Shinkyuu Kanayomi Juushikei Chihou. [Japanese Acupuncture Manual].

Rare nineteenth century Japanese acupuncture manual illustrated with 15 full-page woodcut illustrations of acupuncture points

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Item Number: 149716

Rare nineteenth century Japanese acupuncture manual illustrated with 15 full-page woodcut illustrations of acupuncture points. Quarto, bound in limp wrappers, illustrated. In very good condition, with loss to the upper portion of the rear wrapper. Together with two other similarly bound octavo works in Japanese, one on Meridian Points for acupuncture, illustrated and titled “Juushikei”, the other with hand colored illustrations of everyday objects.

Japanese acupuncture manuals of the Meiji era often combined traditional Chinese medical theory with local interpretive systems. The present example is illustrated with fifteen full-page woodcuts depicting acupuncture points across the body, serving both diagnostic and instructional purposes. The title itself—combining shinkyuu (acupuncture and moxibustion), kanayomi (metal-reading or elemental correlations), juushikei (seasonal forms or configurations), and chihou (local or regional influences)—suggests a systematized approach to treatment that aligns meridian theory with temporal and elemental factors, possibly influenced by the Five Phases (Wu Xing) and calendrical medicine. Typical of Japanese medical texts of the period, the work is presented in traditional fukuro-toji (bound-pocket) format, with a title slip on the upper cover and woodblock-printed text. Though modest in production, this manual reflects a rich synthesis of empirical technique and cosmological theory that characterized late 19th-century East Asian medical practice.