The marriage of Chinese Imperial Medicine and China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences: privilege and benefits for the people

摘要

On September 27, 2019, the Palace Museum and China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences held a signing ceremony of strategic cooperation at Jingsheng Zhai (The studio of esteemed excellence) in the garden of Jianfu Gong (The palace of established happiness) at the Palace Museum. This cooperation will focus on the vast collection of cultural relics on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the Palace Museum and represents a joint venture into the scientific study of TCM cultural relics from the court of the Qing dynasty of China (1636 C.E.-1912 C.E.) . Tai Yi Ling (Chief imperial physician) was recorded in the Records of Shiji (the Grand Historian) (Figure 1a) . The famous doctor Bian Que died in 310 B.C.E, who’s exact death details are unclear until now. But there is a thought that he was assassinated by Li Xi, who was a chief imperial physician in the state of Qin, and the reason of the murder was jealousy . The name of the Tai Yi Yuan (Imperial medical academy) originated from the Jin dynasty of China (1115 C.E.-1234 C.E.), and was inherited from the Tai Yi Shu (Imperial medical office) and Tai Yi Ju (Imperial medical bureau) of the Tang (618 C.E.-907 C.E.) and Song dynasties of China (960 C.E.-1279 C.E.). Between 1078 C.E. and 1085 C.E. of the Song dynasty, the imperial medical bureau collated and published its formula blueprints under the title Taiyiju Fang (Formulary of the imperial medical bureau). After several rounds of revision and supplementation, the text was eventually finalized after final additions were made between 1225 C.E. and 1227 C.E. as well as 1241 C.E. and 1252 C.E., becoming the current popularized version known as Taiping Huimin Hejiju Fang (Formulary to benefit the people from the pharmaceutical bureau of the Taiping reign) (Figure 1b). The medical classics named Yuyaoyuan Fang (Formulary of the imperial pharmacy) of the Yuan dynasty (1279 C.E.-1368 C.E.) was revised and edited by Xu Guozhen and others using Yuyaoyuan Fang (Formulary of the imperial pharmacy) (Figure 1c) of the Jin dynasty as base text. It was finalized in 1267 C.E. and is an important material for studying the medical formulae of the courts of the Jin and Yuan dynasties (1271 C.E.-1368 C.E.). Imperial medical academies were established in all subsequent dynasties. The Imperial medical academy of the Ming dynasty of China (1368 C.E.-1644 C.E.) was a central institution that managed the diagnosis and pharmacy services of the court and nobility. Li Shizhen, a famous medical scientist in ancient China, was appointed an official at the imperial medical academy in Beijing at 27 years old. In 1549 C.E., the 28th year of Jiajing emperor of the Ming dyansty, Li Shizhen resigned from his position at the imperial medical academy at the age of 32 and returned to Ganzhou city of China. He wrote the medical classics named Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of materia medica) in his later years (Figure 1d).