Illustration of Temple Sores

fabinchuangoriginal: "fabinchuang" (發鬢瘡). A medical term for inflammatory swellings, abscesses, or carbuncles occurring in the temple area, specifically where the sideburns grow.

The illustration accompanying this heading depicts a gentleman dressed in the formal robes and "scholar's cap" original: "zhuangyuan mao" (狀元帽). The headwear associated with the top scorer of the imperial examinations, used here to represent a person of status. of the Ming era. He is seated on a stool, reaching his right hand up to touch his temple.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the location of a skin eruption was crucial for diagnosis. Temple sores are associated with the Lesser Yang Shao Yang networks—specifically the Gallbladder meridian—which travels along the sides of the head. These sores were thought to be caused by "fire" or "stagnant heat" in these specific pathways. Practitioners used these diagrams to distinguish temple sores from other cranial conditions like head-erupting carbuncles fanao (發腦), located at the back of the head or cheek-erupting sores fayi (發頤), located near the jaw.