Ishinpō


Ishinpō is the oldest surviving Japanese medical text. It was completed in 984 by Tamba Yasuyori and is 30 volumes in length. The work is partly based on a Chinese medical work called Zhubing Yuanhou Lun, compiled by Sui Dynasty writer Chao Yuanfang. Many of the texts cited in Ishinpō have been lost in China, and have only survived to the present through their inclusion in the work. It is a national treasure of Japan.
The structural organization of the text is as follows:
VolumeSubject
1Overview
2Acupuncture and moxibustion
3Internal medicine
4Dermatology
5Otolaryngology
6Internal medicine
7Surgery and internal medicine
8Internal medicine
9Internal medicine
10Internal medicine
11Internal medicine
12Internal medicine
13Internal medicine
14Internal medicine
15Surgery
16Surgery
17Surgery
18Surgery
19Pharmacology
20Pharmacology
21Gynaecology
22Obstetrics
23Obstetrics
24Obstetrics and gynaecology
25Pediatrics
26Health
27Health
28Human sexual behavior
29Dietary health
30Dietary health

The Ishinpō preserved more than 200 important medical documents that were all Chinese in origin and no Japanese sources. The medical knowledge in the tome covered clinical treatments that drew from the ancient Chinese traditional medicine and influenced by Indian medical theories found in Buddhist scriptures as well as Taoist references. For instance, there was the so-called Scripture on Pregnancy, which outlined the physical developments and fetal movements. Scholars cite its similarity with a prescription from the old Chinese medical text called Taichan shu, which contained doctrines about the development of embryo and fetus as well as proper hygiene for pregnant women.
The Ishinpō is also 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 and the Yellow Emperor, with the former providing advice on sexual practices to the latter.
While the text is written in kanbun, Japanese terms are written to the side in Man'yōgana for plants, animals, and minerals.