Introduction
"Wei Family Collection of Prescriptions"
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
A 10-volume Southern Song formula collection by Wang Qiuyuan (ca. 1138–post 1217), completed around 1217. A private compilation of family-transmitted and folk prescriptions, organized by clinical category, and the canonical source of the "warm-kidney, reduce-urination" formula Suō Quán Wán.
The Wei Shi Jia Cang Fang is a private (家藏) prescription collection compiled by Wang Qiuyuan, indexing more than 1,000 formulas, with a strong emphasis on formulas transmitted within families and the broader folk tradition. The text is the canonical source of Suō Quán Wán (缩泉丸, "Urine-Reducing Pill"), a 3-ingredient formula (Yì Zhì Rén + Wū Yào + Shān Yào) representing the "warm-kidney, reduce-urinary-frequency" approach in pediatrics, geriatrics, and women's-health clinical contexts. It is, in short, an important Southern-Song link between court-medical classics and the folk-prescription tradition.
Historical background
The Wei Shi Jia Cang Fang was compiled by Wang Qiuyuan around 1217, in the late Southern Song period, well after the great Song-dynasty imperially-sponsored compendia such as the Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang (太平惠民和剂局方) and the Shengji Zonglu (圣济总录). Unlike those state-sponsored projects, Wang's work is a private compilation drawing on formulas preserved within his own family lineage and those circulating among local physicians. The text represents an important Southern-Song bridge between official court-medical scholarship and the practical prescription tradition, and is the canonical source of Suo Quan Wan (缩泉丸). It remains one of the most frequently cited private formula collections in modern Chinese patent-medicine product literature.
Formulas recorded in this text· 1
Formula · Suō Quán Wán
Stream-Reducing
缩泉丸
A small, focused "wen-shen suo-niao" (warm the kidney and reduce urine) formula from the Song-dynasty "Wei's Family Formulary", the most prescribed classical OTC formula for frequent urination and childhood enuresis in East Asia.