Chapter 33 Section 13 Several Medical Classics

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was an important period for the development of Chinese medicine, and a group of outstanding medical scientists and important medical classics emerged.Due to space limitations, only a few classic works in TCM are briefly introduced here. Completed in the Han Dynasty, it is a summary of medicinal knowledge since the Warring States Period, rather than a work written by a single person at a time. It is the earliest monograph on pharmacology in my country.According to legend, Shennong once tasted all kinds of herbs and encountered 72 kinds of poisons a day, but all of them could be eliminated, so it was named Shennong.There are 365 kinds of medicines recorded in the book, including 252 kinds of herbal medicines, 67 kinds of animal medicines, and 46 kinds of mineral medicines.Each drug includes indications, nature and flavor, place of origin, collection time, part used as medicine, and any other names.The book also divides drugs into upper, middle, and lower grades according to their performance and purpose of use.Top grades generally refer to nourishing drugs with low toxicity or non-toxicity; middle grades are sometimes toxic and some are non-toxic, and most of them have both therapeutic and nourishing effects; most low grades are poisonous and are specially used to treat diseases.The system of traditional Chinese medicine established by it has been followed until the Tang Dynasty.Tang's "Xinxiu Materia Medica" came out, which changed the drug classification system.

Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases was written by Zhang Zhongjing (approximately 150-219 A.D.), a famous physician in the Eastern Han Dynasty who was revered as a sage of medicine.The so-called typhoid fever is different from the meaning of typhoid fever in modern medicine, but generally refers to various diseases caused by exogenous wind and cold.Later generations divided the book into two books, "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" and "Synopsis of the Golden Chamber".In the book, Zhang Zhongjing established the medical principles of syndrome differentiation and treatment with principles, methods, prescriptions, and medicines, making the basic theories of Chinese medicine more suitable for clinical application and laying the foundation for Chinese therapeutics.

"Mai Jing" was written by Wang Shuhe, a famous doctor in the Jin Dynasty (born in the 3rd century A.D.).The whole book has 10 volumes, and it is a monograph on pulse study made by systematically summarizing previous pulse studies.The book lists 24 kinds of pulse conditions, and makes a concise explanation for each pulse condition.On the basis of "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases", it plays the role of pulse diagnosis, combined with traditional viscera theory, explains the relationship between pulse conditions and diseases of the five internal organs, and guides clinical diagnosis and treatment.It is the earliest surviving monograph on pulse study in my country and the foundational work of pulse study in traditional Chinese medicine.

"A and B Classics of Acupuncture and Moxibustion" was written by Huang Fumi of the Jin Dynasty (215-282 A.D.).This is a monograph on acupuncture and moxibustion, which is a systematic summary of previous acupuncture and moxibustion, and it is also the earliest existing acupuncture and moxibustion classics in my country.The book is divided into 12 volumes and 128 chapters, recording 349 acupuncture points.The acupuncture depth, needle retention time and moxibustion time are recorded for each acupoint, and the adaptability and contraindications of acupuncture are also clearly explained, which has a profound influence on the acupuncture and moxibustion science of later generations.

"The Back of the Elbow" was originally written by Ge Hong in the Jin Dynasty, and later generations added it. It is a practical medical work with popularization significance.Ge Hong, who called himself Baopuzi, was a famous medical scientist and alchemist.He deeply felt that the medical books at that time "could not be full of symptoms, but also have many precious medicines" ("Behind the Elbow · Preface"), it was very difficult for poor people and people living in the countryside to seek medical treatment; Acupuncture points cannot be used by people.For most people in this situation, although there are medical prescriptions, they still suffer from diseases, so he wrote this book.The medical prescriptions in the book are "the medicines that are easy to get", even if you want to buy them, "they are all cheap grasses and stones, and you can find them everywhere" ("The Preface to the Elbow").The content of the book includes the treatment methods of acute infectious diseases, chronic diseases of various viscera, surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology and six animal diseases, with prescriptions.