Treatment of acute pathologies, 'putrid wind', lithograph

Lithograph from Huitu shajing hebi (Illustrated Compendium of Acute Pathologies), published in 1911 (3rd year of the Xuantong reign period of the Qing dynasty). This is a specialised text dealing with shabing - a category of sudden, acute diseases. It contains descriptions of 44 conditions, each accompanied by an illustration. This page combines expository prose, mnemonic verse and visual imagery. The illustration shows a naked child of indeterminate gender, covered from head to toe in lesions. It graphically depicts the external signs of the condition known as lanfeng (putrid wind). According to the text, fire rising throughout the child's body gives rise to fulan (floating rot), which can be treated by bathing in a decoction of huangbai (Cortex Phellodendri).

Picture title: Other lettering: Below the picture is a quatrain setting out the symptoms and treatment of lanfeng, as cited in 'Description of Image Content'.