A Study on the Accumulation and Dissemination of Medical Knowledge by Literati(士大夫) in the Song Period, with a Focus on Case of Abscess(癰疽)

In the Chinese medical history, the literati officials of the Song period (960-1279) played a crucial role in the enormous accumulation and dissemination of medical knowledge. More specifically, they compiled and wrote medical books and thereby contributed to the collection and spread of medical knowledge. It is noteworthy that they noted abscess (癰疽), which belongs to the discipline of surgery, as a single disease in addition to Shanghan(傷寒). Previous studies have not examined this topic sufficiently. Most studies focused on the overall interest in medicine by literati officials during the Song period or Shanghan or some specific diseases endemic to the southern region. This study focuses on activities of the literati officials during the Song period for the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge about abscess. A previous study noted that literati officials during the Song period had an influence on the development of a scholarly, pulse check-based internal medicine, and this trend continued into the Ming and Qing. This study examines the way the literati officials of the Song period communicated with each other in the discipline of surgery, the efforts they made to treat abscess, and the way they interacted with local doctors specializing in abscess, and thereby elucidates diverse aspects of a medical culture during the Song period.