[Reexamining the authorship of Wen Yi Ming Bian]

The authorship of the book Wen Yi Ming Bian and Guang Wen Yi Lun, a historical controversy, have the same content but different names. It was widely believed that Dai Tianzhang was the author of the two books rather than Zheng Dianyi. This study examined the two authors' biography, diverse versions of authors notes and other relevant materials that remained, and the compatibility between the content and the book names. It was found that Zheng Dianyi was a physician with excellent medical skills and ability to compile the book, whereas Dai Tianzhang was a local celebrity and gentleman who had some medical skills with some medical experience. The author for various versions of Wen Yi Ming Bian was recorded as "She Yi (the place where Zheng Dianyi lived) Zheng Dianyi". The author for the versions related to Dai Tianzhang were normally shown as "Revised by Dai Linjiao (the penname of Dai Tianzhang)". In this sense, the author of Wen Yi Ming Bian can be argued to be Zheng Dianyi. Additionally, the name of Wen Yi Ming Bian is different from Guang Wen Yi Lun in meanings. Bian () in Wen Yi Ming Bian means to distinguish the right from the wrong, therefore, indicates to distinguish, for example, typhoid fever from warm epidemic, making Guang () in Guang Wen Yi Lun far away from it. Thus, the author of Wen Yi Ming Bian should be Zheng Dianyi. Guang Wen Yi Lun should be the different name when Wen Yi Ming Bian was hand copied. It can be concluded that Dai's grandsons statement "the two books were written by Dai Tianzhang" is subjective speculation, without sufficient evidence.