Quan Ti Xin Lun 全體新論 [A New Treatise on Anatomy] 江蘇上海墨海書館, 1851

Numerous in-text illustrations. One volume. Orig wrappers, large 8vo (25 × 15.2 cm). 77 leaves, woodblock. 江蘇上海墨海書館, The London Missionary Society Press, 咸豐元年, 1851.

Compiled collaboratively by the British missionary Benjamin Hobson (合信) and the Chinese scholar Chen Xiutang (陳修堂), Quan Ti Xin Lun is a landmark anatomical and physiological treatise representing the early transmission of Western medicine into China. It introduced—systematically and for the first time—Western anatomical knowledge to a Chinese readership.

The work presents detailed discussions of the skeleton, internal organs, and bodily systems, accompanied by numerous anatomical illustrations. Notably, it offers one of the earliest explanations of the nervous system in Chinese medical literature, rendering the English term nerve as “naoqijin” (脑气筋). Integrating Western medical theories with traditional Chinese conceptual frameworks, Hobson and Chen describe organ functions, pathology, and bodily mechanisms through the lens of empirical, evidence-based medicine.

As one of the most important early Chinese works on Western anatomy and physiology, Quan Ti Xin Lun significantly broadened traditional understandings of the human body and marked a pivotal moment in the modernization of Chinese medical knowledge.

Wrappers show minor damage with small areas of loss. Some water staining. Occasional red punctuation circles appear throughout the text. The printing shows some blurring in places, characteristic of heavy woodblock use.

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