In the last years of the Eastern Han
Dynasty, a prevalent pestilence claimed the lives of thousands. According to
records, from the first year of the Jian'an reign (196), two thirds of people
died of infectious diseases in just one decade, of which febrile diseases caused
by cold accounted for 70%.
Zhang Zhongjing diligently learned from the
book Internal Canon of Medicine,and collected prescriptions
extensively. As a result, he wrote the monumental work, Treatise on Febrile
Diseases Caused by Cold and Miscellaneous Diseases. The principle of
treatment according to syndrome differentiation established in the book is the
basic rule of clinical medicine of China, and the soul of traditional Chinese medicine. In the study of
prescriptions,Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold and Miscellaneous
Diseases made a great contribution, too: it has
created numerous types of recipes, and recorded many effective recipes. The
principle of treatment according to the six channels, established in the
book,has been
highly regarded by doctors of all ages. It is the first monographic medicine
works in China that established
the principle of treatment according to syndrome differentiation from theory to
practice. It is one of the most influential works in the history of Chinese
medicine. Thus, it has become a fundamental textbook for medical study in later
generations, and been highly valued by both medical students and clinical
doctors.
There is such a paragraph in the book that
reads, "In terms of the high level, medicine is for curing nobles of their
diseases; in terms of the lower level, it is used to save the poor from
disaster; in terms of the middle level, it is used to keep us in good health."
This shows the kind-heartedness of Zhongjing as a great doctor, so later
generations grant him the honorific title: "Saint in
Medicine".