The Block-printed Publication and Re-import of Chinese Medical Books in Japan

In early Japanese print culture, most of the medical books printed and published were the works of Xiong Zongli, a traditional Chinese physician from the Ming Dynasty. After movable type printing was introduced to Japan via Korea, the publication of Japanese block-printed medical books reached an unprecedented peak. Through the analysis of these block-printed editions, we can gain insight into Japan's absorption of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at that time, as well as the development of Japan's local Kampo medicine—specifically the Ancient Formula School (Kohō-ha). With a large number of medical books preserved in Japan and Japanese block-printed editions returning to China during the late Qing Dynasty, the medical achievements of the Textual Research School (Kōshō-ha), which rose to prominence in the late Edo period, were also introduced. Some of the currently standard editions of medical books in China benefited from the re-imported Japanese editions or were published based on them. The return of long-lost books played a crucial role in the transmission, preservation, and continuation of TCM classics, holding special cultural complementary significance in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange. In the current context of promoting Chinese culture internationally, revisiting and studying the history of the block-printed publication and their return offers both academic and practical value.