Leifang majing 類方馬經

Leifang majing 類方馬經 "Classic of horse [medicine] with classified prescriptions" was a book on equine medicine compiled during the reign of Emperor Xianzong 明憲宗 (r. 1464-1487) of the Ming dynasty 明 (1368-1644) by employees of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses (yumajian 御馬監) on the order of chief eunuch Qian Gongzong 錢公總.

The original number of juan was 10, even if the book catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 speaks of 6 fascicles. The largest part of the book is lost, barring two fragments owned by the Beijing Library (Beijing Tushuguan 北京圖書館). One fragment is a manuscript produced in Korea, and titled Zuantu leifang majing 纂圖類方馬經. It consists of the fascicles 6 and 7, the first titled Zao Fu bashiyi nan jing 造父八十一難經, and the second one 天王七十二大病形候. The content of fascicle 7 is identical with a chapter (Kan ma wuzang biandong xingxiang qishi'er bing 看馬五臟變動形相七十二大病) of the book Simu anji ji 司牧安驥集. The second fragment, identical to the Korean manuscript, bears the title Tuxiang majing quanshu 圖像馬經全書. In addition to juan 6 and 7, it consists of the chapters Jin tongma biao 進銅馬表 by Ma Yuan 馬援 (an official document of submitting a bronze horse to the throne showing details of the equine body and, e.g. acupoints), Tongma xiangfa 銅馬相法 "Methods of inspecting horses (with the help of) a bronze figure", and Tengju muyang fa 騰駒牧養法 "Methods of rearing stallions".

The original text included investigations into the origin of the concepts and the application of vein theory and acupuncture points, major and additional prescriptions and materia medica, as well as mnemonic songs and poems. In one word, the book covered the whole range of equine medicine. The information in the book was mainly based on older texts, but critically revised.

The book was first printed in 1457, during the Jiajing reign-period, and in 1624.