Yu Yan (medic)

Yu Yan ( Chinese  余 巌 , Pinyin Yú Yan ; salutation Yunxiu ; born September 14, 1879 , † January 3, 1954 ) was a Chinese doctor specializing in Western medicine. He came from Zhenhai ( Chinese  镇海 , Pinyin Zhèn hǎi ) in the province of Zhejiang ( Chinese  浙江 , Pinyin Zhè jiāng ).

biography

In his younger years he went to Osaka, Japan, and studied Western medicine there . After returning to China , he researched Chinese medicine and pharmacology , paying special attention to the ancient classical literature of Chinese medicine. In the book he wrote, “ Explanation of the Meaning of Names and Appearances of Diseases in Antiquity ”, he examined the origin and development of ancient diseases in Chinese medicine from the perspective of classical commentary.

As he was under the influence of the ideological current of " national nihilism ", he said that Chinese medicine needed a "revolution" and was "unscientific". For this reason, he suggested that Chinese medicine should be abolished and that pharmacy should be preserved. In 1927 he filed an application to abolish ancient medicine. This proposal caused a countercurrent in the development of Chinese medicine at the time and caused the most violent opposition in traditional Chinese medical circles.

Works

In addition to the book Explanation of the Meaning of Names and Phenomena of Diseases in Antiquity , which was published after the liberation, Yu Yan wrote many other works. Among them are: About the revolution in medicine and critical assessment of the two parts of the inner classic “Center of Efficiency” (Lingshu 霛 樞) and “Fundamental Questions” (Suwen 素 問) .

Web links

• Full biography of Yu Yan in Chinese ( Memento from August 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive )