The Chinese Medical Classics and their Mandate of Non-orthodoxy:
Voices of Accomplished Physicians
Selected writings of Zhang Nan, Zhang Jingyue, Jiang Hantun, and from the Neijing Suwen
Introduced and Translated by Heiner Fruehauf
To the ancient Chinese, the classics (jingdian 經典) were repositories of timeless truths gleamed from nature by the “sages” (shengren 聖人). The sages were cultivated men and women who could directly perceive the spiritual order and the alchemical principles governing the material world. In an age when there are fewer and fewer teachers who can clearly transmit the non-physical roots of the body, it is natural for serious students of Chinese medicine to seek instruction from the classics.
In the process of rediscovering the classics as a source of wisdom and inspiration, modern practitioners often fall prey to the habit of seeing ancient teachings through the lens of our own, much more unyielding, concept of science. The classics themselves, however, never promoted rigid adherence to orthodox principles. The 2nd century physician Zhang Zhongjing, himself the author of one of the most important medical classics, points out in the preface of his Shanghan zabing lun that “the guiding hand of the classics serves as a source for constant reflection and improvement, for the purpose of evolving one’s static bag of inherited tricks.”
The Chinese medical classics, in other words, were regarded as a source of deep inspiration by physicians of the past--a dynamic agent of change that propels the seeker beyond the stifling dogma of local lineages and personal therapeutic biases. While the biography of all accomplished Chinese medicine physicians documents years of immersion in the classics, many of them have warned their students against a bookish application of classical knowledge at the end of their career. Here is a collection of representative opinions on this topic.
Medicine is a combination of fixed principles and their flexible usage that makes them come alive in the magic of the moment. The former transmits the truth of the ages, while the latter follows the subtle dynamics of time. Both of them need to be adhered to.
-Sun Zhixiong (Ming dynasty)
A physician becomes perfect in the waves of change. Adherence to rigid principles will only create stagnation. Every wanderer on the path of medicine necessarily looks to the laws of nature expounded by the masters of old, but when the moment of action arrives, s/he must receive the transmission of the heart and become enlightened to the atmosphere of the moment when the sages first recognized these laws--almost as if one was creating these laws oneself, over and over again.
-Sun Yikui, from “A Biography of Six Masters” (Ming dynasty, 16th century)
Yi, the legendary master archer, can teach you how to shoot, but he cannot make you hit the bullseye. Wang Liang, the famous warrior, can teach you how to handle a battle cart, but he cannot prevent you from toppling over. In the same vein, the essential details of the art of medicine can be communicated through words, but their inner meaning cannot be fully transmitted through the medium of language; they can be expressed through the rationale of numbers, but they cannot be fully understood through this rationale alone. When faced with the unlimited potential of life’s changes, therefore, one must ultimately rely on the truth that flows from one’s own heart rather than on the rigid adherence to orthodox principles—otherwise loss will be certain.
-Fang Xiaoru (Ming dynasty), from “The Physician in Touch With the Source”
Zhang Zhongjing’s art stems from academic learning, while Hua Tuo’s was the gift of enlightenment. When the heart awakens, the waves of change become maneuverable--this way of practicing is unique and may appear strange to others, and only a few may be able to follow the likes of Hua Tuo when studying his techniques. Realistically, therefore, academic instruction needs to begin with those essential details that can be a standard for generations of physicians. The archetype for this style of transmission is, of course, Zhang Zhongjing. His way within the Dao of medicine is the way of the constant. Hua Tuo, on the other hand, exemplifies the way of change that puts the constant to use.
-Guo Yong, “Supplementation of What Has Been Lost from the Shanghan lun” (Shanghan buwang lun, 1181)