The Four Chinese Characters of Katsubutsu Kyuri Express the Maxim Chosen by Seishu Hanaoka.

Abstract

Koko Niida composed an epitaph for Seishu Hanaoka in 1836 and in it he employed a phrase consisting of eight Chinese characters to describe Hanaoka's medicine. The phrase reads Naigai Goitsu Katsubutsu Kyuri. Since then, the phrase has prevailed as Hanaoka's motto, even among lay people as well as medical historians. Although there are scrolls written by Hanaoka showing the four Chinese characters of Katsubutsu Kyuri, no calligraphy including the four Chinese characters of Naigai Goitsu is extant. Gencho Honma, one of the leading disciples of Hanaoka and who published Zoku Yoka Hiroku in 1859, mentioned in the preface that the phrase Katsubutsu Kyuri was the maxim that Hanaoka proposed. Considering these facts, the phrase Katsubutsu Kyuri is the very maxim chosen by Hanaoka. He appreciated the significance of skillfulness in the practice of surgery, which was difficult to acquire by reading books and listening to lectures. One of his important phrases, which reads Toku to Futoku wa Sonohito ni Ari in seven Chinese characters, is discussed, regarding how to be adept at technical skills in the practice of surgery.