Abstract
Shihosamul-tang (柴胡四物湯, Bupleurum Four Substances Decoction) is a very effective and widely utilized prescription in Korean medicine. However, there has not been a clinical example written in the classical literature of Korean medicine that deals with Shihosamul-tang and the delicate and changeable clinical use of Shihosamul-tang remains unknown. This study tries, for the first time, to show the clinical practice of Shihosamul-tang through review of KyungBoSinPyun (輕寶新篇). KyungBoSinPyun is a medical book containing 143 case records in the tradition of the East Asian practice of describing clinical encounters and the therapies employed. This study examines eight examples of case records within KyungBoSinPyun highlighting use of Shihosamul-tang. The purpose is to understand how Shihosamul-tang is applied in clinical practice compared to the description of Shihosamul-tang in Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑). Different descriptions about the symptoms and transformation methods of the prescription have been found in the eight examples of Shihosamul-tang case records contained in KyungBoSinPyun. This paper concludes that the difference between clinical practice and a typical description in medical books should be overcome by medical virtuosity and the potential for change for each clinical case, which is gained when seeing beyond the text of medical books.
