bubble_chart Description This book is said to be a specialized treatise on surgery left behind by Liu Juan-zi of the late Jin dynasty when he encountered the "Yellow Father Ghost" in the outskirts of Danyang. It is also known as Shenxian Yilun. According to Sui Shu-Jingjizhi, it was originally in ten volumes, but only five volumes remain today. Later, it was passed down by the descendants of Liu Juan-zi to Gong Qing-xuan of the Northern Qi dynasty, thus preserving it. The original book was also called Yongju Fang, and after being edited by Gong Qing-xuan, it became the current version known as Liujuanzi Guiyi Fang.
Regarding the understanding of surgical Yongju Fang, after the Wei and Jin dynasties, the practice of consuming minerals became increasingly popular, leading to a significant rise in the incidence of Yongju. This objectively demanded a better understanding and improved treatment of Yongju disease. Gui Yi Fang emerged during this period, essentially serving as a specialized treatise on Yongju syndrome. Additionally, it covers incised wounds, blood stasis, and the treatment of external injuries, including pain relief, hemostasis, and the extraction of arrowheads. The book contains over 140 prescriptions, with 34 specifically for treating incised wounds and external injuries. The detailed differentiation and treatment of Yongju make it the earliest extant specialized work on external conditions like Yongju and incised wounds in China.
The book first clearly distinguishes between abscesses and ulcers in terms of pathogenesis and symptoms. The differentiation of pus in conditions like Yongju is already very refined. Beyond determining whether pus has formed, it particularly emphasizes the relationship between the location of the disease and its prognosis, indicating the severe prognosis of systemic infections caused by severe Yongju.
Gui Yi Fang provides detailed discussions on the treatment of external Yongju conditions and mineral poisoning. It offers various detoxification methods based on different Yongju conditions. For example, for stalactite poisoning, the book suggests "a mixture of rooster blood from the elbow and a bowl of iron powder soup." For cinnabar poisoning, it recommends "half an ounce each of black lead, astragalus, Saposhnikovia Root, and Cooking Stove Earth, boiled in one liter of water to half a bowl, strained and taken."
Liujuanzi Guiyi Fang represents the level of surgical development during the Northern and Southern dynasties in China.
The earliest extant version of this book is a Song dynasty edition held by the Beijing Library. Two pages of a fragmented volume were unearthed in Turpan, Xinjiang. There are also several Qing dynasty editions, and a facsimile of the Song edition was published by the People's Medical Publishing House in 1956.