by Bob Flaws

What we refer to today as Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM, the unified, systematized theory and practice of Chinese medicine current in China today, is really the outgrowth of the scholarly medicine of the Qing dynasty. It was in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) that many Confucian doctors in China began systematizing the various schools and theories which had developed over the previous thousand years. The attempt to create a unified, integrated, synthesis of all the best of Chinese medicine is not something that sprang up suddenly in China during the 1960s, 70s. and 80s. During the Qing dynasty, a number of scholar-doctors, such as Chen Nian-zu of Changle in Fujian, published books presenting a unified, systematic vision of Chinese medicine which is recognizable by any Western student today.

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Chen Nian-zu was born in 1753 and died in 1823. His scholar name was Xiu-yuan. Therefore, he is also sometimes known as Chen Xiu-yuan. During his lifetime, Chen published a number of books on Chinese medicine, one of which was titled Yi Xue Shi Zai Yi (The Study of Medicine Is Really Easy). This was a primer on Chinese medicine written in colloquial Chinese (as opposed to classical Chinese) and was intended for both students and non-technical readers alike. It introduces all the basic theories of Chinese medicine and discusses practice as well. This book was one of many such primers on Chinese medicine published during the Qing which summarized Chinese medicine in a single book. Chen was also the author of the Yi Xue San Zi Jing (The Three Character Classic for the Study of Medicine). Each line of this book is composed of three Chinese characters or words. It also covers the entire gamut of Chinese medicine in a systematized, summarized way. This book was meant to be easily memorized, thus making the learning of Chinese medicine as easy as possible.

Chen also published specialty texts. For instance, there is his Shi Fang Ge Kuo (Collected Songs About Contemporary Formulas) published in 1801 about Chinese medicinal formulas, his Nu Ke Yao Zhi (The Essence of Gynecology) about Chinese medical Ob/Gyn, and his Yi Xue Cong Zhong Lu (Records of Popular Medicine) about the treatment of internal disease. Then there is his Chen Xiu Yuan Yi Xue Quan Shu (Chen Xiu-yuan's Complete Writings on the Study of Medicine.) However, as far as I know, none of Chen's books have been translated into English in their entirety. (I do quote from Chen in my Compendium of Chinese Medical Menstrual Diseases and also, I believe, in my Chinese Medical Obstetrics.) If one would like to read another 19th century primer on Chinese medicine as a sample of what this Qing dynasty literature was like, check out Liu Yi-ren's The Heart Transmission of Medicine (Yi Xue Chuan Xin Lu) available from Blue Poppy Press.