Yanggengji 養耕集

Yanggengji 養耕集 "Collection on mending ploughing [oxen]" is a book on bovine medicine written during the high Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Fu Shufeng 傅述鳳 (b. 1715).

The book was finished in 1800 and is divided into two parts. The first collection explains methods of acupuncture, while the second one provides prescriptions and medicines. Fu says that while some diseases can be treated just by acupuncture, others can only be healed by drugs. The simultaneous application of both methods will lead to mutual support. The content of the book is a summary of the author's lifelong clinical medical experience with his own insights. Before Fu’s book came out, there was only one single information on the application of acupuncture for cattle, namely the chart Niuti xuefa mingtu 牛體穴法名圖 "Map of cattle acupuncture points and their names", which lacked textual description; Fu's book filled this gap, and not only amends and supplements the old chart, but also describes the correct location of more than 40 acupuncture points, the depth of needle insertion, application techniques, as well as the symptoms that can be treated by each point. At the same time, more than 20 special acupuncture methods are discussed, with regard to the illnesses that can be cured. The book thus presents formation of a complete system of bovine acupuncture which contributes to the enrichment and development of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine.

The second collection lists 98 kinds of symptoms and the prescription of each. Several local herbs are used in the prescriptions, and according to the seasonal changes in the area of Lake Poyang 鄱陽湖, the prescriptions for the prevention and treatment are listed, which gives the book a certain local characteristics.

The book was circulating in manuscript form in the region of Xinjian 新建, Jiangxi province. The text was revised and critically annotated by the Veterinary Laboratory of Jiangxi Province (Jiangxi Zhong Shouyi Shiyansuo 江西省中獸醫實驗所) and published in 1959 by the Jiangsu Renmin Chubanshe 江蘇人民出版社. A modern edition with annotations by Yang Hongdao 楊宏道 was published in 1981 by the Nongye Chubanshe 農業出版社.