Zhang Zhongjing (Chinese: 張仲景; 150–219), formal name Zhang Ji (張機), was a Chinese pharmacologist, physician, inventor, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty and one of the most eminent Chinese physicians during the later years of the Han dynasty.[1] He established medication principles and summed up the medicinal experience until that time, thus making a considerable contribution to the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine.[1]
Though well known in modern Chinese medicine and considered one of the finest Chinese physicians in history, very little is known about his life.[2] According to later sources, he was born in Nanyang, held an official position in Changsha and lived from approximately 150 to 219 AD.[3] Exact dates regarding his birth, death and works vary, but an upper limit of 220 AD is generally accepted.[4]
It is also speculated that he created jiaozi (餃子 - gyoza/dumplings/potstickers) to help people with frostbitten ears.[5]
During his time, with warlords fighting for their own territories, many people fell victim to infectious diseases. Zhang's family was no exception. He learned medicine by studying from his towns fellow and later teacher Zhang Bozu,[6] assimilating from previous medicinal literature such as Yellow Emperor's Inner ClassicHuangdi Neijing (黄帝内經), and collecting many prescriptions elsewhere, finally writing the medical masterpiece Shanghan Zabing Lun[7] (Chinese: 傷寒雜病論; pinyin: Shānghán Zábìng Lùn, lit. "Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases"). Shortly after its publication, the book was lost during the wars that ravaged China during the period of the Three Kingdoms. Because of Zhang's contribution to traditional Chinese medicine, he is often regarded as the sage of Chinese medicine.
Zhang's masterpiece, Shanghan Zabing Lun, was collected and organised later by physicians, notably Wang Shuhe (王叔和) from the Jin Dynasty (晋) and various court physicians during the Song Dynasty (宋) into two books, namely for the former, the Shang Han Lun (傷寒論, lit. "On Cold Damage"), which was mainly on a discourse on how to treat epidemic infectious diseases causing fevers prevalent during his era, and the latter, the Jingui Yaolue (金櫃要略, lit. "Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Coffer"), a compendium of various clinical experiences which was regarded as a main discourse on internal diseases.[8] These two texts have been heavily reconstructed several times up to the modern era.[9] Revered for authoring the Shāng Hán Zá Bìng Lùn, Zhang Zhongjing is considered to have founded the Cold Damage or "Cold Disease"[10] school of Chinese medicine and is widely considered the seminal expert to this day.
Zhang Zhongjing left behind Zhang Zhongjing Liu Wei Di Huang Wan.[11] There is also the Medical Sage Temple(医圣祠) in Nanyang , which is a place to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing.[12]Zhang Zhongjing's treatment of diseases has unique effects. The key points of his medication are to be precise, concise, and straight to the condition.[13] Unlike modern Chinese medicine, which uses Western medicine's way of thinking and logic to treat diseases.[14] Zhang Zhongjing is a role model and model of learning for later generations of Chinese medicine.[15]
^ ab"生逢乱世，他弃官从医，终成中华医圣——张仲景生平 _ 经济参考网 _ 新华社《经济参考报》官方网站" [Born in troubled times, he abandoned his official position to practice medicine and eventually became a Chinese medical sage - the life of Zhang Zhongjing]. www.jjckb.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^大道家园 (2023-06-16). "周王朱橚对中医药的贡献" [Zhou Wang Zhu Ju’s contribution to traditional Chinese medicine]. 大道家园 (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^"中医发展的缩影--从张仲景到李时珍 --- 浙江中医药大学中医师承高级学习班" [The epitome of the development of traditional Chinese medicine--from Zhang Zhongjing to Li Shizhen--- Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Advanced Study Class for TCM Physicians]. www.zjzysc.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^"张仲景生平 医圣祠-张仲景博物院门户网站" [Zhang Zhongjing’s Life Medical Shrine-Zhang Zhongjing Museum Portal]. yishengci.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^"伤寒学派始于_伤寒学派张仲景_伤寒学派人物_趣历史" [The School of Cold Diseases Begins_Zhang Zhongjing of the School of Cold Diseases_Characters of the Cold Disease School_Interesting History]. www.qulishi.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^"三分钟讲透经典①｜仲景经典方"六味地黄丸"_功效_状态_作用" [Three minutes to explain the classics①｜Zhongjing’s classic recipe "LiuWeiDiHuangWan"_Efficacy_Status_Function]. www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^"【行走河南·读懂中国】南阳医圣祠仲景文化耀古今 - 河南省文化和旅游厅" [[Walking in Henan and understanding China] Nanyang Medical Sage Temple Zhongjing culture shines through the past and present - Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism]. hct.henan.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^"科学开展方药量效研究 - 中国食品药品网" [Scientifically carry out dose-effect research on prescriptions - China Food and Drug Network]. m.cnpharm.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
^李子迟 (2008-12-01). 盛世中国：秦汉卷 [Flourishing China: Qin and Han Scrolls] (in Chinese). Beijing Book Co. Inc. ISBN978-7-999023-58-6.
Loewe, Michael, ed. (1993). Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide. Berkeley, CA: Society for the Study of Early China: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California. ISBN9781557290434.
