Medicine

Author: Shen Wenbin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Zhang Lu (1617-1700), styled Zongyu, styled name Shixuan. A native of Changzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). He was well-versed in Confucian classics and specialized in medical books. Zhang Lu was prolific in writing, with his arguments being straightforward and avoiding novelty. His surviving works include Zhang's Medical Treatise (Zhangshi Yitong), Compendium of Treatises on Cold Damage (Shanghan Zuanlun), Outlines on Cold Damage (Shanghan Xuelun), Commentary on the Essential Formulas of a Thousand Gold Pieces (Qianjin Fang Yanyi), Original Meanings of Materia Medica (Bencao Fengyuan), and Essentials of Diagnosis (Zhenzong Sanmei). The Ancestor Formulas of the Medical Treatise (Yitong Zushu) collects a large number of classical and contemporary formulas and categorizes them according to ancestor formulas. For each category of formulas, the ancestor formula is listed first, such as Guaizhi Tang (Cinnamon twig decoction), followed by the derived formulas (referred to as "child formulas"), such as Xiao Jianzhong Tang (Modified ginger-sesame seed paste decoction), Huangqi Jianzhong Tang (Astragalus-modified ginger-sesame seed paste decoction), Yangdan Tang (Sunshinum-modified ginger-sesame seed paste decoction), and Yindan Tang (Coptis-modified ginger-sesame seed paste decoction). These child formulas generally contain the main herbs of the ancestor formula and a specific therapeutic function. For example, Xiao Jianzhong Tang, Huangqi Jianzhong Tang, Yangdan Tang, and Yindan Tang all contain cinnamon twig and white peony root from Guaizhi Tang. Through variations in herbs or dosage, the functions of Guaizhi Tang—such as relieving muscle aches, sweating, harmonizing the defensive and nutritive qi, warming the meridians, and soothing the stomach—are enhanced in certain aspects, or even new functions are generated, expanding their scope of application. For instance, Xiao Jianzhong Tang is made by doubling the amount of white peony root and adding honey in Guaizhi Tang, thereby strengthening its ability to soothe spasms and tonify the middle jiao, making it a specialized formula for cold and heat abdominal pain with spasms. After adding astragalus and honey to Guaizhi Tang, the ability to consolidate the exterior and harmonize the nutritive qi is enhanced, so Huangqi Jianzhong Tang is particularly effective for consumptive disorders with cold and fever with spontaneous sweating. Guaizhi Tang, being pungent and warm, is modified by adding scutellaria to clear heat, combining to achieve the effect of pungent and cool dispersal. As a result, Yangdan Tang acquires the function of "treating floating pulse, fever, stiff neck, and headache," thereby expanding the scope of application of Guaizhi Tang. If there is external heat and internal cold, adding dried ginger to Yangdan Tang to warm the stomach yields Yindan Tang, which can both dispel the exterior and warm the interior. As Xu Lingtai said in the preface to Classified Formulas for Cold Damage: "The treatment for a formula is fixed, but the changes in the disease are unpredictable. Knowing the fixed treatment, one should not deviate from it regardless of the myriad transformations of the disease." The Ancestor Formulas of the Medical Treatise demonstrates the method of differentiating syndromes and treating them accordingly by categorizing formulas and analyzing syndromes, benefiting later generations and..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................