Ishinpō

Ishinpō (医心方) is the oldest surviving Japanese medical text. It was written by Yasuyori Tamba in 984 and is 30 volumes in length. The work is based on the Chinese Bìng Yuánhóu lún, written by Suí Dynasty author Cháo Yuánfāng. Many of the Ishinpō texts have been lost in China, and have only survived to the present day through their inclusion in the work.

The structural organization of the text is as follows:

The Ishinpō is notable for preserving some of the Taoist sexual manuals from the Han to the Tang dynasty. The twenty-eighth section of the Ishinpō contains a complete transcription of a Daoist text known as The Classic of Sunu which is a dialogue between the Dark Maiden provides advice on sexual practices to the Yellow Emperor.

While the text is written in kanbun, Japanese terms are written to the side in Man'yōgana for plants, animals, and minerals.