Feb 01 2009
Extraordinary View of the Abdomen
I am ever reliant on the knowledge, guide and good will of others. This book Extraordinary Views of Abdominal Patterns (腹證奇覽 fù zhèng qí lân) originally caught my attention when friend asked me to pick up a few copies for him on one of my trips to Taiwan. I snagged a copy for myself at the time, and like The 10 Key Formula Families have been reading it over a period of time. The more I read, the more interesting it becomes.
As this book also focuses on the classic formulas, it is not surprising that there are tie-ins to some of the clinical considerations that Dr. Huang tends to stress. More interesting, this book gives clear and concise abdominal presentations that help the practitioner to focus their clinical perception through the use of their hands and consider the objective physical presentation of the patient’s abdomen.
I asked Nigel Dawes, one of the foremost western practitioners of Japanese Kampo, about this book. He had this to say:
The book you are referring to, 腹證奇覽 Fuku Shoh Ki Ran (Extraordinary Views of Abdominal Patterns, is one of the most famous Edo Period (1600 – 1862) Japanese texts on Fukushin (abdominal diagnosis) it was written around 1800 by 稻葉克文禮 Inaba Katsubunrei who was born around 1805.
It seems the book had a great influence in spreading the importance of Fukushin in the practice of Kanpo. Little is known about Inaba and a positive date of birth or hometown is not even known.
He was said to be an orphan and had minimal education, but he decided nonetheless to become a doctor. So he looked for a way to train without being able to read/write. He met a doctor, who was an expert in Fukushin. This doctor was not a direct student of Todo Yoshimasu, (perhaps the most celebrated of the Kanpo doctors of the Edo period in Japan), but was an admirer of his.
It is said that Inaba wrote Fuku Sho Ki Ran by having his students transcribe his dictations.
The content of this book is quite complimentary to that of The 10 Key Formula Families, watch for occasional excerpts here that will help you to add palpatory diagnosis to your clinical repertoire.
One response so far
[...] to Taiwan ate up all my attention there for a while. As promised, here are a few pages from the Extraordinary Views of the Abdomen. Not only that, but there is a bit of discussion from a doctor friend in Beijing that I hope you [...]