清代醫籍中所呈現的廣嗣思想

In traditional Chinese society, bearing numerous children guarantees the flourishing of a clan, leading to prosperity of the entire country. According to the conventional Chinese beliefs, “multiplying descendants”, ** or in Chinese known as guangsi, is a symbol of fortune. The character si means “inheritor.” Only male descendants are expected to inherit their clans. Therefore, giving birth to a son becomes one of the most important targets of the Chinese people. 
When our ancestors decided to gestate a baby, they would explore different means to achieve the purpose of guangsi. Searching for medical help was the common methods to achieve their goals. This essay utilized a large amount of Qing medical texts to explore how medical theories were related to the promotion of guangsi. Some people believed that the sexual distinction of a fetus was not fixed during the first three months of pregnancy, so that they could change the female fetus into male fetus superstitiously and magically, by prenatal education and having medicine. No matter these methods were effective or not, they undoubtedly expressed the Chinese’s desire of having a son.