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Objective: The plague broke out in China in 1855. Following war and trade, it landed in Taiwan in 1896. Although the Japanese colonial government rejected Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at the time, TCM was recognized by the public and the colonial government for its clinical effects, and Dr Huang Yujie was one of them. A representative figure, his “New Edition of the Treatment of Plague” is the only book on the treatment of plague by Chinese medicine in Taiwan at present. This article will analyse the book’s discussion of plague and the prescriptions for treatment of plague to understand how Taiwan’s unique Traditional Chinese Medicine treated plague at that time. Additionally, this article will analyse Luo Ruran’s “Plague Compilation” to compare the similarities and differences in plague treatment between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Method: This article will use the “document analysis method” to study the book “The New Edition of the Treatment of Pimple Plague”, and compare the “Plague Compilation” by Luo Rulan of the Qing Dynasty in the same period. This article will analyze the similarities and differences of traditional medicine between the two sides of the strait; part of it will also look for evidence from modern documents to understand the principles of the Chinese prescriptions in the book.
Results: The “New Compilation of the Treatment of Lump Plague” was written in 1898. At that time, the term “plague” had appeared. However, because of the colonial government, Huang Yujie used “Lump Plague/bubonic plague” to name the book. Traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese medicine have the same spiritual connotation.
In terms of the causes and prescriptions of the disease, although the “New Edition of the Treatment of Pimple Plague” and the “Compilation of Plague” both focus on the theory of “Earth Qi”, and the treatment policy is also to clear away heat and detoxify, and promote blood circulation to remove blood stasis as the treatment direction, we found the in the former, proper nouns such as “bacteria” from “Treatise on Febrile Diseases” to describe invisible epidemics, and the extensive use of Taiwan’s indigenous herbs and medicines.
Conclusion: Although there are many similarities between the “New Edition of the Treatment of Pimple Plague” and the “Compilation of Plague”, many modern medical terms, such as bacteria or blood vessels, can be seen in the former, and the traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions are used in the prescriptions. The combination with Taiwan’s native herbs can be said to be a major feature of Chinese medicine at that time.
【Keywords】Huang Yujie; Pimple Plague; Bubonic Plague; Plague; Yersinia Pestis; Chinese Medicine
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251.3 台灣鼠疫漢醫專書：黃玉階《疙瘩瘟治法新編》
