page_title: Trần dynasty
section_title: Medicine
hierarchical_section_title: Trần dynasty / Science and technology / Medicine
caption_attribution_description: English: Jar with lotus, chrysanthemum motifs. Pattern brown glazed ceramic, Trần dynasty, 13th-14th century. Nam Định province, northern Vietnam. Domestic use. National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi.
context_page_description: The Trần dynasty of Vietnam ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái Tông ascended to the throne after his uncle Trần Thủ Độ orchestrated the overthrow of the Lý dynasty. The final emperor of the dynasty was Thiếu Đế, who at the age of five years was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his maternal grandfather, Hồ Quý Ly. The Trần dynasty defeated three Mongol invasions, most notably in the decisive Battle of Bạch Đằng River in 1288.
  The Tran improved Chinese gunpowder enabling them to expand southward to defeat and vassalize the Champa. They also started using paper money for the first time in Vietnam.
  The Tran dynasty was considered a golden age in Vietnamese language, arts, and culture; with the first pieces of Chữ Nôm literature written during this period, and first-time introduction of the vernacular Vietnamese language into the court, alongside Chinese. This laid the foundation for the further development and solidifying of Vietnamese language and identity.
context_section_description: During the rule of the Trần dynasty, medicine had a better chance to develop because of a more significant role of Confucianism in society. In 1261, the emperor issued an order to establish the Institute of Royal Physicians (Thái y viện) which managed medicine in Đại Việt, carrying out the examination for new physicians and treating people during disease epidemics. In 1265 the institute distributed a pill named Hồng ngọc sương to the poor, which they considered able to cure many diseases. Besides the traditional Northern herbs (thuốc Bắc), Trần physicians also began to cultivate and gather various regional medicinal herbs (thuốc Nam) for treating both civilians and soldiers. During the reign of Trần Minh Tông the head of the Institute of Royal Physicians Phạm Công Bân was widely known for his medical ethics, treating patients regardless of their descent with his own medicine made from regional herbs; it was said that Phạm Công Bân gathered his remedies in a medical book named Thái y dịch bệnh (Diseases by the Royal Physician).
  Another Trần person and fellow countryman of Phạm Công Bân was the monk Tuệ Tĩnh, one of the most famous physicians in Vietnamese history, who was called "Father of the Southern Medicine" for creating the basis of Vietnamese traditional medicine with his works Hồng nghĩa giác tư y thư and Nam dược thần hiệu. Nam dược thần hiệu was a collection of 499 manuscripts about local herbs and ten branches of treatment with 3932 prescriptions to cure 184 type of diseases while Hồng nghĩa giác tư y thư provided people with many simple, easy-to-prepare medicines with high effect.
caption: Patterned brown glazed ceramic jar with lotus and chrysanthemum motifs from Nam Định Province (13th–14th century)
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