Goto Konzan

A physician and a pioneer of the Koho school that arose in the mid-Edo period. Born in Edo. His given name was Tatsu, his pen name was Arinari, his pen name was Yoan, and his common name was Saichiro. He loved learning from an early age, and studied classics under Hayashi Hoko, and medicine under Makimura Bokuju. At the age of 27, he moved to Kyoto, set up residence in Muromachi, west of Shokokuji Temple, changed his name to Yotatsu, and opened a medical practice. He then moved to Kano-gai, taking the name Yoan, and then to Ogimachi, in front of the Kinmon Gate, where he lived for the rest of his life. In the 18th year of the Kyoho era, he died of diaphragmatic stenosis (a disease of the esophagus, thought to be a type of stomach or esophageal stenosis or cancer) while traveling to Mt. Ibuki in Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture). His gravestone is located in the Rendaiji Fumon-in Cemetery, above Umaguchi, Senbon-dori, Kita-ku, Kyoto City.

Konzan had over 200 disciples, among whom Kagawa Shuan (Shutoku) and Yamawaki Toyo are particularly well known. Konzan proposed the theory of one-time stagnation, which says that all illnesses arise from the stagnation of one spurt of air, and as a Japanese theory of pathogenesis, he has shone an immortal light in the history of Japanese medicine. Though he is considered the founder of the ancient school of medicine, his medical treatment was not necessarily limited to the Shokanron, and he praised the use of moxibustion and hot springs. While most traditional physicians wore monk attire, Konzan tied his hair up and wore ordinary clothing. This became the Konzan style, and many physicians followed suit. Konzan wrote very little, but it is thought that his disciples compiled and wrote Shisetsu Bunki and Toyo Rakugo.

[Michiaki Yakazu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

医師。江戸中期におこった古方(こほう)派の先駆者。江戸の生まれ。名は達(たつ)、字(あざな)は有成(ありなり)、号は養庵(ようあん)、俗称は左一郎。少年時より学を好み、林鳳岡(はやしほうこう)に経学を、さらに牧村卜寿(ぼくじゅ)に医を学んだ。27歳で京都に移り、相国寺西の室町に居を定め、名を養達と改め医門を開く。その後、狩野街に移って養庵と号し、さらに禁門前の正親町(おおぎまち)に移り、ここを終生の居とした。享保(きょうほう)18年、近江(おうみ)国（滋賀県）伊吹山への旅行中に膈噎(かくえつ)（食道の病気で、胃や食道の狭窄(きょうさく)症や癌(がん)の類と考えられる）にかかり没した。墓碑は京都市北区千本通馬口上ル蓮台寺(れんだいじ)普門院墓地にある。

　艮山の門人は200人を超え、なかでも香川修庵（修徳）、山脇東洋(やまわきとうよう)が知られる。艮山は百病は一気の留滞に生ずるという「一気留滞説」を提唱し、日本人の手になる病因説として日本医学史上に不滅の光を放っている。古方派の祖とされるが、その医療はかならずしも『傷寒論(しょうかんろん)』のみにはとらわれず、灸(きゅう)や温泉などを賞用した。従来の医師の多くが僧形であったのに対し、艮山は髪を束ね、平服を着用した。以後これが艮山流となり、多くの医家が追従した。艮山の著述はほとんどなく、『師説筆記』『東洋洛語(らくご)』なども門人の編著と考えられる。

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