Records of Two Medieval Female Doctors: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Trota and Tan Yunxian’s Approaches to Menstrual Disorders

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Trota and Tan Yunxian’s Approaches to Menstrual Disorders

Abstract

Menorrhagia, commonly referred to as heavy menstrual bleeding, has been extensively studied by generations of gynecological doctors and physicians. This paper undertakes a cross-cultural investigation of treatments for menstrual irregularities as offered by two medieval female healers: Trota of Salerno, a female physician from the 12th century, whose name was recorded in a collection of medical texts known as the “Trotula Ensemble”, and Tan Yunxian (談允賢), born in 1461, a Ming dynasty Chinese healer who compiled an amalgamation of 31 female patient case studies titled “Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor” (女醫雜言). It explores how Trota of Salerno and Tan Yunxian addressed and treated irregular menstruation, emphasizing their keen awareness of women's living conditions, social status, and emotional well-being during their respective eras. Its investigation of their diagnostic approaches to menstrual disorders aims to demonstrate how cultural, geographical, and especially gender-related factors shaped the treatment of this condition by the two female doctors. Meanwhile, their plant-based remedies further shed light on the relationship between traditional herbal recipes and global medical practices, inviting readers to discover the intersection of culture, medicine, and history through the discerning perspectives of these two remarkable women who paved the way for cross-cultural understandings of menstrual irregularities.