"Regarding the rediscovery of Fu Xing Jue" - translated excerpt from Dun Huang Gu Yi Ji Kao Shi 敦煌古醫籍考釋 (Commentary and Research on Ancient Medical Texts Excavated in Dunhuang, Ma Jixing 馬繼興

A little public service translation here, for anyone interested in the the text Fu Xing Jue Zang Fu Yong Yao Fa《輔行訣臟腑用藥法要》(Auxiliary Knacks of Essential Drug Usage for Viscera).

Ma Jixing first brought attention to this text, and in 1988 published the following story about its discovery:

关于《辅行诀脏腑用药法要》

Regarding the rediscovery of FXJ

十九世纪末，河北威县中医张偓南氏家传医学，所藏医书甚丰。敦煌卷子出土后，闻风前往，曾在驻洞道士手中重金购得医学卷子一轴。书名《辅行诀脏腑用药法要》。卷子首尾基本完整，其前尚绘有三皇、四神及二十八宿之图。张氏视为珍宝。殁后传于其孙中医张大昌（为靖）氏。大昌先生多取此书所载方论治病获有良效，并将此书教授弟子，且录有复本两种。

At the end of the 19th century, the family of Zhang Wonan of Wei County in Hebei practiced medicine, and kept an expansive collection of medical texts. After hearing rumors of the excavation of the Dunhuang scrolls, Zhang Wonan went in search of them, and purchased one scroll from the Daoist monk protecting the caves. The name of the text was FXJ. It was relatively intact and complete, and started with images of the three emperors, four spirits, and twenty-eight constellations. Zhang Wonan saw this as a treasure. After his death it was passed on to his grandson, the physician Zhang Dachang (style Weijing). Zhang Dachang frequently used the formulas and theory recorded in this text to treat illnesses with excellent results, and instructed his disciple with the text and created two copies.

1966年“文革”期间卷子不幸被毁。仅抄本幸免。1974年初张氏用“赤脚医生”之名将抄本寄送中医研究院。初未引起重视，后此件转交我手，经我反复考察验证抄件中保留与引用的古俗讳字、药名、药量、人名、方名、书名、篇名以及病症名称、方剂配伍特征、文章结构与风格等多方面内容，确定绝非今人仿造赝品。

Unfortunately the scroll was destroyed during the cultural revolution period in 1966, and only the hand-copies fortunately remain. In 1974 Zhang Dachang mailed a hand-copy to the Chinese Medicine Research Institute in his role as a barefoot doctor. At first it did not raise any interest, and later it came into my hands. I repeatedly researched and verified that the writing conventions, taboo terms, medicinal names and dosages, individual’s names, formula names, book names, chapter names, as well as disease names, formula composition characteristics, the text’s structure and style, all demonstrated that this could not be a contemporary forgery.

其成书下限绝不晚于宋初以前，因而由我写出了对该卷子年代的初步鉴定资料。为了进一步征求有关文史专家的意见，1975年我曾将此卷子释文及其有关情况，请教了社会科学院张政烺和李学勤两教授。经他们鉴定，在结论中也提到：“此书不是近代的伪作，但也不可能早到（南北朝）梁代的作品。作为一种古籍的传抄本，还是有保存的必要的。”

The latest possible date of creation could not be later than prior to the beginning of the Song Dynasty, and for this reason (?) I have written up initial appraisal material. In order to solicit more opinions from other experts in the fields of literature and history, in 1975 I prepared an annotated copy of the text, with an explanation of its circumstances, and requested the guidance of professors Zhang Zhenglang and Li Xueqin of the Academy of Social Sciences. After their appraisal, in their conclusion they stated: “This book is not a modern forgery, nor can it be a product from as early as the (Northern and Southern Dynasties) Liang Dynasty. As an example of a hand-copy of an ancient text, it is necessary to preserve it.”

与此同时我院王雪苔同志也对此书寄予了很大重视。并专门就此事直接去威县张大昌先生处做了详细调查。并进一步获见保存与其弟子处的另一抄本。

At this time Comrade Wang Xuetai of my institute also expressed great interest in the text, and for this express purpose traveled directly to Zhang Dachang’s place in Wei County to perform an inspection. He was further able to obtain a separate hand-copy preserved at Zhang Dachang’s disciple’s place.

故本书此次的整理即特约请王雪苔院长据此两本互勘而厘定。

In the preparation of this book I specially engaged Director Wang to compare and collate these two copies.

Dun Huang Gu Yi Ji Kao Shi 敦煌古醫籍考釋 (Commentary and Research on Ancient Medical Texts Excavated in Dunhuang, Ma Jixing 馬繼興, ed., Nanchang: Jiangxi Kexue Jishu Chubanshe, 1988, p. 4)