Treatise on Cold Damage

Author: (Chinese) Zhang Zhongjing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-06-01
Features: The art of medicine originates from Yan and Huang, and the classical formulas flourish through Yi Yin. Without entering its door, one cannot claim to be in the hall; with confusion within, one cannot enlighten others. By imitating foreign theories and mixing personal speculations, one takes the low approach and ends up with the opposite result. Therefore, without thoroughly understanding the questions and answers of Xuanyuan and Qi, and the arguments of Zhang Zhongjing, it is difficult to comprehend the balance of yin and yang, exhaust the transformations, manifest the mysterious, and analyze the hidden.
Zhang Zhongjing of the Later Han Dynasty (name Ji, from Nieyang in Nanjun) elaborated on the Suwen, expanded the Tangye, diligently studied ancient teachings, and extensively collected formulas, compiling the Treatise on Cold Damage and Acute Illness in sixteen volumes (approximately completed around 205 AD). Wang Shuxue, the Imperial Medical Officer of the Western Jin Dynasty, compiled the section on external heat diseases, and after being corrected by Lin Yi of the Song Dynasty, it became the existing Treatise on Cold Damage in ten volumes. It consists of twenty-four chapters, three hundred and ninety-seven methods, and one hundred and twelve formulas. The arguments are profound and mysterious, the methods concise yet detailed, with one syndrome matched to one formula, achieving success in all cases, earning it the title of "the ancestor of all formulas."
The Treatise on Cold Damage organizes its content around the three yang and three yin syndromes and six diseases, distinguishing between the pulse and symptoms of yin and yang, deficiency and excess, cold and heat, interior and exterior, and applying treatments such as sweating, inducing vomiting, purging, warming, nourishing, and resolving. Thus, it establishes the principle of syndrome differentiation and treatment, setting a model for theory, method, formula, and medicine. For example, resolving deficiency in the sun syndrome by sweating, supporting yang and nourishing yin in the syndrome of cold and heat, addressing deficiency after sweating with Shaogao and Fu Zi, and resolving excess after sweating with Tiaowei Chengqi—these all demonstrate the differentiation between deficiency and excess, cold and heat. Additionally, treating the interior first when deficient, resolving the exterior first when excess, rescuing the interior with Sijiu, rescuing the exterior with Guizhi, treating the combined syndrome with Mahuang and Fu Zi, and addressing exterior excess with interior heat with Daqinglong—all reflect the balance between exterior and interior, urgency and.
"Observing the pulse and symptoms, knowing the errors made, and treating according to the syndrome." Seeking the root cause, uncovering the underlying reasons, guiding the trend to restore harmony. In all cases of cold, heat, deficiency, and excess, the trends of interior and exterior, opening and closing, and the transmission of six diseases are intertwined, transformations inevitable. One must carefully assess the situation, guide it in reverse for benefit, adhere strictly to the pathogenesis, avoid losing the balance of qi, and only then grasp Zhang Zhongjing’s core methodology.
Cheng Wuji of the Jin Dynasty, with profound expertise and a family tradition, was the first to annotate the Treatise on Cold Damage, always citing the Suwen and referencing various theories, ensuring his interpretations were appropriate. The existing annotated Treatise on Cold Damage by Cheng Wuji, published in the 24th year of the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty by Wang Jichuan, is an early version of the Treatise on Cold Damage text. The Treatise on Cold Damage published by Zhao Kaimei in the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty has recently been reprinted, so this annotated version was chosen as the base. To preserve the original appearance of ancient texts and follow the unified style of the Comprehensive Series of Famous Classical Chinese Medicine Books, the annotations were removed, leaving only the original text. Additionally, it was cross-referenced with the Zhao edition and the Yishun Zhengmai among others.