During the years of the Han dynasty, Zhang Zhong-jing wrote the Shang-han Lun. In it, he writes about Cold-Induced Disorders. This book is regarded as being instrumental in shaping what modern TCM represents today. In the Shang-han Lun, Zhong-jing discusses the six stages of disease and the diagnostic methods in acute febrile diseases. The book is one of the clinical and practical foundations off traditional pharmaceutical medicine in TCM.

Without getting too technical, Zhong-jing discusses the herbal prescriptions and treatment protocols in context of the six divisions corresponding ton the six stages of disease. For instance, writes that the Tai Yang stage is a milder stage that is characterized with external symptoms such as chills, stiffness, fever, and headache. The most effective therapy is sweating.

At the other extreme, he writes that the Jue Yin stage is characterized as “absolute Yin”. The common symptoms include: thirst, difficult urination, and physical collapse. The most effective treatment modalities would focus on warming and supplementing. To a practitioner, like me, this is very important to know, as it gives me a sense of direction of how to note a patient’s symptoms. I ask the reader just to appreciate this significance to practitioners, like me.

The very fact that I am using knowledge that dates back centuries to create treatment plans to treat the modern patient is amazing to me. The Shan-han Lun is considered one of the four canonical works of TCM. The other ones are: the Huang DI Nei Jing (which I discussed in the previous Blog), the Jin Gui Yao Lue and the Wen Bing Xue. These last two will be topics for future blogs.

My objective I writing about these ancient treatises in TCM, is not only to educate the of the history of TCM but to help them realize that many of the treatment concepts/protocols are derived from the healers that help write these texts.