Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold

"Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold (Shanghan Lun), written more than 1700 years ago, is one of the most important classics of traditional Chinese medicine. The present volume is the first English translation of this work ever published. The work is actually the first half of Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold and Miscellaneous Diseases (Shanghan Zabing Lun) by Zhang Zhongjing, a great medical scholar and doctor of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220). In the history of China's medical literature, Zhang's treatise is the most outstanding medical text subsequent to the publication of the great Canon of Medicine of the Yellow Emperor, which was compiled during the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.). In his treatise, Zhang Zhongjing laid the foundations for the theory of diagnosis and treatment based on an overall analysis of the patient's symptoms and signs; his book has therefore been regarded by all doctors and medical scholars of ensuing periods as a "sacred medical text."

Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold occupies a position in traditional Chinese medicine similar to that of Newtonian theory in the world of physics and Euclid's Elements in the field of geometry. It is not only an indispensable reference book for medical specialists, but should also be very useful for those readers who wish to gain some understanding of the foundations of traditional Chinese medicine.

One of the notable features of this volume is the introduction by Professor Ren Yingqiu, Vice-President of the All-China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which explains the historical background and significance of this medical classic.

The book includes a number of notes and annotations selected from various authoritative medical works to supplement each clause of the original text. Explanations have also been appended to each prescription. Definitions have also been provided for certain medical terms to explain their use in the original text. Finally, the appendices include a listing of all the herbs used (with Latin, English and Chinese names included) and their respective efficacies, and the names of the different pulses and their associated syndromes."