Treatise on Cold Damage

Zhang ZhongjingJinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJul 2024

5.0

Word count: 35K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Composed by Zhang Zhongjing in the Eastern Han dynasty, Treatise on Cold Damage is a classic of Chinese medicine and a monograph expounding the treatment principles of externally contracted diseases, in ten volumes.

Editor's review

Treatise on Cold Damage is a major source of the system of pattern identification and treatment in Chinese medicine. In ten volumes it takes the six channels as its framework and discusses the onset, transmission, and treatment of externally contracted diseases, with concise clauses arranged in clear layers. Its difficulty lies not in length but in conceptual density: the same symptom means different things in different channel diseases, and the correspondence between formula and pattern must be compared repeatedly. It is therefore a classic for repeated study rather than a book to be read once and set aside. If readers grasp the main thread of the six-channel framework and formula-pattern correspondence, and use commentaries to understand the clauses, they will often find it easier to get started than by memorizing in isolation. For students of Chinese medicine it is an unavoidable foundation; ordinary readers should proceed according to their capacity and need not insist on reading it through.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students at Chinese medicine colleges and learners preparing to study classical formulas systematically
Enthusiasts who already know basic Chinese medicine theory and wish to understand six-channel pattern identification in depth
Clinicians using it as a desk reference to revisit the classic and check formula-pattern correspondences
Researchers of Chinese medical literature interested in classical editions and commentarial traditions

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners seeking light, easy introductions to Chinese medicine
Readers expecting modern case discussions and plain-language popularizations
Those interested only in health-preservation methods and not in learning the pattern-identification system

Reading tips

Read the outline clauses of the six channels first to build a framework, then go through each chapter closely, avoiding getting bogged down in details at the start.
Organize clauses and formulas side by side, making brief tables of pattern-method-formula to help form an awareness of formula-pattern correspondence.
Read alongside a reliable commentary; when a clause is hard to understand, first look at disagreements among commentators, then return to the original text to judge.
Do not insist on understanding everything in one pass; read in rounds, each focusing on one question, such as the Cinnamon Twig Decoction formula group or the transmission of taiyang disease.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
伤寒论
辨太阳病脉证并治上
辨太阳病脉证并治中
辨太阳病脉证并治下
辨阳明病脉证并治
辨阴阳易瘥后劳复病脉证并治

FAQ

Is Treatise on Cold Damage suitable for complete beginners to read directly?

Not very. Its clauses are concise and conceptually dense, involving the professional systems of the six channels, pulse images, and formula patterns, so beginners can easily read it as fragments. It is better to first master basic Chinese medicine theory and introductory explanations of the treatise, then return to the original text, which will be much smoother to understand.

Must one memorize the clauses to read Treatise on Cold Damage?

Memorization helps, but it is not the only path. Beginners can first understand the six-channel framework and representative formula patterns, then gradually memorize key clauses. Memorizing without understanding tends to stop at the literal level; reading without remembering makes it hard to develop sensitivity to formula-pattern correspondence. The two should be combined.

How should one begin with six-channel pattern identification?

Start with the taiyang disease chapter, grasp the outline clauses and representative formula patterns, then look at transmission patterns and gradually extend to yangming, shaoyang, taiyin, shaoyin, and jueyin. For each channel, summarize around "location of disease, nature of disease, treatment method, main formula"; this is more effective than rote memorization clause by clause.

Do all ten volumes need to be read through?

For professional learners, reading through helps build a complete framework; for ordinary enthusiasts, begin with the six-channel outlines and clauses on common formula patterns, then expand according to interest. Even when reading through, do not spend equal effort everywhere: read key chapters repeatedly and seek only general familiarity with secondary clauses.

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About the author

Zhang Zhongjing Author · China (Eastern Han)

Zhang Zhongjing, whose given name was Ji and whose courtesy name was Zhongjing, was a native of Niyang in Nanyang Commandery (present-day Nanyang, Henan) during the Eastern Han dynasty. His birth and death years are unknown, and later generations honored him as the "Medical Sage." He wrote the sixteen-volume Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases, which established the principle of pattern differentiation and treatment and laid the foundation of clinical therapeutics in traditional Chinese medicine; the work is counted among the four great classics of Chinese medicine. In later transmission it was divided into the Treatise on Cold Damage and the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet. This library holds 32 related works, including the Song edition of the Treatise on Cold Damage and various edited versions of the Essential Prescriptions, commonly classified under medicine. Owing to limited historical sources, public information on the details of his life is scarce, yet his scholarly influence runs through clinical practice and education in Chinese medicine, and his works remain required reading for its study.