历史学最新文献

She Sheng Yao Yi, a medical book on how to keep fit and healthy in the Ming Dynasty, contained a variety of theoretical ideas for doing so from diverse traditional Chinese medicine physicians and had great influence. However, its author has not been identified because the author of this book in Bibliography of Ancient Books of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Bibliography of Ancient Chinese Books is claimed to be different. The authors dates of birth and death also vary in other relevant reference books. This paper examines and identifies the author of this book based on biographies, historical records, dictionaries and other relevant documents, with a view to contributing to the research of medical history literature.

Calamine and its related medicines came into China as articles of tribute from other countries in ancient times. It was not recorded in the books of Chinese materia medica before the Song Dynasty but was widely used in ophthalmology, dermatology and traumatology and was, recorded specifically in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. This paper systematically examines the evolution of calamine herb in the archives of traditional Chinese medicine in terms of ophthalmic eternal treatment prescriptions. It was found that a total of 320 ophthalmic treatment formulas or prescriptions involved calamine, mainly finding its expression in 67 books on herbal medicines, formula and prescriptions, clinical syndrome comprehension and ophthalmic monographs. It was also found that calamine, as an important ophthalmic external medicine, had a wide range of clinical applications, covering internal and external obstructive eye diseases. Its flexibility, diverse compatibility and use in various processing are of great value and significance for in-depth exploration of its current application, its further use in ophthalmic treatment formulas or prescriptions and the redevelopment of classic formulas and prescriptions as well.

The right of seaports to quarantine in modern China was lost to western colonists in the 1880s. The establishment of the quarantine system at Swatow seaport made Swatow the first city in modern Guangdong to have such a system. This paper examines the content and development of the quarantine system at Swatow seaport and found the two main periods of the quarantine system development. 1883 -1926 was the period for the preliminary development of the quarantine system, which was under the management of the westerners. 1926 - 1949 was the period when it was regained by the then Chinese government but it was caught in a bid of multiple political powers before new China evolved. In such a process of power shifts and system changes, the benefits to the public were not valued and guaranteed. The development history of the quarantine system in modern Swatow seaport in the Republic of China Period mirrored the development of the quarantine system in China at that time.

The popular formula Qiye Qingnian Powder, prescribed by Hua Tuo (BC145 - 208), is believed to "remove three kinds of worms, be conducive to the five main organs, keep fit, and prevent one's hair from turning gray". It is a representative formula in terms of "removing worms to prolong life" in traditional Chinese medicine. This paper focuses on "Qiye" in this formula, which plays an important role in removing worms, reviews its place in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Tibetan medicine, and Ayurvedic medicine and compares the concept of "removing worms" in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. It was found that the name and efficacy of Bhallātaka in Ayurvedic medicine is related to "Qiye". It was also indicated that by comparing the concept of "worms" and the understanding of "removing worms" in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, in the theory of traditional medicines worms are the causative factor of diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine has rich connotations which involved medicinal concepts of Buddhism and Taoism and the idea of "removing worms to prolong life" is a unique contribution of traditional Chinese medicine to human health.