Wu Yiluo: Biographical introduction and historical accounts, major works and academic contributions
-
✵Wu Yiluo: He was born into a family of famous herbalists spanning generations, and his previous generations had a wealth of book collections. He practiced medicine for 40 years and was famous in his township. He is the author of Shang Han Fen Jing (the Separate Channels of the Treatise on Cold-Induced Diseases).
- Wu Yiluo
-
Brief Introduction Chinese Name: 吳儀洛 (Wú Yíluò) Alias: 遵程 (Zūn Chéng) Popular Name: 吳儀洛 (Wú Yíluò) English Name: Wu Yiluo (family name first) or Yiluo Wu (given name first) Hometown: Ganpu Dates: about 1704–1766 CE Main Works: 《傷寒分經》(Shang Han Fen Jing),《本草從新》(Ben Cao Cong Xin),《成方切用》(Cheng Fang Qie Yong),《一源必徹》(Yi Yuan Bi Che),《四診須詳》(Si Zhen Xu Xiang),《雜癥條律》(Za Zheng Tiao Lv)、《女科宜今》(Nv Ke Yi Jin),《周易註》(Zhou Yi Zhu),《春秋傳義》(Chun Qiu Chuan Yi). Representative Works: Shang Han Fen Jing, Ben Cao Cong Xin, Cheng Fang Qie Yong. Biographical introduction and historical accounts
Wu Yiluo, his alias is Zūn Chéng, a native person of Shupu, a Xiù Cai (former scholar graduate of first degree). He was born into a family of renowned herbalists for generations, and his ancestors had a wealth of book collections. They collected many books by famous masters, including collections of poems, classical works, history, and there were many rare medical books. They were well-known for studying and practicing medicine. At a young age, he studied as a candidate for the imperial examinations, read the medical books in his spare time. Later, he switched to studying Qí Huáng (the study of Qí Bó and Huáng Dì, or traditional Chinese medicine). He traveled to the southern and northern provinces and other places, staying in Siming (present-day Ningbo) for five years, and entered the Tian Yi chamber, where he studied medicine diligently, his learning turned out to be refined gradually. In his spare time of practicing medicine, he gathered books to read widely and refined his study of syndromes. He practiced medicine for 40 years and was famous in the township.
Major works and academic contributions
Wu Yiluo is the author of following works: Ben Cao Cong Xin (The New Compilation of Materia Medica), Shang Han Fen Jing (The Separate Channels of the Treatise on Cold-Induced Diseases), and Cheng Fang Qie Yong (Prescriptions Apt to Applications). He also wrote other works, Yi Yuan Bi Che (the One Source of Everything), Si Zhen Xu Xiang (The Details of Four Diagnoses), Za Zheng Tiao Lv (The Principles and Entries of Miscellaneous Diseases), Nv Ke Yi Jin (Gynecology Apt to Today's Conditions), Zhou Yi Zhu (Annotations on the I Ching), and Chun Qiu Chuan Yi, among others. However, most of these books are scattered and lost.
The 18-volume Ben Cao Cong Xin (New Compilation of Materia Medica) was compiled by Wu Yiluo and finished in Qianlong's 22nd year (1757 CE). It was published in the same year. It recorded 721 kinds of herbs, 240 more than the Ben Cao Bei Yao (Essentials of Materia Medica). The book is composed of six volumes, each of which is divided into three volumes again, for a total of eighteen volumes. More than 210 kinds of herbs are included (including those not listed separately). This pharmacological work is a re-edited version based on Wang Ang's Ben Cao Bei Yao (The Essentials of Materia Medica), with nearly 300 additional medicinal herbs. Cordyceps, Radix Pseudoginseng, and so on, are firstly collected herbs in this book. At the same time, the authenticity of the herb and the same herb name, with the difference in nature, taste, function, etc., are all recorded one by one. There are quite a few new views on the medicinal properties of herbs. The book's classification system imitates that of Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), which is more concise and practical. This book has been widely circulated in modern Chinese Materia Medica works and has a certain value for learning and clinical reference.
In Cheng Fang Qie Yong (The Prescriptions Apt to Applications), the author extensively collected effective prescriptions from past dynasties, collected more than 1,300 prescriptions from the past and his epoch, explained their meanings, detailed additions and subtractions, principles of treatment, theory of prescriptions, and practical applications. Almost all questions related to prescriptions are discussed.
Shang Han Fen Jing (Separate Channels of the Treatise on Cold-Induced Diseases) is a work based on Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold-Induced Diseases). It is ten volumes long and was compiled by Wu Yiluo. The book was finished in Qianlong's 32nd year (1766 CE). Wu Yiluo praised Yu Chang's Shang Lun Pian, he believed that Yu "subordinated the three hundred and ninety-seven methods into the outlines, it achieved the subtlety of channels separations." Thus, the book was re-edited with the title "Fen Jing" (meaning "channels separations"), gets supplemented, and annotated. The book also introduces Yu's "autumn-dryness theory", "theory of sudden death from a direct attack of cold," both of which are discussed in Yu Chang's book, Yi Men Fa Lv (The Principle and Prohibition for the Medical Profession). In terms of academic insights, however, the book lacks new supplements and elaborations. The original engraved copy has survived until today.
References:
-
- 1. Wu Yiluo: Biographical introduction and historical accounts, major works and academic contributions
