“Illuminating Ancient Learning,Introducing New Knowledge”: Xin Yizong Bidu and the Shift in the Construction of Modern Traditional Chinese Medicine Knowledge

Abstract: Xin Yizong Bidu (New Essential Readings of the Medical Lineage,《新医宗必读》) was published in 1907(the 33rd year of the Guangxu Reign) by the modern physician He Lianchen;its title was adopted from Yizong Bidu (Essential Readings of the Medical Lineage) by the Ming Dynasty physician Li Zhongzi.During the Ming and Qing periods,“Yizong”(medical lineage“医宗”) had evolved into a paradigmatic model for the organization of knowledge within comprehensive medical texts,serving as a crucial category of medical literature for practitioners seeking to engage in systematic learning and knowledge consolidation.By tracing the connections between the “old” and the “new”—as well as between “name” and “reality”—within the context of late Qing China,a period marked by competition between Chinese and Western medicine and the disruption of established medical knowledge systems,the very act of titling this work “Xin Yizong” inherently signaled an intent to both inherit tradition and pioneer innovation.He Lianchen's Xin Yizong Bidu placed equal emphasis on systematizing the practical principles of traditional medicine and embracing an open,reformist ethos.Situated within a comparative framework of Chinese and Western medicine,the work aimed to forge a new path for medical science by “weighing the merits of the past and present internally,while drawing upon the wisdom of the East and West externally”.He Lianchen's advocacy for “integrating Chinese and Western approaches”—and the knowledge construction realized through Xin Yizong Bidu under the guiding principle of “illuminating ancient learning while introducing new knowledge”—represents one of the pivotal directions in the reform and development of modern medicine.Existing scholarship has not yet fully explored the epistemological value and reformist spirit embodied in Xin Yizong Bidu;therefore,further analysis is warranted,situated within a multidimensional perspective that spans both the historical continuum and the cross-cultural dialogue between Chinese and Western medical traditions.