Chapter 45 Section 11 Comprehensive Development of Medicine

During this period, Chinese medicine entered a new stage of comprehensive development.Significant progress has been made in medical theory, diagnosis and treatment of various clinical subjects, herbal medicine, and medical education. In terms of medical theory, in the sixth year of Sui Daye (AD 610), Chao Yuanfang, a doctor of imperial medicine, was ordered to summarize the medical experience of predecessors, and compiled a book "On the Origin and Symptoms of Various Diseases".This is the most comprehensive monograph on etiology and pathogenesis in Chinese history.The book has 50 volumes, is divided into 67 categories, and has 1720 treatises, discussing the etiology, pathology and symptoms of diseases in various disciplines such as internal medicine, external medicine, gynecology, children, and five sense organs.Among them, there are many original ideas on the cause of some diseases, breaking through the conclusions of the predecessors, and discovering and describing some real causes of diseases.

Significant progress has also been made in clinical medicine, and a large number of prescriptions have appeared.Among them, the "Sihai Leiju Fang" compiled by the Sui Dynasty reached 2,600 volumes, which is a vast volume. It is an unprecedented work, but unfortunately it has long been lost.The famous ones now include "Qian Jin Fang" and "Waitai Secret Essentials" in the Tang Dynasty, "Taiping Shenghui Prescription", "Taiyi Bureau Prescription", "Shengji Zonglu", "Correction of Taiping Huimin He Economic Bureau Fang" and so on.

"Thousands of Gold Prescriptions" is the abbreviation of "Thousands of Gold Prescriptions" and "Thousands of Gold Prescriptions".Sun Simiao (581-682 A.D.) was born in Jingzhaohuayuan (now Yaoxian County, Shaanxi).He has been diligent and studious all his life, "at the age of Qingjin, he is noble and enshrined, and at the age of white head, he has not released the volume" ("Qian Jin Yao Fang Preface").He is proficient in medicine and has profound attainments.He once summed up his experience in practicing medicine, and put forward "the desire for courage is small, the desire for courage is small, the desire for wisdom is round, but the desire for action is square", as the principle of practicing medicine.He changed the previous practice of discussing diseases, prescriptions, and medications based on ancient medical classics, and took the theories and achievements of various doctors, combined with his own clinical treatment experience, and developed them.He made important contributions in the history of medicine in terms of medical theory, internal medicine and surgery, obstetrics and children's medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, especially in prescription medicine, and was revered as the "King of Medicine" by later generations.What's more valuable is that his medical ethics are very noble, and he regards "not for profit, not for righteousness" ("Old Tang Book Biography of Sun Simiao") as the standard of doctor's behavior, and he practices it personally.

The 30 volumes of "Thousand Golden Prescriptions" are composed of Sun Simiao's accumulated clinical experience of more than 50 years, combined with the medical classics of all dynasties.Its content includes the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine and clinical diagnosis, treatment, acupuncture, diet, prevention, hygiene, etc., and puts gynecological diseases and pediatric nursing in an important position. The 30 volumes of "Qian Jin Yi Fang" were written by him based on his nearly 30 years of experience in his later years. As a supplement to "Qian Jin Yao Fang", the content is most prominent in the descriptions of Materia Medica, typhoid fever, stroke, and miscellaneous carbuncles.The book contains more than 800 kinds of medicines used at that time, and also supplements many treatment methods, and also involves foreign medicines.The title of the book "Thousands of Gold" is based on the meaning of "human life is the most important thing, and there is precious gold" ("Prescriptions for Thousands of Gold - Preface"), expressing his emphasis on curing diseases and saving lives.

Pediatrics received sufficient attention during this period, and a number of monographs appeared, such as "Pediatric Medicine and Symptoms", "Pediatric Disease Origin and Prescription", "Pediatric Pox Diagnosis and Prescription", and "Pediatric Health General Micro-Talk". Orthopedics and surgery also made great progress during this period.The "Secret Recipe for Treating Injury and Diarrhea" written in 841 AD is the earliest extant monograph on the treatment of fractures and dislocations in China."Shi Yi De Xiao Fang" written by Wei Yilin in the Yuan Dynasty is a very influential monograph on orthopedics. It contains the application of suspension reduction method to treat vertebral fractures, which is a great pioneering work in orthopedics.The "Caowu San" recorded in the book and the "Sleeping Holy San" in the Song Dynasty "Bian Que Xin Shu" are important records about anesthetics after Hua Tuo's "Mabei San".However, the Song Dynasty's "Jiyanbeifang", "Surgery Essentials" and Yuan Dynasty's "Surgery Essentials" emphasized that surgery is based on internal medicine and advocated both internal and external treatment, which is a further development of the treatment thought based on the holistic concept .

In terms of herbal medicine, the Tang Dynasty "Xinxiu Materia Medica", written in 659 AD, is the first national pharmacopoeia in Chinese history and the earliest pharmacopoeia promulgated by the state in the world.It was edited collectively by more than 20 medical scientists and scholars organized by the Tang court.In the process of editing, it also "promulgates the world and seeks medicines", collects medicines produced all over the country, and orders them to draw physical maps for editing purposes.The book has 54 volumes, which are divided into three parts: medicine map, medicine classics and materia medica, and contains 844 kinds of medicines, among which more than 400 kinds of mistakes contained in past materia medica classics have been corrected, and more than 100 kinds of medicines have been added.The book describes in detail the nature, flavor, place of origin, efficacy and diseases of the medicine.The imperial court of the Song Dynasty inherited this pioneering work and compiled "Kaibao Materia Medica" and "Jiayou Materia Medica" successively.Then an edict was issued, ordering the states and counties to draw the maps of the medicinal herbs produced, and send them to Kaifeng, the capital, for Su Song to organize and compile them into "Pictures and Materia Medica".Although "Zheng Lei Materia Medica" was written by Tang Shenwei, the Song court organized revisions three times, successively promulgated "Daguan Jing Shi Zheng Lei Spare Materia Medica", "Revisiting Zheng He Jing Shi Zheng Lei Spare Materia Medica" and "Shaoxing Schooling Jing Shi Zheng Lei" "Classic Preparations for Emergency Materia Medica" became a privately-authored and officially revised pharmacopoeia, and became a model of Materia Medica before it was published. "Bencao Yancao" is the more influential privately written book on Materia Medica during this period, and it has the merit of supplementary invention with "Zheng Lei Materia Medica".

Due to the attention of the imperial court, the medical institutions and medical education in this period were quite complete, which was unique in the world at that time.Among them, it is worth mentioning that Wang Weiyi, a medical officer in the Song Dynasty, wrote "Bronze Man Acupoint [shushu] Point Acupuncture Illustrated Classic" and created two bronze models of acupuncture and moxibustion, which played a great role in the teaching of acupuncture and the assessment of doctors.