Zhuang Lǚyan: Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts, Major Works and Academic Contributions
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✵Zhuang Lǚyan: A renowned herbalist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty; skilled in poetry composition, specialized in medical practice, possessed extraordinary diagnostic and therapeutic experience, and saved countless patients. He is the author of the gynecological treatise Fu Ke Bai Bian (Differentiations of One Hundred Gynecological Syndromes).
- Zhuang Lǚyan
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Brief Introduction Chinese Name: 莊履嚴 (Zhuāng Lǚyán) Alias: Unknown Style Name: 杏旸 (Xìng Yáng) English Name: Zhuang Lǚyan (family name first) Lǚyan Zhuang (given name first) Hometown: Chengjiang (present-day Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province) Dates: Unknown; active approximately from the late 16th century to the 17th century Major Works: 《婦科百辨》(Fu Ke Bai Bian, or Differentiations of One Hundred Gynecological Syndromes),《醫理發微》(Yi Li Fa Wei, or Subtle Elaboration of Medical Principles),《復蘇草》(Fu Su Cao, or Herbs for Resuscitation) Representative Work: Fu Ke Bai Bian Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts
Zhuang Lüyan was a renowned herbalist of the late Ming Dynasty, styled Xìng Yáng, a native of Chengjiang (present-day Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province). He excelled in poetry composition and specialized in medical practice, possessing extraordinary diagnostic and therapeutic experience; the number of patients he saved is incalculable. His exact birth and death dates remain unknown, though he was active approximately from the late 16th century to the 17th century. In the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign (1644 CE), he completed Fu Ke Bai Bian (Differentiations of One Hundred Gynecological Syndromes)。 According to extant historical records, his other works include Yi Li Fa Wei (Subtle Elaboration of Medical Principles), Fu Su Cao (Herbs for Resuscitation); however, neither of these two texts survives today.
Major Works and Academic Contributions
Fu Ke Bai Bian(Differentiations of One Hundred Gynecological Syndromes) is a gynecological treatise compiled by the Ming-dynasty herbalist Zhuāng Lǚyán. Its sole surviving manuscript was transcribed by Zhuang Qiqiao (莊憩樵, Zhuāng Qìqiáo), his twenty-seventh-generation descendant. As a classical Chinese medical text on gynecology, it was completed in the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign (1644 CE). The first three volumes address miscellaneous syndromes, menstrual regulation, and fertility; the latter three volumes cover prescriptions and treatments for syndromes occurring before, during, and after childbirth. The text adopts a question-and-answer format to elucidate syndrome differentiation, treatment principles, and corresponding prescriptions for major gynecological conditions.
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- 1.Zhuang Lǚyan: Biographical Introduction and Historical Accounts, Major Works and Academic Contributions
