Exploration of "Yu Mao" in the Synopsis of the Golden Chamber

ZHONG Wenxia; YIN Ming; ZHANG Qi

Abstract：Yu Mao is one of the three postpartum diseases in the Synopsis of the Golden Chamber. It also appears as a symptom in the Jue disease and Jue Yin disease in Treatise on Febrile Diseases. The understanding of its connotation by ancient and modern doctors is inconsistent. This paper researches its connotation from three perspectives:literalism,literature tracing,and evidence testing by prescription,and concludes that the word " Yu Mao" originally meant the symptom of faintness caused by shutting up and depression. It refers to the abnormal mental state in the Inner Canon of Huangdi and is located in the heart. In the Treatise on Febrile Diseases,Yu Mao is regarded as a symptom,which refers to fainting,depression,and other symptoms of the mind,which is a broad definition of Yu Mao. In the Synopsis of the Golden Chamber,Yu Mao is regarded as a common postpartum disease of women,which is caused by the "loss of blood,sweating,and excessive cold",and in the postpartum period when there is a deficiency of blood and fluid,due to that there is a lack of communication between Yin and Yang and the closure of evil Qi,the emergence of mental symptoms. Xiaochaihu decoction is the main formula. This is a narrow sense of Yu Mao. The narrow sense of Yu Mao coincides with modern puerperal depression. The physiological characteristics of women's menstrual and menopausal periods are similar to those of the postpartum period,and depression symptoms are often present. These diseases can be treated according to Yu Mao.