Fifty-two Prescriptions for Diseases on Mawangdui Silk is the oldest medical prescription in China, with 9,911 words. It was copied in the 5/6 part after a long scroll about 24 cm high and 45 cm long. It is a cultural relic of the Western Han Dynasty. It was unearthed from the No.3 Han Tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan Province in 1973.
It is one of the most abundant medical books unearthed from Mawangdui No.3 Han Tomb. When the book was unearthed, it had no title. Because there were 52 kinds of disease names in its catalogue, and the words "Fan Fifty-two" followed these disease names, the organizer named the book accordingly. The book is about 15, words, involving more than 1 disease names, more than 28 therapeutic prescriptions and more than 24 kinds of drugs. It is the oldest existing medical prescription book in China.
The names of diseases recorded in Fifty-two Diseases Prescription involve internal and external diseases, gynecological diseases, infantile diseases, five senses and other diseases, among which surgical diseases are the most common, including trauma, animal bites, spasticity (tetanus), carbuncle, ulcer, tumor, dermatosis and anorectal diseases. Medical diseases include epilepsy, malaria, eating disorder, epilepsy, spasticity, gonorrhea and parasitic diseases; Pediatric diseases include epilepsy, carbuncle, etc. In addition, it also involves obstetric diseases, ophthalmic diseases and so on. The understanding of some diseases in the book has reached a considerable level. For example, the book vividly describes the symptoms of an unknown disease (leprosy), such as a stem borer biting through the plant's heart, and its hair has no fixed place, either in the nose, or beside the mouth, or in the gums, or in the fingers, which makes people lose their noses and fingers. It reflects that the understanding of the characteristics and symptoms of this disease was profound at that time. Another example is the book about "spasticity, spasticity, injury, wind entering injury, body belief (stretching) but not bending"; The record of "those who have neck (spasm) due to injury ... are so sick that they can drink, so they have to open their mouths for irrigation" clearly describes the two main symptoms of spasticity (tetanus), that is, the angle of the jujube arch is reversed and the teeth are closed. These accounts are not only the earliest in the medical history of China, but also confirmed by modern medicine. There are more than 24 kinds of drugs recorded in Fifty-two Diseases Prescription, including herbs, cereals, vegetables, trees and fruits, animal drugs such as animals, birds, fish and insects, and mineral drugs such as realgar and mercury. The efficacy and indications of many drugs in the book are consistent with later medical literature and clinical practice. The book also records the collection and collection methods of drugs, reflecting the development of pharmacology before the Western Han Dynasty.