The Rediscovery of Lady Tan: A 15th-Century Physician and Her Enduring Legacy

A Chance Encounter with History

Imagine stumbling upon a forgotten world while confined within your own. That's precisely what happened to bestselling author Lisa See during the pandemic. Trapped in lockdown, a seemingly ordinary book, Reproducing Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth in the Ming Dynasty, caught her eye. Within its pages lay a brief mention of Tan Yunxian, a female physician from 15th-century China, whose medical writings had miraculously survived through the centuries.

This chance encounter sparked a literary journey, leading See to write Lady Tan's Circle of Women, a fictionalized account of Tan's life and practice. But the story doesn't end there. See's quest also connected her with Lorraine Wilcox, a scholar of Chinese medicine and the translator of Tan's original text, Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor. Through a series of Zoom meetings, Wilcox became an invaluable resource, sharing unpublished research and connecting See with experts in traditional Chinese medicine.

A Woman Physician in Ming Dynasty China

Tan Yunxian, an elite woman born into a family of scholars and physicians, defied Confucian norms that confined women to domestic pursuits. Encouraged by her grandfather, who recognized her exceptional intelligence, Tan embraced the family's medical legacy. While primarily treating women and girls within her family compound, Tan's writings also reveal encounters with women from different social strata, like a ship's tiller woman and a brick and tile maker. These intriguing details sparked See's imagination, leading her to ponder how Tan, an elite woman, could cross paths with individuals outside her social circle.

"If this was an elite woman who was never supposed to go beyond her front gate, how did she meet the tiller woman? How did she meet that brick and tile maker?" See wondered. This question became the foundation for her novel, weaving a captivating narrative around the fragments of Tan's life.

Balancing Fact and Fiction

The scarcity of biographical information about Tan presented a unique challenge for See. While Tan’s medical text provided details about her patients and treatments, much of her personal life remained shrouded in mystery. To fill these gaps, See immersed herself in research on Ming Dynasty medicine, particularly focusing on women's health. She delved into texts written by male physicians who, due to social customs, could not directly examine their female patients, relying instead on intermediaries and often resorting to conjecture about women's bodies.

See ingeniously incorporated actual historical medical cases from the era into her narrative, although not all of them were from Tan’s own practice. This blending of fact and fiction allowed See to paint a vivid portrait of Tan's world while remaining faithful to the historical context.

A Collaborative Journey

The collaboration between See and Wilcox proved essential in ensuring both historical accuracy and accessibility for readers unfamiliar with Chinese medicine. Wilcox advised See on medical practices prevalent during Tan's time, cautioning against anachronisms like tongue diagnosis. Together, they carefully curated the herbal remedies featured in the novel, selecting a limited number to avoid overwhelming readers with unfamiliar terminology.

"I never put the entire recipe for one of her remedies," See explains. "I think all together in the whole book, I only use 12 herbs... so that readers ... wouldn’t just get completely lost."

A Legacy Rediscovered

Tan Yunxian's story is a testament to the enduring power of female contributions, even in the face of societal limitations and historical erasure. Her meticulous documentation of medical cases, intended as a practical guide for women, offers a unique window into the lives and health concerns of women in Ming Dynasty China.

As Wilcox emphasizes, "It really is a window into what women themselves thought." See adds, "We get to do what we do today because those women came before us and we’re literally standing on their shoulders."

The rediscovery of Tan Yunxian's work serves as a powerful reminder of the countless "lost women of science" whose contributions have been overlooked or forgotten. Their stories, like Tan's, deserve to be told, inspiring future generations and enriching our understanding of the past.