Summary of the Classic TCM Text ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’
‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ (Jīn Guì Yào Lüè) was not recorded in historical texts before the Song Dynasty. The ‘Song History: Arts and Literature’ mentions, “Essentials of the Golden Coffer, three volumes, authored by Zhang Zhongjing, compiled by Wang Shuhe,” while the ‘Chongwen Zongmu’ states, “Essentials of the Golden Coffer, three volumes, authored by Zhang Zhongjing.” In the medical texts that survived from before the Tang Dynasty, such as ‘Secret Essentials of the Outer Chamber’ (Wài Tái Mì Yào Fāng), ‘Emergency Essentials’ (Bèi Jí Qiān Jīn Yào Fāng), ‘Treatise on the Origins of Various Diseases’ (Zhū Bìng Yuán Hòu Lùn), ‘Medical Heart Formula’ (Yī Xīn Fāng), and ‘Pulse Classic’ (Mài Jīng), there are references to Zhang Zhongjing’s writings in ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’, but none explicitly mention the title ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’. According to the preface of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’, to eliminate repetition, the Medical Book Bureau deleted the sections on typhoid fever found in the damaged manuscripts discovered by Song official Wang Zhu, and the current ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ retains the content on ‘miscellaneous diseases’.
(Fragment of ‘Essentials of the Classic Formulas’)
In the preface of ‘Treatise on Typhoid Fever’ (Shāng Hán Lùn) and the preface of the surviving fragment of ‘Classic Formulas’ (Xiǎo Pǐn Fāng) found in Japan, it is mentioned that Zhang Zhongjing’s works consist of two parts: typhoid fever and miscellaneous diseases. For example, in the bibliography listed after the preface of ‘Classic Formulas’, there are references to ‘Hua Tuo’s Formulas, ten volumes’, ‘Zhang Zhongjing’s Treatise on Typhoid Fever, nine volumes’, ‘Zhang Zhongjing’s Miscellaneous Formulas, eight volumes’, and ‘Huang Su’s Formulas, twenty-five volumes’. Furthermore, in the self-preface of Jin Dynasty’s Ge Hong’s ‘Elbow-Back Formulas’ (Zhǒu Hòu Fāng), it states, “I have compiled the essentials from Zhang Zhongjing, Yuanhua, Liu, and Dai’s ‘Secret Essentials’, ‘Golden Coffer’, ‘Green Order’, and ‘Huang Su’ formulas… named ‘Jade Coffer’… I now collect its essentials to form ‘Elbow-Back Rescue’ in three volumes.” This indicates that during the Six Dynasties period, Chen Yanzhi and Ge Hong’s compiled formula books share the same lineage, and from the wording in their prefaces, it can be seen that these two physicians from the Six Dynasties period may have cited content from ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ and compiled Zhang Zhongjing and others’ medical formulas in their own medical texts. Comparing some formulas from ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ with those in the fragment of ‘Classic Formulas’, such as Wutou Guizhi Decoction (Wū Tóu Guī Zhī Tāng) and Danggui Shengjiang Yangrou Decoction (Dāng Guī Shēng Jiāng Yáng Ròu Tāng), shows a high degree of overlap in content, proving that these two medical texts have the same source. In the small character annotations of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’, references to lost medical texts such as ‘Ancient and Modern Records’ (Gǔ Jīn Lù Yàn), ‘Deep Master’ (Shēn Shī), and ‘Classic Formulas’ can often be found, and Song officials sometimes annotate in small characters after certain formulas, stating, “This may not be a formula by Zhang Zhongjing.” Therefore, the current surviving version of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ should not all originate from Zhang Zhongjing; this book should be a compilation of formula books from before the Tang Dynasty, and its formation has undergone a process of accumulation and layering of formula books over the ages.
(Deng Zhen’s Edition)
‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ has no surviving Song editions. Before the discovery of the Ming Dynasty’s Wu Qian’s copy of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘Wu Qian Edition’), the mainstream versions of this book were all derived from the Yuan Dynasty’s Deng Zhen’s printed edition of ‘New Compilation of Golden Coffer Formulas’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘Deng Zhen Edition’). The Deng Zhen Edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ is currently housed in the Peking University Library. According to Professor Liang Yongxuan and Professor Zhen Liu Cheng’s research, the Deng Zhen Edition was adapted from the large-character edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ from the Northern Song Dynasty. The most widely circulated and beautifully printed version of the Deng Zhen Edition is the ‘Complete Works of Zhang Zhongjing’ published by Zhao Kaimei in the Ming Dynasty (hereinafter referred to as ‘Zhao Kaimei Edition’). The existing Zhao Kaimei Edition consists of five volumes, housed in the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Library, Shanghai Library, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Library, Shenyang Medical University, and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. The ‘Complete Works of Zhang Zhongjing’ in the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Library is the first edition, with the cover stamped “Collection of the Chinese Medical Research Institute” (hereinafter referred to as ‘Zhongyan Edition’). Other major Ming editions belonging to the Deng Zhen Edition system include the Ming Yu Qiao Edition and the Ming Xu Rong Edition.
(Zhongyan Edition)
Recently discovered Wu Qian Edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ has been confirmed by academic research to be an early Ming imitation of the Song edition. Based on the Northern Song period’s official corrections of medical texts, it can be inferred that this book should be a copy of the small-character edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ published during the Shaosheng years of the Northern Song, currently housed in the Shanghai Library. Comparing the Wu Qian Edition with the Deng Zhen Edition reveals significant differences between these two so-called different system versions, reflected in the book title, formula names, table of contents, paragraph positions, chapter positions, small character annotations, drug dosages, drug preparations, and formula methods. From these differences, it can be seen that the Deng Zhen Edition indeed made extensive adaptations to its source Song edition, while the Wu Qian Edition, in terms of wording and structure, appears to be closer to ancient texts.
(Wu Qian Edition)
Yang Shoujing once said: “The ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ based on the Ming Zhao Kaimei’s imitation of the Song edition is the best, followed by the Yu Qiao Edition, but both are rarely circulated. The ‘Medical System Edition’ has the most errors. This Yuan printed edition and Zhao’s edition are particularly rare books.” Meanwhile, the Republican-era physician Lu Yuanlei commented: “The printed edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ should be the Xu Rong Edition of ‘Medical System Correct Pulse’, followed by the Yu Qiao Edition, and the circulating ‘Complete Works of Zhang Zhongjing’ edition is next, with Zhao’s original edition being the best.” It is evident that Yang and Lu had differing evaluations of the Zhao Kaimei Edition; the former misjudged that the Zhao Kaimei Edition was derived from the Yuan Deng Zhen Edition rather than the Song edition, while the latter believed that the reprinted Zhao Kaimei Edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ was superior to its first edition.
The base text selected for this reprint is the reprinted Zhao Kaimei Edition of ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ held in the Cabinet Library. Since the Cabinet Library edition is a reprint of the Zhao Kaimei Edition, this proofreading work first compared the base text with the Zhongyan Edition, and based on this, determined the base text, then used the Wu Qian Edition and Zhongyan Edition as proofreading texts for detailed verification.
Written by Zhou Qi, October 2021
Author’s Biography: Zhou Qi, Associate Researcher at the Institute of History and Literature of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and Distinguished Associate Professor at the Institute of Excavated Medical Literature and Artifacts of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Member of the ‘Tianhui Medical Simplification’ editing group, responsible for the interpretation, assembly, and line drawing of the lacquered human figures of bamboo slips. Currently dedicated to the research of excavated medical literature and artifacts.
Appendix: Lin Yi’s ‘Correction of Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ (Wu Qian Edition)
Correction of Essentials of the Golden Coffer[1]
Zhang Zhongjing’s ‘Treatise on Typhoid Fever and Sudden Illness’ consists of sixteen volumes, but only the ‘Treatise on Typhoid Fever’ of ten volumes has survived, and the miscellaneous diseases have not been seen in his writings, although some may be included in the formulas of various schools. Hanlin scholar Wang Zhu, while in the library, discovered Zhang Zhongjing’s ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’ in three volumes in damaged manuscripts, which discusses typhoid fever in the upper section, miscellaneous diseases in the middle section, and includes formulas for treating women in the lower section. He recorded and transmitted it to a few scholars. When applying the formulas to patients, the effects were miraculous. However, there are sometimes cases without formulas or formulas without cases, which leaves some ailments untreated.
The state ordered the Confucian scholars to correct medical texts. I, Qi, first corrected the ‘Treatise on Typhoid Fever’, then the ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’, and now I am correcting this book. I still arrange the formulas according to the symptoms, making it convenient for quick reference in urgent situations. I also collected formulas scattered in various schools and attached them at the end of each section to broaden their application. Since the text on typhoid fever is lengthy, I have taken from the miscellaneous diseases below, ending with dietary prohibitions, totaling twenty-five sections, excluding redundancies, with each section containing two hundred sixty-two formulas, compiled into three volumes, still named ‘Essentials of the Golden Coffer’. I have read in ‘Records of the Wei Dynasty: Biography of Hua Tuo’ that “a book can save lives.” Every time I observe Hua Tuo, the diseases he treats are often strange and do not conform to the teachings of the sages. I believe that the one who saves lives must be Zhang Zhongjing’s book. Generally speaking, the sacred methods of the fiery farmers belong to my prosperous dawn. Respectfully.
The sovereign has inherited the great governance, nurtured the people, promulgated formula books, and alleviated suffering, allowing harmony to flourish, and all things to be in harmony.
[1] Correction of Essentials of the Golden Coffer: The Deng Edition states “Preface to the New Compilation of Golden Coffer Formulas”.
[2] Formula-symptom correspondence: The Deng Edition states “correspondence of formulas and symptoms”.
[3] Redundancies: The Deng Edition states “repetitions”.
[4] Each: The Deng Edition states “combined”.
[5] Essentials of the Golden Coffer: The Deng Edition states “Golden Coffer Formulas”.
[6] Zhang Zhongjing’s book: The Deng Edition states “the book of Zhang Zhongjing”.
[7] Generally speaking: The Deng Edition states “Great indeed”.