Shou became his disciple and studied medicine under him. He attained deep mastery of the ancient medical classics—the Su Wen (The Plain Questions) and the Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic). He systematized twelve thematic categories: Zang and Fu-viscera, meridians, pulse syndrome, diseases, health preservation, treatments, facial-color and pulse diagnostics, acupuncture, yin-yang theory, etiology and symptomatology, and the Yun-Qi (Five Phases and Six Climatic Factors) Theory. He organized these into three volumes entitled Du Su Wen Chao. He also composed the two-volume Nan Jing Ben Yi, which corrects textual errors and elucidates meanings. Later, he studied acupuncture as a disciple of the physician Gao Dongyang and mastered his entire therapeutic repertoire. Drawing upon monographs on meridians and acupoints found in the Su Wen (The Plain Questions) and the Ling Shu (The Spiritual Pivot or Divine Axis), he integrated discussions from both classics concerning the Du and Ren meridians and the Twelve Regular Meridians. He thereby compiled Shi Si Jing Fa Hui, which expounds the names, functions, and theoretical significance of these channels. His internal medicine diagnoses and treatments were largely grounded in the teachings of Li Gao. He excelled in pulse diagnosis and prescription analysis and was especially adept at managing difficult and refractory conditions. As the saying goes, “The foundation of medicine lies in pulse diagnosis”; accordingly, he compiled Zhen Jia Shu Yao—a treatise on pulse lore that documents twenty-nine pulse types with detailed exegesis. Dozens of his clinical cases were preserved in Ying Ning Sheng Zhuan (Biography of Yingning Sheng), compiled by Zhu You (朱右, Zhū Yòu).

 The three-volume book Du Su Wen Chao is a work on ancient medical classics compiled by Hua Shou of the Yuan dynasty and re-annotated by Wang Ji (汪机, Wāng Jī), a Ming dynasty herbalist. The re-annotated version was published in 1519 CE. The book selects important content from the ancient work Su Wen (The Plain Questions), including visceral manifestations, channels, pulse syndromes, diseases, health regimens, treatment discussions, complexion diagnosis, acupuncture, Yin and Yang, the root causes and symptoms of a diseases, Yun Qi (the five evolutive phases and six climatic factors), and gathering. These 12 categories are briefly annotated. Many supplements were added to the re-annotation version, titled Xu Su Wen Chao (《續素問鈔》, Continuation of the Su Wen Chao). There are various Ming-printed editions, including one collected in Wang Shi Yi Xue Cong Shu (《汪氏醫學叢書》, Wang’s Medical Series).

 The book Nan Jing Ben Yi (The Genuine Meaning of the Difficult Classics) was compiled by Hua Shou in two volumes and completed in the first year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty (1341 CE). After the preface, there is a section titled "General Categories of Errors and Mistakes," which records textual shortcomings and lexical errors. It also lists the names of quoted herbalists in a second list, as well as the names of herbalists cited in the original commentary. The second section discusses the origins of the book and includes an accompanying list of illustrations. The text addresses eighty-one difficult questions: questions one through thirty appear in the first volume, and questions thirty-one through eighty-one appear in the second volume. Classical passages are listed first, followed by annotations. Hua Shou identified "and referenced Lingshu and Suwen to explore the sources, quoted discussions from Zhongjing and Shuhe to deduce the logical thread, and searched extensively for fine discussions from different schools. For lost texts, I sought them according to varied cases of the classical annotation method: first quoting 'Lingshu' and 'Su Wen' for demonstration; then integrating theories from over twenty schools—including Zhang Zhongjing, Wang Shuhe, Yang Xuancao, Ding Deyong, and Yu Shu—to elaborate their meanings; finally combining my own viewpoints to clarify the meanings of the classics." The work exhibits many unique features.

 Shi Si Jing Fa Hui is a three-volume book on channels and meridian studies compiled by Hua Shou and published in 1341 CE. The first volume discusses the law of meridian circulation. The second volume covers the mechanisms, main syndromes, and Zang-Fu viscera associated with the channels. The third volume focuses on the eight extra channels. This volume provides a systematic discussion of the eight extra channels based on ancient texts such as the Nei Jing, Nan Jing, Jia Yi Jing, and Shen Ji Zong Lu, accompanied by illustrations. Hua Shou used the ancient work Jin Lan Xun Jing Qu Xue Tu Jie (金蘭循經取穴圖解, Illustrated Explanation of Acupoint Selection According to the Golden Orchid Meridian Pathway) as a reference and supplemented it with annotations and further interpretations. After Shi Si Jing Fa Hui was published, Jin Lan Xun Jing Qu Xue Tu Jie gradually disappeared and did not survive to the present day. A key feature of Shi Si Jing Fa Hui is its annotation of acupoints according to the flow order of the twelve regular channels, together with annotations on the acupoints of the Ren and Du meridians—collectively termed the fourteen channels. Hua Shou held the view that the Ren and Du channels differ from the other six channels among the eight extra channels and should therefore be discussed alongside the twelve regular channels as the "fourteen channels." He identified 657 acupoints based on the Su Wen and Ling Shu and provided detailed interpretations.

 Hua Shou compiled other works besides his major ones. According to historical literature, these include: Shang Han Li Chao (3 volumes), Ben Cao Fa Hui (1 volume), Hua Shi Mai Jue (1 volume), and Hua Shi Yi Yun and Zhi Lou Pian. These five works are all lost and have not survived to the present day. There is also a series of illustrations known as the Ming Tang Tu, also called the Hua Bo Ren Zheng Ren Ming Tang Tu, which is attributed to Hua Shou.

References:

• 1. Hua Shou: Biographical introduction and historical accounts, major works and academic contributions.

 Edited: April 7, 2024