Sun Simiao (; 541-682)Chen, J. (2007). Philosopher, Practitioner, Politician: the Many Lives of Fazang (643-712). Netherlands: Brill. p. 242. was a Chinese physician and writer of the Sui and

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, who was from Tongchuan, central

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

. He was titled as China's King of Medicine (, ''Yaowang'') for his significant contributions to Chinese medicine and tremendous care to his patients.

Books

Sun wrote many books, of which two—'' Beiji qianjin yaofang'' ("Essential Formulas for Emergencies ortha Thousand Pieces/Catty of Gold") and ' ("Supplement to the Formulas of a Thousand Gold Worth")—were milestones in the history of Chinese medicine.Tan, S. Y. (2002). Sun Si Miao (581-682a. d.): China's pre-eminent physician. ''Singapore Medical Journal'', ''43''(5), 224-225. They summarized pre-

medicine. The former listed about 5300 recipes for medicines, and the latter 2000. He also put forth the “Thirteen measures to keep health”, which claimed that actions like touching hair, rolling eyes, walking, and shaking heads improved health.Sun Simiao, King of Medicine, Cultural China
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Apart from this, he is known for the text "On the Absolute Sincerity of Great Physicians," often called " the Chinese Hippocratic Oath," or called " Dayi Heart", which comes from the first chapter of the first of the above-mentioned two books. This portion of the book is still a required reading for Chinese physicians. The following is an excerpt of the text:

A Great Physician should not pay attention to status, wealth or age; neither should he question whether the particular person is attractive or unattractive, whether he is an enemy or friend, whether he is a Chinese or a foreigner, or finally, whether he is uneducated or educated. He should meet everyone on equal grounds. He should always act as if he were thinking of his close relatives.

The work ''Essential Subtleties on the Silver Sea'' (, yínhǎi jīngwēi) was probably written by Sun Simiao. It was published at the end of the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

(1271−1368) and has had wide influence on the Chinese ophthalmology until today. In addition to his medical work, Sun also experimented in Chinese '' waidan'' external alchemy and may have been an initiated Daoist adept. The sinologist Nathan Sivin says Sun Simiao's famous ''Danjing yaojue'' "Essential Formulas of Alchemical Classics"

..is as close to a modern laboratory handbook as anything we are likely to find in ancient literature. Following a preface and a catalogue of elixir names, there is a set of detailed specifications for necessities of the laboratory, including the ''liuyini'' "six-one" lute which was universally employed in Chinese pharmacology and alchemy for the hermetical sealing of reaction vessels. Finally, there are the recipes themselves: ingredients grouped at the beginning, with weight and advance preparation clearly noted, and perspicacious, concise directions for compounding and using the products.

Sun believed deeply that the science of alchemichal elixers would help humans achieve immortality. A tenth century historian wrote that Sun's body did not decay for some time after his death, due to the amount of murcury he ingested while trying to develop the perfect elixer of immortality.Needham J, ''Science and Civilization in China'', volume 5, number 2, 1974 Cambridge University Press, London.

Religious life

Sun perferred life far away from court, and tended to live essentially as a hermit. He was a devout Daoist and did work with Emperor Gaozong, and probably Empress Wu, on their Daoist studies. Sun was not, however, open only to traditional Chinese ideas. He was a student of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, as well.Lee H. S. (2005)
"Sun Xi-miao in the biography of the Avatamsaka-Sutra."
''Ui sahak'', ''14''(2), 123–136. Fazang, a Chinese Sogdian monk, is credited with bringing the Avatamsaka sect of Buddhism to the Tang Dynasty, and Sun helped popularize it, as well.Chen, J. (2007). Philosopher, Practitioner, Politician: the Many Lives of Fazang (643-712). Netherlands: Brill. p. 284. Some historians believe that Sun introduced Gaozang and Wu to study of the Avatamsaka, of which they became great patrons and supporters. Scholars argue that he is most accurately thought of us a "Buddho-Daoist." Ultimately, after Sun's death, Fazang composed the best-known biography of Sun.

References

Bibliography

*Komjathy, Louis (2022) 'Lesson 14: Principles of Yǎngshēng 養生 (Nourishing Life) Bǎoshēng míng 保生銘 (Inscription on Protecting Life)', in ''Primer for Translating Daoist Literature''. Auckland: Purple Cloud Press *

External links

Exerpt from the Inscription on Protecting Life
— Louis Komjathy

— Subhuti Dharmananda {{Authority control 682 deaths 7th-century Chinese physicians 7th-century Chinese writers Chinese men centenarians Chinese medical writers Chinese non-fiction writers Sui dynasty physicians Sui dynasty writers Northern Wei people Northern Zhou people Physicians from Shaanxi Tang dynasty science writers Writers from Tongchuan 7th-century Taoists