Surgical Orthodoxy

Author: Chen Shigong compiled / Wu Shaozhen et al. edited
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-03-01
Features: The Zhengzong of Surgery is a specialized surgical text compiled by Chen Shigong during the Ming Dynasty and completed in 1617. The preface of The Zhengzong of Surgery states that Li Cangming, a renowned scholar in Lixia, once remarked: "In medicine, the distinction between internal and external treatments is that treating external conditions is more challenging than treating internal ones. Why? Internal conditions may not be as severe as external ones, but external conditions must have their roots in internal ones. If the right methods are not found, even minor skin ailments may be beyond salvation. Yet, throughout history, have there been few excellent methods and miraculous techniques for treating external conditions? Some are kept secret due to taboos, while others have been passed down in error over time. Even if there are no errors, their methods are incomplete, and countless conditions are confined to a few formulas. For common conditions, they may still leave one at a loss, and for rare conditions, what hope can the patient have? From a young age, I have dedicated myself to this profession, focusing internally on saving lives and externally on mastering all surgical techniques. Over forty years, my heart has been tempered with formulas, and my eyes have become familiar with symptoms, whether common or rare, often healing them at first touch. Though I have benefited from the wisdom of Qi Bo and Huang Di, restoring life and reviving the dead, I have made only a small contribution to humanity. Yet when I reflect on my thoughts, they have nearly been exhausted. Since I am but one among the masters of medicine, this profession will be my lifelong pursuit, and its scope of benefit is limited. Who among us loves goodness as much as I do? Should I not spread its transmission widely rather than hide it in my sleeve? Thus, I devoted my remaining strength to compiling all surgical conditions, categorizing them, and summarizing them with arguments, songs, and methods, leaving nothing unaddressed, even the smallest skin ailments. Below the arguments, I added notes to clarify the origins of yin and yang and, and beneath the formulas, I enclosed four-character summaries to illustrate the balance of principal, deputy, and assistant herbs. After the illustrations, I appended ten rules for wound names to show that diseases cannot be guessed at and medicines should not be used indiscriminately. Other topics such as acupuncture, decocting, the Five Precepts and Ten Essentials, and the theory of karmic retribution are also elaborated in detail, and my heart has benefited greatly from them. Once the compilation was complete, I had it printed and named it The Zhengzong of Surgery. Yet when I looked in the mirror, my hair and beard were already white. Lixia’s saying that treating external conditions is more challenging than treating internal ones is now fully understood by those who know me. The officials in my village, it seems, also praised my contributions to society, each offering words of commendation to preface the work. I, however, humbly replied: "Is Han Boyou’s fame not yet erased? Since you all praise me, how could I not further fulfill your intentions? I hereby obey your command and dedicate this work to the public for the benefit of those who seek health. At the autumn of the seventh month of the Dingxi year of the Wanli era, I, Chen Shigong of Donghai, record this. The Zhengzong of Surgery is a four-volume work. The first volume discusses the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of surgical conditions in general; volumes two to four discuss over one hundred common surgical diseases, first outlining their etiology and pathology, then describing their clinical manifestations, followed by detailed discussions of treatment methods, and supplemented with typical cases. The book includes over thirty illustrations describing the locations and shapes of various important sores, and it concludes with methods for preparing various medicines. In the field of Chinese surgical texts, The Zhengzong of Surgery is renowned for its "detailed descriptions of conditions and precise treatments" and has been highly esteemed by later generations. It is a highly valuable work in both the theory and clinical practice of Chinese surgery, serving as a reference for those studying and researching Chinese surgery as well as practicing clinicians.