The Literary Legacy of Hanaoka Seishū, Japanese Pioneer in Anesthesia

Title

The Literary Legacy of Hanaoka Seishū, Japanese Pioneer in Anesthesia

Author

Yen-wan XIAO and Junko SUGAHARA

Page

115-154

DOI

10.6163/TJEAS.201912_16(2).0004

Abstract

Hanaoka Seishū (1760-1835) was born in Meishu, Kaminakacho, Kishū (now Hirayama Village, Nachi District, Wakayama Prefecture). His most significant contribution to the history of medicine is that he successfully performed general anesthesia by using his own oral formula “tsūsensan” in a mastectomy on October 13, 1804. The existing research on Hanaoka Seishū therefore focuses on his medical practice and achievement. This paper, however, takes a literary perspective to study Hanaoka Seishū. Through “The Collection of Hanaoka Seishū’s Poetry” in Hanaoka Seishū and His Surgery (Hanaoka Seishū Sensei Oyobi Sono Geka) compiled by Kure Shūzō (1865-1932), my research explores how his poems drew inspiration from Chinese poetry. The inspiration has been embodied in a transition of his poems from classicism to individualism and his breakaway from the level of imitation to Japanized Han poetry. This article, furthermore, delves into Hanaoka’s interpersonal networks so as to gain a better understanding of his personal history and explain the significance of a typical cultural lifestyle that Hanaoka has revealed in his poetry. Lastly, this research investigates the relationship between the development of Han poetry and the development of medical thoughts in the Edo era.

Keyword

Hanaoka Seishū, Han Poetry, Medical History in the Edo Era, Social Network, Farm Village Life

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