Introduction
"Introduction to Medicine"
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
A 9-volume Ming-dynasty comprehensive medical handbook by Li Chan (Jiajing-Wanli reign, mid-16th century), completed around 1575. The most-cited Ming-era "introductory" medical text, organized around mnemonic verse and clinical formulas.
Li Chan's Yixue Rumen is a comprehensive clinical reference built on a "verse-then-commentary" (歌诀 + 注释) structure, designed to allow medical students to memorize the canonical formulas and pattern categories by rhyme. The text is the canonical source of Qǐ Pí Wán (启脾丸, "Spleen-Activating Pill"), a 16-ingredient formula combining spleen-tonifying (Bai Zhu, Shan Yao, Dang Shen), digestion-moving (Shen Qu, Mai Ya, Shan Zha), and middle-warming (Gan Jiang) herbs for the "pediatric spleen-deficiency with food-stagnation" presentation. The book is, in short, the late-Ming "introductory curriculum" of Chinese medicine, and remains influential in modern 中成药 lineage.
Historical background
The Yīxué Rùmén (《医学入门》) was compiled by Li Chan during the Jiajing-Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, with completion around 1575 during a period of expanding demand for medical literacy among aspiring physicians. The text emerged within the late-Ming educational reform of medical learning, in which experienced clinicians sought to make foundational Chinese-medicine knowledge more accessible through mnemonic verse and structured commentary. The Yīxué Rùmén circulated widely in printed form during the late Ming and Qing dynasties, and was reprinted many times in various regional editions, becoming one of the most-cited introductory medical texts of its era.…
Formulas recorded in this text· 2
Formula · Jiā Wèi Xiāo Yáo Wán
Augmented Free Wanderer
加味逍遥丸
A "shu-gan qing-re, jian-pi yang-xue" (smooth the liver, clear heat, strengthen the spleen, nourish blood) formula from Li Chan's "Introduction to Medicine" (1575), the "cooled" form of the classical Xiao Yao San.
Formula · Qǐ Pí Wán
Spleen-Opening
启脾丸
A pediatric-oriented "open the spleen, harmonize the center, resolve food stagnation" formula from the Ming dynasty, one of the most commonly suggested TCM tonics for children with weak digestion.