Abstract:

The 4-volume codex of Huihui Yaofang in the collection of the National Library of China is the only surviving precious book that records the medical and cultural exchanges between China and Arabia and Persia, it is also important evidence of the cultural exchanges of diversified medicines along the “Belt and Road”. However, its edition and compilation style has not attracted enough attention in the academic community. Current studies mostly accept Mr. Song Xian’s point of view, namely “it is an imitation of the format of Shengji Zonglu”. It is found that Huihui Yaofang is not consistent with the original version of Shengji Zonglu (carved by Dade in the Yuan Dynasty) concerning the compilation style, but highly similar to the original version of Pujifang (copy of the Ming Dynasty) in terms of the style of the compilation, the division of the categories and the layout. Pujifang was completed in the early years of the Ming Dynasty. Huihui Yaofang is likely to be modeled on the Pujifang’s compilation style, so its publication date should be in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, after the Hongwu-Yongle period, instead of the generally accepted late Yuan and early Ming.

Key words: Huihui Yaofang, Pujifang, Edition, Compilation style