Ancient Chinese Medicine: Legends of Seven Great Physicians

This is a popular book on Chinese medical culture by Luo Dalun, a doctor of Chinese medicine, structured around the lives of seven ancient physicians and how each rose from ordinary person to celebrated healer. It covers, in order, Li Dongyuan and Zhu Danxi (Zhu Zhenheng) of the Jin-Yuan period; Miao Xiyong, Yu Jiayan and Fu Qingzhu of the Ming dynasty; and Xu Lingtai and Wang Mengying of the Qing. Writing from historical fact, the author consulted a large body of documents and medical case records, striving to ground every figure and event in sources rather than relying on invented plot; at the same time he tells of their studies, practice and life's vicissitudes in a relaxed, witty, almost storytelling voice, showing the choices and commitments they made amid plagues, droughts, wars and national upheaval. After each physician, a dedicated section summarizes his most representative health-preserving ideas or formula insights—Li Dongyuan's supplementing the middle and warming the spleen and stomach, Zhu Danxi's advice on health in old age, Miao Xiyong's Zisheng Pill, Yu Jiayan's approach to cardiovascular health, Fu Qingzhu's views on cold pathogens, blood stasis and liver depression in women, and so on. The book serves both as an introduction to Chinese medical figures and medical history and, for many readers, as an inspirational work: it presents not only medical skill but the traditional healer's compassion for the suffering and commitment to saving lives.