Healing Library
The Daoyin Tu (Daoyin Chart) — The World's Earliest Exercise Atlas
The Daoyin Tu (Daoyin Chart), unearthed in 1974 from the Mawangdui Han Tomb No. 3 in Changsha, is a colored silk painting from the late 3rd century BCE — the earliest extant exercise chart in the world. It depicts over 40 male and female daoyin postures spanning four categories: breathing exercises, limb movements, apparatus-assisted exercises, and therapeutic daoyin. Textual annotations refer to the treatment of 12 conditions, including “guiding deafness” and “guiding warm disease,” and show deep historical connections to Hua Tuo's Wuqinxi (Five Animal Frolics). It stands as invaluable evidence of the origins of TCM health cultivation and therapeutic exercise.
The Puji Fang — The Largest Formulary Compendium
The Puji Fang (Prescriptions for Universal Relief), compiled under the direction of Zhu Su, the Prince of Zhou in the early Ming dynasty, and completed in 1406, is the largest formulary compendium in ancient Chinese history, containing 61,739 prescriptions across more than 100 categories. Systematically organized into sections on pulse and formulas, circuit qi, zang-fu organs, physical form, various diseases, gynecology, pediatrics, acupuncture, and materia medica, it represents a monumental synthesis of pre-Ming medical literature, serving as an invaluable trove for clinical practice and scholarly research.
The Shennong Bencao Jing — The Earliest Extant Classic of Chinese Materia Medica
The Shennong Bencao Jing (Divine Farmer's Classic of Materia Medica) is the earliest extant pharmacological classic in China, compiled during the Eastern Han dynasty and attributed to Shennong. It records 365 medicinal substances and pioneered the three-grade classification system. The work systematically expounds the core theories of Chinese pharmacy, including the four natures and five flavors, the sovereign-minister-assistant-envoy principle, and the seven relations of compatibility, establishing the foundation of herbal combination and clinical application. For millennia, it has remained a vital theoretical pillar of Chinese medicine and an authoritative, indispensable reference for clinical practice.
Wuqinxi (Five Animal Frolics) — The Longest-Circulating Health Exercise
Wuqinxi (Five Animal Frolics) is a traditional Chinese biomimetic exercise created by the renowned Eastern Han physician Hua Tuo, mimicking the movements of the tiger, deer, bear, monkey, and bird — characterized by external movement and internal stillness, combining strength with suppleness. This article details its historical origins (first recorded in Tao Hongjing's Yangxing Yanming Lu), the step-by-step breakdown of each animal exercise (tiger pouncing, deer rotating, bear swaying, monkey reaching, bird flying) with breathing coordination, and emphasizes the training principles of whole-body relaxation, focusing the mind on the dantian, and the unity of form and spirit. It is the longest-circulating and most influential daoyin health preservation method in Chinese medicine.
Mafeisan — The World's Earliest Anesthetic
Mafeisan was the world's first general anesthetic, created by the Eastern Han dynasty physician Hua Tuo — predating the use of anesthetics in Europe and America by over 1,600 years. Legend records that Hua Tuo prepared to use Mafeisan to anesthetize Guan Yu for bone-scraping surgery and proposed opening Cao Cao's skull to cure his head-wind condition, but was tragically executed due to mistrust, and the formula was nearly lost. The Huatuo Shenfang (Hua Tuo's Divine Formulas) records its ingredients as Chinese azalea, jasmine root, Chinese angelica, and sweet flag, noting that after ingestion, the patient “could be cut open without feeling pain or itch” — demonstrating that TCM surgery, brain surgery, and anesthesiology had already reached an extraordinarily advanced level.
The Earliest Medical Literature — The Nanjing (Classic of Difficult Issues)
The Nanjing (Classic of Difficult Issues), originally titled Huangdi Bashiyi Nanjing (The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Eighty-One Difficult Issues), is a foundational TCM classic compiled before the Eastern Han dynasty, often mentioned alongside the Neijing. Structured as eighty-one questions and answers, it systematically addresses pulse diagnosis (Questions 1–22), meridians (23–29), zang-fu organs (30–47), diseases (48–61), acupoints (62–68), and needling techniques (69–81). It offers profound insights into the mingmen (life gate), sanjiao (triple burner), seven pivotal gates of the digestive tract, and eight meeting points, and introduces the classification of "five types of cold damage," making it essential reading for TCM foundational theory.