Yoshimasu Toudou

Japanese: 吉益東洞 - よします・とうどう

Year of death: 25th September 1773 (9th November 1773)
Year of birth: May 15, Genroku (1702)
A doctor in the mid-Edo period. Born in Hiroshima. His father was Hatakeyama Shigemune and his mother was Hana. His given name was Tamenori, his pen name was Kogen, and his common name was Shusuke. He was originally called Toan, but later changed his name to Toudou. At the age of 19, he decided to become a doctor, and first studied Yoshimasu-style obstetrics under Nozu Sujun. He then studied medical classics such as the Suwen on his own, but he distrusted the Kingen-style medicine that was popular at the time, and was sympathetic to the medical theories of Nagoya Gen'i and Goto Konzan. At around the age of 30, he established the theory that all diseases are caused by one poison, and advocated the formulation of treatment policies based on Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Febrile Diseases. According to Toudou, the cause of disease is a poison that is somehow produced in the body after birth, and there is only one type of poison. Why does one type of poison cause all diseases? He said that this is because the poison is present in different parts of the body. This is an extremely unusual individual disease theory idea in Chinese medicine, and is fundamentally different from the theory of stagnation of a single qiuum proposed by Gonzan, who also taught the ancient medical school. At the age of 37, he moved to Tokyo and settled in Kasuga-koji Minami, Manri-gai, where he preached ancient medical methods and at the same time resumed his great-grandfather's surname, Yoshimasu. He struggled to make a living and made a living by making dolls, but at the age of 44, he met Yamawaki Toyo by chance, and his medical reputation suddenly rose, and at the age of 47, he moved to Higashinotoin. This is when he began using the name Tonoto. He wrote many books, but the most important ones are probably ``Idan,'' ``Yakucho,'' and ``Ruijuho.'' ``Idan'' is a collection of medical treatises, ``Yakucho'' discusses the medicinal properties of crude drugs from a different perspective than materia medica, and ``Ruijuho'' ignores the context of ``Shanghanlun,'' such as the three yin and three yang, and reconstructs them by prescription. He completely deleted the articles related to the theory of yin and yang and the five elements, saying that they were ``not Zhongjing's style.'' However, Todo was not the first to place importance on abdominal diagnosis; it was also seen in the writings of Dosan Manase and Gensaku, and the words "The abdomen is the source of life. Therefore, all illnesses have their roots in it" from "Idan" already appeared in Gensaku's "Hyakufuku Zusetsu." He was buried at Shogon-in Temple in Tofukuji Temple.

(Yoshio Otsuka)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：安永2.9.25(1773.11.9)
生年：元禄15.5(1702)
江戸中期の医者。広島に生まれる。父は畠山重宗,母は花。名を為則,字は公言,通称は周助,初め東庵と号したが,のちに東洞と改めた。19歳のときに医を志し,初め能津祐順について吉益流金瘡産科を学んだ。そののち独学で『素問』をはじめとする医学の古典を精読したが,当時盛行していた金元流の医学に不信感を抱き,名古屋玄医,後藤艮山らの医説に共感を抱いた。30歳ごろに万病一毒説を立て,張仲景の『傷寒論』を基準として治療の方針を立てることを唱導した。東洞によれば,生体に何らかの理由で後天的に生じた毒が疾病の原因であり,毒の種類はひとつしかない。一種類しかない毒のためにどうして万病を生ずるかといえば,それは毒の存在する部位が異なるためであるという。これは中国医学ではきわめて例外的な個体病理論的発想であり,同じ古方派の艮山の提唱した一気留滞説とは根本的に異なる。 37歳のときに上京して万里街春日小路南に居をかまえ,古医方を唱え,同時に曾祖父の姓吉益氏に復した。生計が苦しく人形造りをして暮らしていたが,44歳で偶然のことから山脇東洋と識り,急に医名が高まり,47歳のときに東洞院に移転した。東洞の号はこのときに始まる。多くの著書があるが,特に重要なのは『医断』『薬徴』『類聚方』であろう。『医断』は医論集であり,『薬徴』は本草とは違った立場からみた生薬の薬能を論じたものであり,『類聚方』は『傷寒論』の三陰三陽などの文脈を無視し,処方別に再構成したものである。陰陽五行説関連の条文は「仲景の口吻ではない」としてこれを全面的に削除している。しかし腹診を重視したのは東洞が最初ではなく,曲直瀬道三・玄朔の著述にもみられ,『医断』の「腹は生あるの本。故に百病は此に根さす」の語もすでに玄朔の『百腹図説』にみえる。東福寺荘厳院に葬られた。

(大塚恭男)

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