Biography of Zhang Zhongjing: Author of "Treatise on Typhoid Fever" and "The Essentials of the Golden Chamber

> Zhang Zhongjing > ?　Zhang Zhongjing (date of birth and death unknown) was a medical doctor at the end of the Han Dynasty. His name was Ji, and he was a native of Nanyang County (present-day Nanyang, Henan Province). According to legend, he was the governor of Changsha. At that time, typhoid fever was prevalent and many people died of the disease. He studied the "Neijing", "Nanking", and "Fetal Swelling and Medicine Record", and collected a wide range of effective prescriptions, and wrote "Treatise on Miscellaneous Diseases of Typhoid Fever". His books were scattered and collected and organized by his descendants, and became the "Treatise on Typhoid Fever" and "The Essentials of the Golden Chamber", which dealt with external heat illnesses and internal miscellaneous diseases. He advocated the principles of "six meridians and evidence" and "dialectical treatment", and elaborated on the dialectics of cold and heat, deficiency and solidity, surface and inside, yin and yang, and the treatments of sweating, spitting, going down, warming, clearing, and so on, which summed up the medical experience of the Han Dynasty, and made a significant contribution to the development of traditional Chinese medicine. > > Zhang Zhongjing was a studious scholar since childhood, and had acquired a wealth of knowledge by reading a lot of books. At that time, all the readers thought about how to become an official, not caring about the people's suffering, Zhang Zhongjing looked down on such readers. At that time, superstition was prevalent, and people believed that sorcerers could cure their illnesses instead of seeking medical treatment. Zhang Zhongjing's ambition from childhood was to become a doctor and to relieve people's illnesses. To this end, he studied with Zhang Bozu, a famous doctor in the same county, to learn the skills of curing diseases and saving people's lives, and after a few years, he was able to treat people in the township. During the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing was chosen to be an official, and he worked as the governor of Changsha. He was a clean official and did a lot of good things for the people. > > At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to frequent wars and epidemics, many people died of diseases. Zhang Zhongjing's family had a population of more than 200, but in less than ten years, fifty to sixty people died of the disease, seven out of ten of whom died of typhoid fever, an epidemic disease. At that time, typhoid fever included acute infectious diseases such as cholera, pneumonia, dysentery and influenza. At that time, most doctors had no effective treatment for this epidemic disease, so thousands of people were killed by typhoid fever. > > Zhang Zhongjing in order to save people's suffering, he was determined to find a set of treatment for typhoid fever. He summarized his own experience in treating people, and made a detailed record of the various symptoms of typhoid fever, but also carefully asked the patient about the cause of the onset of typhoid fever and the various changes after taking the medicine. After a period of time, Zhang Zhongjing finally summarized a set of methods for diagnosis, treatment and medication of typhoid fever. He believed that there was a gradual development of typhoid fever from the initial stage to the critical stage, and that different treatment methods should be applied to different patients at different stages. Some patients need to be allowed to sweat, some patients can not sweat; some patients should be allowed to diarrhea, some patients can not diarrhea; some patients can use acupuncture, some patients can not use moxibustion. > > Zhang Zhongjing said: "If the patient who should not sweat took sweating medicine, it will make the patient's fluid dry up, and cut off his life; the patient who should sweat did not allow him to take medicine to send out the sweat, it will make the patient's pores closed, suffocated and died. Should not be diarrhea of the patient to take a diarrhea medicine, will make the patient open the bowel hole leakage more than death; should be diarrhea of the patient Not to take a diarrhea medicine, will make the patient into the abdominal distension and confusion, swelling and death. When the patient is not moxibustion, it will cause the patient to enter the abdomen and aggravate his troubles and die; when the patient is not moxibustion, it will cause the patient's meridians to be blocked, and cannot be dissipated and die." In short, to cure people must be clear about the cause of the patient's illness, the disease has developed to what extent, once served what medicine, only to understand all these situations clearly, in order to prescribe the right medicine, medicine to the disease. > > In order to find out the patient's entire situation, Zhang Zhongjing against the doctor's treatment of the time when the rules and regulations and very hasty practice. He said: "human life is at stake, treatment must be cautious." Zhang made good use of the four diagnostic methods of looking, smelling, questioning and cutting, which had already been invented in the early times. Looking was to observe the patient's color, smelling was to listen carefully to the patient's speech and breathing, and at the same time to inquire about the patient's self-feeling, diet and bowel movement, etc., and cutting was to press the patient's pulse on both hands from light to heavy. Zhang Zhongjing believes that only the good use of the four diagnostic methods, and through the four diagnostic analysis of the various conditions, in order to draw conclusions about the extent of the disease has developed, so that we can formulate a correct treatment plan, prescribe the right prescription for the disease. > > Zhang Zhongjing, through his long medical career and careful study, has been able to distinguish the patient's symptoms according to the Four Diagnostic Methods as yin or yang; whether the disease is superficial or deep in the internal organs; whether it is a deficiency or a solid; whether it is a cold or a hot condition. This is known as the eight principles of TCM diagnosis: yin and yang, surface and interior, deficiency and reality, cold and heat. The theoretical principle of the four diagnoses and eight principles of diagnosis and treatment is the core idea of Chinese medicine. Zhang Zhongjing made an extremely significant contribution to the establishment of this theoretical principle. > > In addition to typhoid fever, Zhang Zhongjing also made great efforts to explore treatment methods for other difficult and miscellaneous diseases. The scope of miscellaneous diseases was very wide, generally focusing on internal medicine, but also including gynecology, pediatrics, surgery and other diseases. Zhang Zhongjing did not always give internal medicine to his patients, but also used acupuncture, warm ironing, medicated moxibustion, foot dipping, ear blowing, nasal spraying, and so on. He believed that for some diseases, the effect of these treatments may be better than internal medicine. > > Zhang Zhongjing advocated timely treatment of diseases and early prevention of diseases. He said that the way to prevent diseases is to eat and drink in a proper way and to work and rest appropriately. If you can do these two things, you can basically keep your body healthy and stay away from diseases. > > Zhang Zhongjing summarized his clinical experience while practicing medicine and recorded many effective prescriptions. He wrote a "Treatise on Typhoid Miscellaneous Diseases" to tell everyone how to treat typhoid fever. Later, Wang Shuhe, a famous physician, after carefully studying Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Miscellaneous Diseases of Typhoid Fever, reorganized this important medical text into two separate books, the Treatise on Typhoid Fever and the Essentials of the Golden Chamber. The Treatise on Typhoid Fever is devoted to analyzing the pathology of typhoid fever, proposing treatment methods, and including prescriptions for treatment. The Golden Chamber is a collection of prescriptions for the treatment of a variety of miscellaneous diseases, these two medical books are classic works of traditional Chinese medicine, Zhang Zhongjing with his own outstanding contribution to medicine is honored by posterity as the "Sage of Medicine".