This page is cultural and historical background. It is not medical advice; for health concerns, see a licensed professional.
Life
Sun Simiao lived across the Sui–Tang transition in the Guanzhong region and declined high office to practice and write. His Beiji qianjin yaofang (Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies) and the later Qianjin yifang gather thousands of prescriptions, dietary and longevity notes, gynecology and pediatrics. A famous chapter on the 'great physician' sets out duties of compassion and care that later Chinese medicine treated as a classic of medical ethics. Tradition also links him to temple cults of the Medicine King. ORDL presents him as a figure in the history of ideas, not as clinical advice.
The system
- Comprehensive formula collections spanning acute care and nurturance of life.
- Medical ethics: the ideal of the 'great physician'.
- Integration of diet, season and regimen with herbal prescription (as historical doctrine).
Key works
- Beiji qianjin yaofang (Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold)
- Qianjin yifang (Supplement to Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold)
Where to start
- Read as history: a survey chapter on Tang medicine, then the 'great physician' essay—do not follow clinical recipes.
Ask Orin
A question to start with. It opens in Orin ready to edit; nothing is sent until you press Send.
What does Sun Simiao's essay on the 'great physician' say about medical ethics?Ask Orin this question