Dawujing 大武經

Dawujing 大武經, also called Niujing daquan 牛經大全, is a book on bovine medicine written by an unknown author during the late Qing period 清 (1644-1911). The book is divided into five chapters dealing with the inspection or examination of cattle (Xiangniu 相牛), information on diagnosis of different diseases and illnesses (Bianzheng 辨證), acupuncture (zhenxue 針穴), prescriptions and treatment methods (Niubing yifang 牛病醫方), and a supplement (Yifang buyi 醫方補遺).

The contents are influenced by the practice of clinical evidence and experience in the identification and use of medication. Many aspects bear the local colour of the province of Hunan. For example, the theories of eighteen pains in limbs, legs and feet (Shiba ban tuijiao tong lun 十八般腿腳痛論), the theories of twenty-eight cases of standing and laying down (Ershiba qiwo lun 二十八起臥論), or the song of the fifty-four symptoms of imminent death of cattle (Niu you wushisi si zheng ge 牛有五十四死癥歌) imitate traditional statements, but concrete information is not found in older veterinary texts. The names of the symptoms are mostly local terms from Hunan, such as the qianlü zheng 牽驢癥 "drawing donkey", shuiyu zheng 水魚癥 "fish in the water", xingshi huang 行視黃 "yellow visible while walking", mahuang zheng 螞蝗癥 "ants and locusts" or tianlu zhengy 天爐癥 "Heavenly furnace". The contents of the chapter on the examination of cattle are mostly the same as those of the book Xiangniu xinjing yaolan 相牛心鏡要覽 by Huang Sugu 黃{彳肅}谷.

The book was originally circulating in Hunan. A modern, annotated edition was published in 1984 by the Nongye Chubanshe 農業出版社.