Sin Simiao The‘King of Medicine’
3 min readSun Simiao，the author of the earliest encyclopedia for traditional Chinese medicine，has been worshiped across the country as the King of Medicine ever since his time in early Tang Dynasty(618-907 AD).
Sun was born in a place called Huayuan in today’s Yaox-ian County, Shaanxi Province in northwestern China. Howev-er, it was not a salutary place for people at that time as many locals frequently contracted unusual illnesses.
Even Sun’s father was suffering from night blindness and his mother had serious “thick-neck”(goiter) symptoms. Actu-ally, Sun himself had been sickly as a child.
So, the boy studied very hard and was determined to become a doctor once he was grown up to help treat his par-ents, relatives and neighbors in his home village.
In addition to various Chinese classics, the young Sun dug deep into every medical treatise that he could have access to.
He also traveled to various places to collect folk and family recipes and study the medical effects of thousands of herbs. He was particularly interested in identification and preparation of herbs. Sun began his medical practice by the age of 18. Later, due to his exceptional skills and deep care for the patients, he was able to cure the illnesses of his parents and treated many others in his home village.
After he gained a great reputation as medical specialist, Sun began to write a 30-volume medical work called “Qianjin Yaofang”or”Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold.”
In ancient China, there was a saying that “a life is worth a thousand gold.”So, the title indicates that the more than 5,300 recipes contained in the book are life-saving remedies.
“Qianjin Yaofang”contains not only medical recipes, but also commentaries on clinical practices. It includes treatises on diet and exercises as well. And because of its comprehensive and well-researched contents, the book was deemed by later generations of Chinese herbal doctors as the first encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine.
Soon after finishing the first book, Sun went to live inseclusion on Panyu Mountain, which was later known as Mt Medicine King. There, Sun studied Taoism and integrated Taoist principles with Buddhism and Confucian doctrines.
Later, by summing up his clinical experiences and medi-cal classics, he wrote a second medical book entitled “Qianjin Yifang”or “Supplement to the Prescriptions of a Thousand Gold.”The second book, also written in 30 volumes, contains about 2,000 recipes. In both his books, Sun also elaborated onmeasures to keep healthy, such as combing hairs, rolling eyes, walking and doing other exercises.
The two books were later translated into many other lan-guages and once they were used as textbooks in Japanese medical schools.
Sun was not only known for his exceptional medical skills but also his lofty moral and conducts. In one article, entitled “Dayi Jingcheng”or “Absolute Sincerity of Great Physicians,”Sun wrote:
“When a great physician treats patients, he must maintain his inner serenity, pay no attention to personal desires or de-mands, and feel great sympathy for the patients. He should vow to save people from their sufferings, no matter they arenobles or plebeians, rich or poor, old or young, attractive orunattractive, friends or enemies, Chinese or foreign, educated or uneducated. He must treat them all on equal grounds and as his own close kin.”
Later, Sun’s views on medical ethics were treasured as the first code of conduct for all physicians in ancient China.
