Ishinpō

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Ishinpō (医心方 ishinpō or ishinhō?) is the oldest surviving Japanese medical text. It was written by Yasuyori Tamba in 984 and is 30 volumes in length. The work is based on the Chinese Bìng Yuánhóu lún, written by Suí Dynasty author Cháo Yuánfāng. Many of the Ishinpō texts have been lost in China, and have only survived to the present day through their inclusion in the work.

The structural organization of the text is as follows:

Volume Subject
1 Overview
2 Acupuncture and moxibustion
3 Internal medicine
4 Dermatology
5 Otolaryngology
6 Internal medicine
7 Surgery and internal medicine
8 Internal medicine
9 Internal medicine
10 Internal medicine
11 Internal medicine
12 Internal medicine
13 Internal medicine
14 Internal medicine
15 Surgery
16 Surgery
17 Surgery
18 Surgery
19 Pharmacology
20 Pharmacology
21 Gynaecology
22 Obstetrics
23 Obstetrics
24 Obstetrics and gynaecology
25 Pediatrics
26 Health
27 Health
28 Human sexual behavior
29 Dietary health
30 Dietary health

The Ishinpō is notable for preserving some of the Taoist sexual manuals from the Han to the Tang dynasty. The twenty-eighth section of the Ishinpō contains a complete transcription of a Daoist text known as The Classic of Sunu which is a dialogue between the Dark Maiden provides advice on sexual practices to the Yellow Emperor.

While the text is written in kanbun, Japanese terms are written to the side in Man'yōgana for plants, animals, and minerals.

[edit] References

  • Mishima, Yasuyuki (2002). Ishinpō -- Dai 28 kan: Bōnai-hen. Izumi Shobō. ISBN 4-900138-71-1. 
  • Wile, Douglas. The Art of the Bedchamber: The Chinese Sexual Yoga Classics including Women’s Solo Meditation Texts. Albany: State University of New York, 1992.