Canon of Sextes Jylis

Overview

The Canon of Sextes Jylis is a collection of ancient tomes, whose authorship is credited to the Immaculate of Wood and his loyal disciple Dihuang. Together, the texts provide the basis of medical knowledge in the Realm today. It is to medical professionals what the Thousand Correct Actions is to soldiers.

The first tome of the Canon is known as the Basic Questions, presented as eighty-one sets of questions and answers between the pair which teach basic diagnostic techniques. Rather than presenting Medicine as a theological matter of placating gods of health and disease, the Canon instead relates that natural effects of diet, lifestyle, emotions, environment, and age are the reason diseases develop. According to the Canon, Creation is composed of various forces and principles, such as the Five Elements, Essence, the Four Virtues, and Willpower. These forces can be understood via rational means and people can stay in balance or return to balance and health by understanding the laws of these natural forces. The body is a microcosm that mirrors the larger macrocosm of Creation.

The second tome of the Canon is known as the Spiritual Pivot, and is an introduction to the flows of essence through the human body, the chakras and foci through which it passes, and the basic techniques of acupuncture which ameliorate these flows.

The third tome of the Canon is known as the Compendium of Materia Medica, a listing of all plants, animals, minerals, and other items believed to have medicinal properties, along with illustrations and recipes. Over two thousand different items are listed, along with 10,000 prescriptions to treat common ailments. Some say that the tome is not a list compiled by finding plants, but rather the work of Dihuang noting down the properties of each seed as Sextes Jylis cast it out onto the soil of Creation.

Distribution & Availability

The Canon is available to the wealthy of the Realm in complete, beautifully illustrated copies. Shorter excerpts and abridged selections are available through woodblock printing, used for training and reference by the doctors and pharmacists of the Thousand Scales.

EXCERPT: Basic Questions Treatise Seventeen

Discussions on the Essential and Finely Discernible Aspects of the Pulse

The great and enlightened Sextes Jylis inquired:

"How is an examination of the pulse done?"

Brother Dihuang answered:

“The laws of diagnosis are as follows.

As a rule, it is at dawn,

before Fire has begun its movement,

before Water is dispersed,

before beverages and food have been consumed,

before the conduit vessels are filled to abundance,

when the contents of the network vessels are balanced,

before the Essence and blood move in disorder,

that, hence, one can diagnose an abnormal movement in the vessels.

Squeeze the vessels, whether their movement is excited or quiet, and observe the essence-brilliance.

Investigate the five complexions. Observe

whether the five depots have a surplus or an insufficiency,

whether the six palaces are strong or weak, and

whether the physical appearance is marked by abundance or decays. All this is brought together to reach a conclusion enabling one to differentiate

between the patient's death and survival.”