[Examining 'Ao Tou' format in ancient traditional Chinese medical texts]

The 'Ao Tou' format refers to a distinctive type of book format, characterized by its two-section layout with a line to separate the page. This format came from a private printing bookshop and became became popular in the area of Jianyang around the Wanli period in the late Ming dynasty. It, then, was widely used in the book format of Chinese medicine until the Qing Dynasty. With archival research and fieldwork, it was found that a total of nine medical books were printed with 'Ao Tou' format and forty similar medical texts. This study systematically categorized these works by dynastic period and stylistic features, analyzed the relationship between the upper and lower sections of the layout with an editorial perspective of book merchants, and classified the medical texts with the 'Ao Tou' format into four types. It was found that this version demonstrated meticulous editing and engraving while some of them looked rough. The format also had a certain influence on the development of printing in Japan. Therefore, the medical texts with the 'Ao Tou' format had great bibliographical and documentary value as well as cultural significance in the historical advancement of medicine.