In this paper,the name,origin,producing area,harvesting and processing changes of Paeonia lactiflora used in classical prescriptions were studied by textual research of herbal medicine and field investigation. Chinese herbaceous peony wasn' t distinguished before the Northern and Southern Dynasties; Tao Hongjing proposed that there were two kinds of P. lactiflora in the Northern and Southern Dynasties,but they were not clearly defined; since the Song and Yuan Dynasties,the method of distinguishing P. lactiflora by flower color and root color was proposed. In the Ming Dynasty,people put forward the criteria similar to modern ones,that is,to divide red peony and white peony by means of harvesting and processing,and to continue for future generations. Since modern times,different growth patterns and processing methods have been used to classify red peony and white peony. Paeoniae Radix Alba has gradually formed three major cultivation genuine producing areas: Hangzhou,Sichuan and Bozhou,while Paeoniae Radix Rubra in modern times has praised the wild medicinal materials produced in Inner Mongolia,Toronto and other places. According to textual research,Paeoniae Radix Alba was highly praised in Song Dynasty. When people in Song Dynasty revised the previous literature,they changed " Shaoyao" into " Baishao" and continued to use Paeoniae Radix Alba for future generations. Therefore,the origin of P. lactiflora in classical prescriptions before the Song Dynasty should be determined by the combination of prescription function and prescription meaning evolution; After the Song Dynasty,the origins of " Red Paeonia Root" and " White Paeonia Root" in prescriptions are basically the same as those in today's prescriptions,which should be recorded in ancient prescriptions. For the medicinal flavor of " Paeonia Root" recorded in prescriptions after the Song Dynasty,the origins can be determined by functional domination and the evolution of prescriptions.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/history* ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, Medieval ; Humans ; Paeonia ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal

To clarify the change and development of original plants of " Manjingzi"( Viticis Fructus),a traditional Chinese medicine,we investigated Vitex species on the ancient Chinese herbal texts. The study concluded that the Vitex trifolia and V. trifolia var.simplicifolia included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia( 2015 edition) are only two sources of ancient medicinal Viticis Fructus. There are many sources of vines used in ancient times,which are not fixed and unified. The early use of Viticis Fructus is likely to be the V. quinate var. quinata,V. negundo var. cannabifolia and V. negundo var. negundo. From the Tang Dynasty,the use of V. trifolia var. simplicifolia has been appeared. Until Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty,the V. trifolia has been used as a source of medicine for the Viticis Fructus,but even so,the source of medicinal plants of Viticis Fructus has not been unified. We suggested V. trifolia var. simplicifolia be used as mainly species for " Manjingzi" due to its widely used in ancient China.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/history* ; Fruit ; History, 15th Century ; History, Medieval ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Pharmacopoeias as Topic ; Plants, Medicinal ; Vitex

Forsythiae Fructus( Lianqiao) is classed from near-mature fruit and hyper-mature fruit,which are named as Qingqiao and Laoqiao,respectively. This article was based on the different views of which was better,Qingqiao or Laoqiao. Acorrding to the naming,varieties,habitat,harvesting and processing,used parts,medicinal properties and clinical efficacy,the herbalogical study was carried out. The results showed that Lianqiao had been sourced from the areial part of Hypericum ascyron and H. erectum of Clusiaceae before Tang Dynasty. Beside the former,and the fruit of Forsythia suspensa of Oleaceae was newly used as Lianqiao during the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty. The later had been the only origin of Lianqiao since the Song Dynasty. With the change of the medicinal varieties,the habitats of Lianqiao has also changed. The varieties of Clusiaceae were mainly produced in the Yellow River Basin from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty,they were produced in the south of the Yangtze River. The variety of Oleaceae was mainly produced in Shanxi,Henan,Shandong,Shaanxi,and northern Sichuan from the Tang and Song Dynasties. Currently,Shanxi and Henan have the largest output. Traditionally,there were two commercial varieties including Qingqiao and Laoqiao of Lianqiao based on the harvesting time. In traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) theory,Lianqiao removes evil heat and relieves toxicity,removes swelling and resolves enlarged nodes. Accroding to the effects of Lianqiao,Qingqiao was considered to be better than Laoqiao in TCM clinic. The modern research on main medicinal constituents and pharmacodynamic effects also confirmed the above mentioned facts. This paper can provide literature support for the rationalities of Qingqiao's mainstream medication and assay standard of Lianqiao in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/history* ; Forsythia/classification* ; Fruit ; History, 15th Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) may induce spermatogenesis in most patients with congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) by stimulating gonadotropin production, while the predictors for a pituitary response to pulsatile GnRH therapy were rarely investigated. Therefore, the aim of our study is to investigate predictors of the pituitary response to pulsatile GnRH therapy. This retrospective cohort study included 82 CHH patients who received subcutaneous pulsatile GnRH therapy for at least 1 month. Patients were categorized into poor or normal luteinizing hormone (LH) response subgroups according to their LH level (LH <2 IU l^-1 or LH ≥2 IU l^-1) 1 month into pulsatile GnRH therapy. Gonadotropin and testosterone levels, testicular size, and sperm count were compared between the two subgroups before and after GnRH therapy. Among all patients, LH increased from 0.4 ± 0.5 IU l^-1 to 7.5 ± 4.4 IU l^-1 and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) increased from 1.1 ± 0.9 IU l^-1 to 8.8 ± 5.3 IU l^-1. A Cox regression analysis showed that basal testosterone level (β = 0.252, P = 0.029) and triptorelin-stimulated FSH_60min(β = 0.518, P = 0.01) were two favorable predictors for pituitary response to GnRH therapy. Nine patients (9/82, 11.0%) with low LH response to GnRH therapy were classified into the poor LH response subgroup. After pulsatile GnRH therapy, total serum testosterone level was 39 ± 28 ng dl^-1 versus 248 ± 158 ng dl^-1 (P = 0.001), and testicular size was 4.0 ± 3.1 ml versus 7.9 ± 4.5 ml (P = 0.005) in the poor and normal LH response subgroups, respectively. It is concluded that higher levels of triptorelin-stimulated FSH_60minand basal total serum testosterone are favorable predictors of pituitary LH response to GnRH therapy.
Adult ; Cohort Studies ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/blood* ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone/therapeutic use* ; Gonadotropins/blood* ; History, 16th Century ; Humans ; Hypogonadism/pathology* ; Luteinizing Hormone/blood* ; Male ; Pituitary Gland/pathology* ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Sperm Count ; Testis/pathology* ; Testosterone/blood* ; Treatment Outcome ; Triptorelin Pamoate/therapeutic use* ; Young Adult

After being introduced to Japan, the Chinese acupuncture and massage therapy has changed a lot, in which the influence aroused by the blind practitioners cannot be ignored. Through analyzing the development and the transition of the blind acupuncture and massage industry in Japan, it is found that the tube needle technique, changeable acupoints concept, technical deviation and the importance on acupoints rather than meridians are still existed commonly today, which are introduced by the blind acupuncture and massage practitioners, the special group in Japan. In the process of development, the interaction with the governmental strategy has played the essential role in the consolidation of the above features.
Acupuncture ; education ; history ; manpower ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, 18th Century ; History, 19th Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Humans ; Japan ; Massage ; history ; manpower ; Visually Impaired Persons

There is time-honored history and culture of medicinal plant cultivation in China. In the present review, the medicinal plant cultivation history in china was summarized, its current situation and question were analyzed, and the prospects of medicinal plant cultivation research were pointed out, with the purpose of accelerating the growth of medicinal plant cultivation research.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; history ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, 18th Century ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Materia Medica ; chemistry ; economics ; history ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; history ; trends ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; growth & development

Based on ancient literature of acupuncture in Canon of Chinese Medicine (4th edition), the articles regarding acupuncture for urinary incontinence were retrieved and collected to establish a database. By Weka data mining software, the multi-level association rules analysis method was applied to analyze the acupoints selection characteristics and rules of ancient acupuncture for treatment of urinary incontinence. Totally 356 articles of acupuncture for urinary incontinence were collected, involving 41 acupoints with a total frequency of 364. As a result, (1) the acupoints in the yin-meridian of hand and foot were highly valued, as the frequency of acupoints in yin-meridians was 2.6 times than that in yang-meridians, and the frequency of acupoints selected was the most in the liver meridian of foot-jueyin; (2) the acupoints in bladder meridian of foot-taiyang were also highly valued, and among three yang-meridians of foot, the frequency of acupoints in the bladder meridian of foot-taiyang was 54, accounting for 65.85% (54/82); (3) more acupoints selected were located in the lower limbs and abdomen; (4) specific acupoints in above meridians were mostly selected, presenting 73.2% (30/41) to the ratio of number and 79.4% (289/364) to the frequency, respectively; (5) Zhongji (CV 3), the front-mu point of bladder meridian, was seldom selected in the ancient acupuncture literature, which was different from modern literature reports. The results show that urinary incontinence belongs to external genitalia diseases, which should be treated from yin, indicating more yin-meridians be used and special acupoints be focused on. It is essential to focus inheritance and innovation in TCM clinical treatment, and applying data mining technology to ancient literature of acupuncture could provide classic theory basis for TCM clinical treatment.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; Data Mining ; Databases, Bibliographic ; history ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, 18th Century ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Humans ; Medicine in Literature ; Urinary Incontinence ; history ; therapy

This study aims to address questions regarding the translation of 'gout' into 'tongfeng' in East Asia. To this end, the formation process of the origins, 'gout' from Western medicine and 'tongfeng' from Oriental medicine, and the translational process were investigated through the relevant records and literature dating from the 16th century on. Symptoms associated with gout were originally mentioned in ancient Egypt and various terminologies were used to refer to gout, such as podagra, cheiragra and gonogra. The word 'gout', which is derived from Latin, was used for the first time in the 13th century. The reason for this linguistic alteration is thought to be the need for a comprehensive term to cover the various terms for gout in symptomatic body parts, since it can occur concurrently in many joints. However, it took hundreds of years before gout was independently established as a medical term. In oriental medicine, terms describing diseases with features similar to gout include bibing, lijiefeng, baihufeng and tongfeng. Among them, the concept of 'tongfeng' has been established since the Jin and Yuan dynasties. The cause, prevention and various treatments for tongfeng were proposed throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties. The early translation of gout and tongfeng in East Asia, respectively, is estimated to have occurred in the 18th century. The first literature translating gout in China was 'An English and Chinese Vocabulary in the Court Dialect (yinghua yunfu lijie)'. From the publication of this book until the late 19th century, gout was translated into an unfamiliar Chinese character 'Jiu feng jiao', likely because the translation was done mostly by foreign missionaries at the time, and they created a new word on the basis of Western medicine instead of researching and translating similar diseases in oriental medicine. In Japan, the first book translating gout was 'A Pocket Dictionary of the English and Japanese Language (Eiwa taiyaku shuchin jisho)', Japan's the first English-Japanese translation dictionary. In this book, gout was translated into tongfeng, a word adopted from oriental medicine. These differences from China are thought to be caused by Rangaku doctors, who, influenced by oriental medicine in the Jin and Yuan dynasties, played an important role in translating medical terminology at that time.
China ; Gout/*history ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, 18th Century ; History, 19th Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Japan ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional/*history ; *Terminology as Topic ; Translating

This article explores the indigenization of licorice(Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) which was the most important medicine of the Oriental Medicine. There are a lot of records on licorice even before the Joseon Dynasty. The licorice had been used mainly in stomach related diseases such as food poisoning or indigestion. But the licorice was an imported medicine until the early days of the Joseon Dynasty. As the Joseon Dynasty began, the licorice production became necessary with the investigation and obtaining the herbs. And a large amount of licorice was needed when the epidemics outbroke under the reign of King Sejong. In particular, the licorice had been essential in treating the diseases of the Cold Damage which was focused in the Joseon Dynasty. That was why King Sejong ordered to plant the licorice in the Chollado province and Hamgildo province in 1448. But the licorice cultivation was not easy for two reasons. First, it was difficult to find the proper soil for proper soil for planting. Second, the people didn't actively grow the licorice, because they had to devote the licorice as the tax when the indigenization of licorice was succeeded. King Sejo and King Seongjong encouraged the people to plant the licorice. The recognition that the licorice is essential in pediatric diseases such as smallpox got stronger then before. Finally the indigenization of licorice was completed under the reign of King Seongjong. According to the Dongguknyeojiseungnam, edited in 1481, and Shinjeungdongguknyeojiseungnam, edited in 1530, the licorice was planted in seven districts. With the success of the indigenization of licorice, the approach of the people to the Oriental Medicine treatment had became much easier.
Glycyrrhiza uralensis/*growth & development ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, Medieval ; Korea ; Medicine, Korean Traditional/*history

Since microhistory's approach to the past is based on an understanding of and a sympathy for the concrete details of human lives, its area of interests overlaps with the history of medicine and medical humanities, which examine illness and health. If we put a specific region and society in a specific period under a microscope and increase the magnifying power, we can understand the numerous network connections among the body, illness management, and medicine and how multilayered were the knowledge and power applied to them. And this approach of using microhistory to illuminate medical history can be more effective than any other historical approach. This article focuses on Yi Mun-gon's extensive volumes of Mukchaeilgi (Mukchae's diary) in approaching medical history from the perspective of microhistory. Simply defined, this work is a Confucian scholar-doctor's diary. Its author, Yi Mun-gon, played the role of a Confucian doctor, although not professionally, during his 23-year exile, after serving in a high governmental office on the senior grade of the third court rank. Thanks to this extensive and detailed diary, we can now get adetailed andthorough picture of his medical practice in the Songju region, 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where he was exiled. This article aims to understand the state of medical practice in the Songju region in the 16thcentury through the"zoom-in" method adopted by microhistory. In particular, I will focus on the following three aspects: 1)Yi Mun-gon's motivation for and method of medical study, 2)the character of Yi Mun-gon'spatient treatment as hwarin (the act of life-saving), and 3) the plural existence of various illness management methods, including pyongjom (divination of illness), sutra-chanting, exorcism, and ch'oje (ritual toward Heaven). All three aspects are closely related to Confucianism. First, Yi Mun-gon decided to acquire professional-level medical knowledge in order to practice the Confucian virtue of filial piety. He sharpened his medical knowledge during the process of caring for his ill mother. In Confucian Choson society, a patient was encouraged to be deeply involved in the process of his or her medical treatment and the space of clinical treatment was not an exclusive domain for the doctor, but for public discussion, where both doctor and patient participated in making the best medical choices. In this atmosphere, a patient's family members would also naturally learn the clinical process, not unlike today's interns learning from renowned doctors. Second, after studying medicine up to a professional level, Yi Mun-gon administered the "life-saving" medicine to many people, yet he did not open his doors to all individuals. His medicine was practiced within his social network of blood, regional, and intellectual relations, where priority was established according to the level of closeness to himself, according to Confucian ideology. Nevertheless, because he did partially accept patients outside of these networks, his practice setin motion the symbolic system of Confucian ideal of universal "life-saving." Third, in the Songju region during the 16thcentury, various methods of treating illnesses-such as medicine, divination, sutra-chanting, exorcism, and kumyongsisik (life-saving, food-offering ritual)-co-existed and were selected according to individual conditions. Confucianism did not want to either acknowledge or outright reject most of these methods, except for officially acknowledged medicine, at that time. In fact, this co-existence was inevitable because there was not one entirely effective means of curing illness at that time. Also, the system of Confucian ideology was not powerful enough to enforce what it championed. On the contrary, behind the outer austerity of Confucian society, people sought out unorthodox methods, such as exorcism, Buddhism, and Taoism-ironically, in order to practice the important Confucian values of filial piety and patrilineage in the face of their parents' or sons'illnesses. It was only after the emergence of modern ideology and methodology of hygiene, which had the ability to control epidemics and prioritize the preservation of the life of individuals and the population, following the opening of the port in the late 19th century, that this pluralistic culture for illness management became much less prevalent.
China ; Confucianism/history ; Historiography ; History, 16th Century ; Korea ; *Physician-Patient Relations ; Physicians/*history