Healing Library
The Jingxiao Chanbao — The Earliest Extant Monograph on Obstetrics
The Jingxiao Chanbao (Effective Treasury of Obstetrics), also known as the Chanbao, was written by Zan Yin between 847-852 CE during the Tang dynasty. It is the earliest extant monograph on obstetrics in China. In three fascicles, 52 chapters, and 371 formulas, it systematically addresses pregnancy care, miscarriage prevention, difficult labor, and postpartum disorders, emphasizing the regulation of qi and blood and the tonification of the spleen and kidney. Its practical discussions on transverse and breech presentations and emergency management of postpartum fainting preserve the rich obstetric experience and formularies of the pre-Tang era, laying an important foundation for the development of TCM gynecology and obstetrics.
The Jingxiao Chanbao (Effective Treasury of Obstetrics), also known simply as the Chanbao (Treasury of Obstetrics), was completed between 847 and 852 CE.
The Jingxiao Chanbao is the earliest extant monograph on obstetrics in China. The author synthesized the discussions on pregnancy and childbirth by various authorities before the Tang dynasty, incorporated proven folk remedies, and combined these with his own clinical experience to produce this work.
The Chanbao consists of 3 fascicles, divided into 52 chapters, and contains 371 formulas. The first fascicle discusses nourishing the fetus, protecting the fetus, quieting the fetus, dietary prohibitions, morning sickness (e zu), fetal agitation and restlessness, leaking of the gestational sac with bleeding, generalized edema and abdominal distention, as well as various disorders of difficult labor, with particular emphasis on transverse presentation and breech presentation. The middle and lower fascicles discuss the treatment of various obstetric diseases and their formulas, comprising a total of 25 chapters.
The Jingxiao Chanbao provides detailed discussion of pattern differentiation and treatment centering on disease conditions of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. For each category of pattern, the medical theory is first set forth, and then the formulas and medicinals are described. In treatment, it emphasizes regulating qi and blood and tonifying and benefiting the spleen and kidney. Its emergency measures for blood fainting (postpartum hemorrhage with shock) are practical, effective, and simple and convenient to apply.
The Jingxiao Chanbao preserves the experiential formulas and medicinals of obstetrics from before the Tang dynasty. It became a guiding standard for gynecology and obstetrics in later generations and has made a definite contribution to the development of obstetrics in China.