Xiyuan Jilu
Definition
The 1247 CE Chinese medico-legal manual by Song Ci, systematically describing wound examination, drowning, burning, and poisoning investigation. The oldest surviving systematic text on forensic investigation, predating European equivalents by three centuries.
- Author
- Song Ci
- Date
- 1247 CE
- Origin
- Song dynasty China
- Scope
- Wound examination, drowning, burning, poisoning
- Significance
- Oldest surviving systematic forensic investigation text
Common questions
What makes the Xiyuan Jilu historically significant to forensic medicine?+
It predates comparable European systematic texts on medico-legal death investigation by roughly three centuries, and its methods, such as distinguishing antemortem from postmortem wounds and differentiating drowning from other causes of death, anticipate principles still central to forensic pathology.
Did the Xiyuan Jilu remain in practical use after it was written?+
Yes, it was expanded and reissued across successive Chinese dynasties as an official reference for coroners and magistrates, remaining in practical use for centuries rather than being a purely historical curiosity.
Related terms
- Lex Aquilia
- Roman statute of approximately 286 BCE establishing civil liability for wrongful injury; an early legal context requiring medical testimony about wounds, making...
- Medico-Legal Officer (MLO)
- A physician or medical practitioner with special training in forensic medicine who performs examinations, prepares reports, and testifies in legal proceedings. In...
- NMC (National Medical Commission)
- India's statutory body under the NMC Act 2019 (replacing the Medical Council of India), which sets standards for undergraduate and postgraduate medical...
- OCME (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner)
- A US jurisdictional office, typically at state or county level, responsible for investigating deaths that occur under violent, suspicious, sudden, or unexplained...
- RCPath (Royal College of Pathologists)
- The UK professional body that sets training standards, runs the fellowship examination, and publishes practice guidelines for pathology, including forensic pathology. Its...