Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.s2.t4.8

v1.c6.s2.t4.8

Sun Simiao “was good at talking about theories of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and various schools of thoughts and was proficient in explaining classics” so *Valuable Prescriptions for Emergency* “collected widely and deleted complicated contents” and quoted deep knowledge from Buddhist and Indian medicine. “Virtues of a great doctor” in its Volume 1 Preface Case proposed that “all people shall be equal including the rich and the poor, the old and the young, the beautiful and the ugly, the resentful and kind-hearted friends, Chinese and foreigners, the wise and the stupid, who shall be treated as close relatives in terms of treatment with diseases”. It showed influences of the Buddhist concept of mercy. In the matter of theory of causes of disease, the *Valuable Prescriptions for Emergency*, absorbed the theories of “body being composed of the four elements including earth, water, fire and wind” as well as “404 diseases” of Indian Buddhist medicine. Replacing “101 diseases being caused by one great abnormity” with the theories of “Qi” and “spirit” of traditional Chinese medicine, Sun Simiao writes that the “abnormity of one Qi leads to 101 diseases, 404 diseases are caused by action of the four spirits”, which reflected his acceptance of foreign medical knowledge.