The Complete Medical Works of Zhang Zhicong

Author: Zhang Zhicong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-08-01
Features: The Collected Medical Works of Zhang Zhicong includes eight extant medical works by Zhang Zhicong: Collected Notes on the Suwen (9 volumes), Collected Notes on the Lingshu (9 volumes), The True Seal of the Treatise on Cold Damage (8 volumes), Discussions from Lushantang (2 volumes), Collected Notes on the Treatise on Cold Damage (6 volumes), Annotations to the Essentials from the Golden Cabinet (4 volumes), The Original Source of Materia Medica (3 volumes), and Essentials of Medicine (4 volumes), totaling 45 volumes and 1.73 million words. This is a relatively complete collection of Zhang Zhicong's medical works since the Qing Dynasty, providing modern researchers with a comprehensive documentary basis for studying his academic thought and learning his treatment experiences. Collected Notes on the Suwen and Collected Notes on the Lingshu compile insights from various scholars to elucidate the principles of the Inner Canon. Zhang Zhicong's annotations pioneered collective authorship, enabling later readers to understand the origins of diseases by studying the Suwen and recognize how to treat them by studying the Lingshu. The True Seal of the Treatise on Cold Damage and Collected Notes on the Treatise on Cold Damage annotate the Treatise on Cold Damage, while upholding the traditional theory of cold damage, they independently reflect theoretical thinking and offer perspectives. Annotations to the Essentials from the Golden Cabinet emphasizes the interpretation of classics through other classics, citing texts such as the Suwen, Lingshu, Treatise on Cold Damage, and Nanjing, with the Inner Canon and Treatise on Cold Damage being most frequently referenced. Discussions from Lushantang is a collection of essays by Zhang Zhicong and dozens of his classmates and disciples, discussing traditional Chinese medical theory and principles at Lushantang Hall. The central theme of these discussions revolves around studying the similarities and differences in traditional Chinese medicine and distinguishing right from wrong. The topics covered include fundamental theories such as zang-fu organs, meridians, qi and blood, and etiology; diagnostic doctrines like the four diagnostic methods and the eight principles; disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation; as well as critiques of medical texts. The lower volume primarily discusses herbal medicine, with over ten discussions on prescriptions and medicinal herbs at the beginning and end of the volume, and the middle volume elaborates on the names, properties, flavors, and functions of more than 40 herbs. The Original Source of Materia Medica is the first historical pharmacological monograph to annotate the Shen Nong's Classic of Materia Medica. The book is divided into three volumes, classifying 300 herbs according to the three categories system and explaining their properties using the theory of five movements and six climates. Its annotations largely adhere to the original intent of the Shen Nong's Classic, while its expansions either summarize the experiences of predecessors or reflect Zhang Zhicong's personal insights, making it a valuable reference for clinical traditional Chinese medicine and herbal research. Essentials of Medicine is divided into Pulse Methods, Meridian Methods, Herbal Methods, and a Supplementary Guide to Herbal Properties. The Pulse Methods provide annotations on physiological and pathological pulse phenomena; the Meridian Methods further explain the pathways of the fourteen meridians and related diseases; the Herbal Methods annotate the (yin-yang), flavors, ascending-descending, floating-sinking, and the five flavors' (distribution), as well as the five desires, five prohibitions, and five indications for the use of herbs in relation to the five zang-fu organs and six fu organs. The book includes annotations on 300 herbs, detailing their properties, flavors, and functions; the Supplementary Guide to Herbal Properties is divided into the Water, Earth, Metal, and Stone sections, as well as the Herbal section.