“Treatise on ShangHan,” “Essentials from the Golden Chamber,” “Pulse Diagnosis,” “Pulse Differentiation,” and “What Can and Cannot Be Done” were written by Zhang Zhongjing of the Han Dynasty. “Treatise on ShangHan” and “Essentials from the Golden Chamber” are treatises on infectious and chronic diseases, respectively; “Pulse Diagnosis” and “Pulse Differentiation” analyze a patient’s pulse; and “What Can and Cannot Be Done” advises readers on which treatments are appropriate and which are inappropriate when a patient presents with certain symptoms and pulse patterns. These five works are collectively known as “ShangHan.” This book was written to explain “ShangHan.” Because the content is primarily medical theory and contains few clinical cases, it is titled “Theoretical Medicine.”

Of these five works, “Treatise on ShangHan” is the most important, as it encompasses all the fundamental theories underlying “ShangHan.” The “Treatise on ShangHan” has been around for 1,800 years. Due to its profound content and difficulty in understanding, over 1,000 works, including those by Korean and Japanese scholars, have attempted to interpret it, but none have been able to accurately explain its content. This is because the “Treatise on ShangHan” uses a systemic functional perspective to explain pathological phenomena, employing a dialectical approach that differs from traditional Chinese medicine. Therefore, its content cannot be explained using traditional medical theories.

“Treatise on ShangHan” emphasizes that the pathological state of infectious diseases exhibits significantly more dynamic changes. Therefore, doctors must constantly observe the patient’s pulse and symptoms and prescribe different prescriptions based on the patient’s pathological condition at different times. Treating infectious diseases with a single drug or prescription is unrealistic.

The medical philosophy of the “Treatise on ShangHan” was advanced, its theoretical system complete and rigorous, and its understanding of the nature of disease surpasses that of modern medicine. This book, based on modern mathematical logic, establishes a systematic theory of physiology, pathology, pulse diagnosis, and pharmacology, drawing on the book itself. Only by doing so can we understand the symptoms, pulse patterns, and related treatments discussed in “ShangHan.”

The emergence of the Covid-19 virus has exposed the weaknesses of modern medicine. Western medicine lacks effective treatments for such infectious diseases. While traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with its patent medicines has been effective, these treatments are prone to leaving sequelae. There’s no guarantee that a more virulent virus will emerge in the near future. Patients infected with such viruses would experience greater dynamics in their pathological conditions, leading to higher mortality rates. Such illnesses cannot be treated with a single or two TCM patent medicines.

To address such an epidemic, a medical system should be established that constantly monitors patients’ symptoms, identifies their pathological conditions based on these symptoms, and prescribes appropriate treatment plans. Only in this way can the mortality rate be reduced. Such a system requires medical staff to have a thorough understanding of the fundamental theories of “ShangHan”so that they can accurately assess the patient’s pathological condition. The purpose of establishing this website is to let more people learn about “ShangHan,” so as to cultivate more medical staff who understand “ShangHan” and prepare for possible epidemics in the future