Learning TCM · Reading the Classics
Principles of Differentiation and Treatment Established
The classics of Cold Damage should always be respected
The “Preface to the Treatise on Cold Damage” is the original preface to the “Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases”. During its transmission, it was compiled by later generations, gathering the content related to exogenous febrile diseases into the “Treatise on Cold Damage”. The author is Zhang Zhongjing from the Han Dynasty. According to research, the “Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases” was completed around 200 AD. Due to the long history and years of war, coupled with the limited means of dissemination at the time of its initial publication, this book did not spread widely, resulting in various versions of the “Treatise on Cold Damage” having missing parts. Currently, several versions are recognized as having research value:
Wang Shuhe’s edited version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage” and “Pulse Classic”
The Qianjin version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage” (also known as the Tang version)
The Waidai version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage”
The Kangzhi version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage”
The Kangping version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage”
The Song version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage” (also known as the Zhiping version)
The Zhao engraved version of the “Treatise on Cold Damage”
The Chengben version of the “Annotated Treatise on Cold Damage”
The “Jinkui Yuhan Jing” and “Jinkui Yaolue”
The “Guilin Ancient Version of the Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases”
The Dunhuang scroll version (also known as the Dunhuang A version)
The Changsha ancient version
The Fuling ancient version
Cold
Damage
Treatise
Preface
The “Preface to the Treatise on Cold Damage” is sincere in its words, rich in content, and combines literature and philosophy. It is a timeless educational masterpiece on medicine, medical ethics, and medical morality, which also has significant cautionary implications for contemporary society. The “Preface to the Treatise on Cold Damage” embodies the essence of the entire work. To study the “Treatise on Cold Damage” without understanding the significance of the original preface is akin to a train without a head, lacking direction, lost in a vast ocean without knowing the way, and failing to grasp what the “Treatise on Cold Damage” truly conveys.
Every time I read this piece, I cannot help but admire the talent and virtue of Zhongjing. His phrases such as “When the body has perished, the spirit extinguished, transformed into something else, lurking in the deep springs, only to weep” and “The world is in a stupor, unable to awaken, not cherishing their lives, as if they take life lightly” elucidate the true meaning of Zhongjing’s Cold Damage. This reflects the real Cold Damage faced by Zhongjing’s family and society as a whole. If one approaches learning with a utilitarian mindset, they will only grasp the techniques while straying from the principles; if one studies with a desire for fame, their heart will be restless, their spirit will wander, and their essence will leak away. We must learn from the past and take it as a lesson, practicing with a heart of cultivation rather than a heart of profit.
Original Text
Whenever I read about the diagnosis of the man from Yue entering Guo, and the miraculous medical skills of Bian Que that revived the prince and discerned the life and death of Qi Huanhou by observing his complexion, I cannot help but sigh at Bian Que’s exceptional talent.
I lament the current scholars and gentlemen who do not pay attention to medicine, do not study the laws of nature and human existence to seek solutions for diseases, treating the illnesses of kings and parents above, rescuing the impoverished below, and protecting their own health in the middle, but instead compete for fame and power, striving for wealth, obsessively pursuing name and profit, adorning the superficial while neglecting the essence, embellishing the exterior while withering the interior. If the skin does not exist, where will the hair attach?
Suddenly encountering the invasion of evil winds, afflicted by extraordinary diseases, calamities arise, and one trembles in fear, lowering their aspirations and humbling themselves, looking to shamans for help, resigning to fate, and waiting for defeat, clutching a lifespan of a hundred years, holding onto precious items, entrusting them to ordinary doctors, allowing them to do as they please. Alas! When the body has perished, the spirit extinguished, transformed into something else, lurking in the deep springs, only to weep.
How painful! The world is in a stupor, unable to awaken, not cherishing their lives, as if they take life lightly. What glory and power can be spoken of? They cannot love others or know themselves, encountering disasters and calamities, dwelling in dire straits, muddled and foolish, like wandering souls. Alas! Those who pursue trends, racing after superficiality, neglecting the fundamentals, forgetting their own bodies for material gain, are in a perilous state like an ice valley, and yet they remain unaware!
My clan has many members, about two hundred, since the Jian’an era, in less than ten years, two-thirds have died, over 120 people, of which seventy percent died from Cold Damage. Reflecting on the past losses, lamenting the untimely deaths, I diligently seek ancient teachings, broadly gather various prescriptions, compiling the “Suwen”, “Nine Volumes”, “Eighty-One Difficulties”, “Yin-Yang Great Treatise”, “Tai Lu Medicine Record”, and “Ping Mai Bian Zheng”, to create the “Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases” in sixteen volumes. Although I cannot cure all diseases, I hope to see the disease and know its source. If one can follow my compilation and practice differentiation and treatment, they will have made significant progress. Heaven has arranged the five elements to operate all things; humans possess the five constants to have the five organs. The meridians and collaterals, the organs and their points, the interplay of yin and yang, the principles are profound, subtle, and mysterious, and the changes are truly difficult to exhaust. If one is not exceptionally talented and insightful, how can they explore the principles and meanings within? In ancient times, there were divine farmers, Yellow Emperor, Qi Bo, Bo Gao, Lei Gong, Shao Yu, Shao Shi, and Zhong Wen. In the middle ages, there were Chang Sang, Bian Que, and in the Han Dynasty, there were Gong Cheng Yang Qing and Cang Gong. Since then, I have not heard of such masters and famous doctors.
Observing today’s ordinary doctors, they do not reflect on the classics, do not act according to the principles of the classics, and do not use the classics to expand and enrich their knowledge and skills. Instead, they rely on so-called family secrets, each school preserving their incomplete teachings, never thinking of progress, adhering to the old ways. When diagnosing diseases, they rely solely on the patient’s verbal account. In a moment of interaction, they prescribe decoctions, measuring superficial pulses without understanding the deeper ones, seeing the surface but not the interior; they do not know the size and direction of the Ren and Du meridians, cannot assess the three levels of pulse, and cannot regulate their own qi, breathing and resting, counting breaths not exceeding fifty; they cannot diagnose recent conditions, and are confused about the three divisions and nine conditions; they do not observe the Ming Tang and Que Ting areas, and such diagnosis of diseases is merely a superficial view. To discern life and death with such a level of understanding is truly difficult. Confucius said: Those who are born knowing are the highest, those who learn to know are the second, and those who hear and learn broadly are the next. I have always loved medical prescriptions and techniques, and I consistently act according to the rules and correct methods, even if I cannot be born knowing, let me follow the words of “learning to know” and “broadly hearing and learning” in my medical practice.
Philosophical Perspective on TCM
A common man with determination is as solid as a rock
Refining one’s character, not seeking official positions
Not coveting the world, living fearlessly
The path of medicine, with a heart for goodness
Serene and carefree, the source of the medical way
Long press the QR code to follow the public account
WeChat ID: Medical Way Source xiayu99
Consultation | Communication | Sharing