Manase Dosan (曲直瀬道三)
Dosan MANASE (October 23, 1507 - February 23, 1594) was a doctor who lived during Japan's Sengoku period (Period of Warring States). Dosan was a pseudonym. His real name was Shosei. His other names included Suichikusai and Keitekian. His original clan name was Minamoto, but this later became Tachibana. He was also the progenitor of the Imaoji family. Dosan is often referred to as 'one of Japan's most eminent doctors,' along with Sanki TASHIRO and Tokuhon NAGATA, for having initiated the revival of Japanese medicine. His son was Gensaku MANASE.
Brief Personal History
His father was Chikazane HORIBE, who belonged to the illegitimate family lineage of the Sasaki clan of Omi Province. He lost his parents when he was still a child. In 1516, he joined Shokoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, which played a central part in the Five Mountain school of literature at the time, becoming a postulant, and learned poetry and calligraphy. Around this time, he adopted the surname of Manase. In 1528, he went down east to study at Ashikaga-Gakko School. It is said that he first became interested in medicine here. He met a renowned doctor Sankisai TASHIRO and learned Li-Zhu medicine (cutting-edge Chinese medicine which had been introduced to Japan from Ming) as his disciple. In 1546, he went to Kyoto again, returned to secular life and applied himself solely to medical practice. He gained his fame by examining seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") Yoshiteru ASHIKAGA, and then such millitary commanders who were influential in Kyoto politics as Harumoto HOSOKAWA, Chokei MIYOSHI, and Hisahide MATSUNAGA, and established a medical school called Keiteki-in Medical Center in Kyoto.
In 1566, when Motonari MORI fell ill while in command of the attack on Yoshihisa AMAGO at Gassantoda-jo Castle in Izumo Province, he gave him medical treatment, and wrote about it in "Unjin Yawa" (literally, "Night Chats in the Middle of the Cloud Formation"). In 1574, he wrote "Keiteki Shu" (Collected Teachings); in the same year, he had an audience with Emperor Ogimachi, gave him medical treatment, and made him a present of the book. Emperor Ogimachi ordered monk Shuryo SAKUGEN to write a preface to it. On this occasion, he was given an alternative name of Suichikuin. After Nobunaga ODA took control of Kyoto, he also examined Nobunaga, and was presented with agarwood, a famous incense. In addition to "Keiteki Shu" he wrote numerous other books, including "Yakusho-Nodoku" (Treatise on Medicinal and Toxic Properties), "Hyakufuku Zusetsu" (Illustrated Exposition of a Hundred Bellies), "Shoshin Shu," and "Bensho Haizai Ito."
He taught medicine to hundreds of disciples, and was famous as a great doctor throughout Japan. In 1584, he examined Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino, a Society of Jesus missionary, in Oita City, Bungo Province, which led to his becoming a Christian and being baptized (his baptismal name was Berushoru). In 1592, Emperor Goyoozei gave him a clan name of Tachibana and an alternative family name of Imaoji. He died on January 4, 1594. He was posthumously presented with Shonii (Senior Second Rank) and Hoin (the highest rank among Buddhist priests). His son Gensaku took over his practice, and each succeeding descendant served the shogunate as its official doctor.