Lê Hữu Trác (

Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

: 黎有晫, 1724 in Hưng Yên – 1791 in

Hà Tĩnh Hà Tĩnh () is a city in Vietnam.Atlas of the World', Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 236. It is the capital of Hà Tĩnh Province, and lies in the North Central Coast region. It is located on National Highway 1A. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi ...

) or alias Hải Thượng Lãn Ông (海上懶翁), was an 18th-century Vietnamese physician who was the best known and most celebrated doctor in Vietnamese history. Hữu Trác was conscripted into the army in 1740 at the age of sixteen. In 1746 he withdrew from the army after his eldest brother died and lived in Hương Sơn District with his elderly mother. His own son died in a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic in 1758 when he was five years old. He then spent the next fifteen years learning medicine, with a particular focus on curing smallpox. He traveled to

Đông Kinh Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

in 1782, by order of lord

Trịnh Sâm Trịnh Sâm (, 9 February 1739 – 13 September 1782) ruled northern Vietnam from 1767 to 1782 AD. He ruled with the title "Tĩnh Đô Vương" () and was one of the last of the powerful Trịnh lords. Trịnh Sâm defeated the ancient enemy of t ...

, to treat the Crown Prince.

Personal background

"" Lê Hữu Trác, originally called Huân (薰), was born on November 11, 1720, in the village of Văn Xá, Liêu Xá region, Đường Hào district, Thượng Hồng city, Hải Dương province (the current Liêu Xã commune, Yên Mỹ district, Hưng Yên province). ""

Works

* ''Practice of the Lazy Master of Hai Thuong'' (Hải Thượng y tông tâm lĩnh) * ''Confused Attempts at Diagnosing Smallpox'' (Mộng trung giác đậu) * ''Thượng kinh ký sự''

References

* * 1724 births 1791 deaths People from Hưng Yên Province 18th-century Vietnamese physicians Acupuncturists {{Vietnam-med-bio-stub