The Xu's medical family from the Northern and Southern dynasties in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties

Abstract

The Xu's Medical Family, from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, was called an official family with medical background by Fan Xingzhun. Its genealogy was traced back to the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. Based on the local chronicles, epitaphs, history books and relevant medical historical artifacts, this paper explores the development of the Xu's Medical Family in the Yuan and the Ming Dynasties. Most of the Xu's family members were appointed as medical officials locally after Xue Yueweng in the Yuan Dynasty. Xu Shu, Xu Biao, Xu Wei and Xu Wenyuan were appointed as Medical Ambassadors and the judges of Tai Yi Hospital in the Ming Dynasty. Xu Wei was appointed as the Right Tong Zheng in charge of the Tai Yi Hospital affairs in the period of Jia Jing, and promoted to the Chief of Taipu Department in the period of Wan Li in the Ming Dynasty. He was the highest-ranking official in the Xu's Medical Family in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Xu's Medical Family were a family of both officials and doctors, to some extent, related to the Yi-Hu System in both the Yuan and the Ming Dynasties. Some of the Xu's family members still took a career as a doctor, but did not serve as medical officers from the Qing Dynasty. Some of the Xu's decendants went into official careers via the Imperial Examination, such as Xu Shifen, as Deputy Minister of Hubu in the Qing Dynasty.