Sun Simo (seventh century)
Fabrizio Pregadio
Stanford University, Department of Religious Studies
Adapted from the unedited ms. of an article in Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Countries, ed. Helaine Selin (Dordrecht, 1996).
The Chinese physician and medical author Sun Simo (alternative reading: Sun Simiao) was a native of Huayan, in present-day Shaanxi. His biography is so much a composite of fact and legend that it is impossible to either substantiate or invalidate his traditional dates (581-682). From official, autobiographical, and hagiographical sources it emerges that he retired at an early age on Mount Taibai (Taibai shan), not far from his birthplace. He repeatedly declined imperial summons and official titles, but was almost certainly in Emperor Gaozong's retinue from 659 to 674, when he retired on account of illness. He seems to have spent part of his life in Sichuan, which may explain why many legends that concern him are located in that area. After his death he has been venerated as Yaowang or "King of Medicine" in temples dedicated to him.
Sun Simo is the author of two of the most important Chinese medical compilations, the Qianjin fang (Prescriptions Worth a Thousand), also known as Beiji qianjing yaofang (Important Prescriptions Worth a Thousand, for Urgent Need), and the Qianjing yifang (Revised Prescriptions Worth a Thousand). The former, in thirty chapters, was completed soon after the middle of the seventh century (apparently in 652). The latter, also in thirty chapters, dates from the late seventh century. Both works are preserved in editions derived from versions published in the eleventh century, when they were edited to be used as textbooks in the Imperial Academy of Medicine. In these texts, Sun provides an extended compendium of traditional medical knowledge, arranged in sections dealing with such subjects as pharmacology, aetiology, gynecology, paediatrics, dietetics, acupuncture, moxibustion, and specific diseases. Both texts include a wide selection of prescriptions (about 5,300 in the Yaofang, about 2,000 in the Yifang). (See Despeux 1987; Unschuld 1985: 42-45, 303-304.)
Among many points of interests in these compilations, three deserve special mention. The first is the priority that Sun Simo accords to gynecology and paediatrics, the two branches of medicine which he deals first in both works. The second is the importance given to medical ethics, reflected in this well known passage from the first chapter of the Qianjin yaofang: "When someone comes to look for help, a doctor should not question rank or wealth, age or beauty, nor should he have personal feelings towards that person, his race, or his mental capacities. He should treat all his patients as equal, as though they were his own closest relatives." The influence of Sun's medical ethics spread beyond China, reaching Korea and Japan through quotations of relevant passages in texts of these two countries.
A third aspect is Sun's relationship to Taoism and Buddhism. The nature of his involvement with the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao, the main liturgical tradition of Taoism) is debated. In the two chapters entitled "Book of Interdictions" ("Jinjing") of the Qianjin yifang, Sun quotes formulas used in exorcist rituals by the Celestial Masters. This raises the issue of how he obtained access to them. His interest in Taoism is also reflected in the chapter on "Nourishing the Vital Principle" ("Yangxing"), and in another extant text on physiological disciplines which is attributed to him, the Sheyang zhenzhong fang (Pillow Book of Methods for Preserving and Nourishing Life). (See Engelhart 1989.)
Another source pointing to Sun's relationship to Taoism is the Taiqing danjing yaojue (Essential Instructions from the Scripture on the Elixirs of the Great Purity). This text -- available in an excellent English translation (Sivin 1968) -- consists in a collection of alchemical methods derived from the Six Dynasties compilations centered around the now-lost Taiqing jing or Scripture of Great Clarity, one of the main early alchemical canons. Although Sun's authorship cannot be definitively proved, we know from his own witness that he was involved in the compounding of elixirs around 610 CE. Among the medical disorders which he experienced, of which he left a first-hand account in his medical works, is intoxication due to elixir ingestion. (See Sivin 1967.)
In addition to Taoism, recent research (Sakade 1992) has pointed out Sun Simiao's close connection with Buddhism. For example, Sun refers to Indian massage techniques, and mentions methods for the treatment of beriberi from works edited by Buddhist monks. He also introduced meditation in his medical practice, possibly under the influence of Tiantai disciplines. Moreover, the above-mentioned "Jinjing" section of the Qianjing yifang includes incantatory formulas in Sanskrit. The main factor behind these Buddhist elements may have been Sun's interest in the doctrines of the Huayan school.
References
Despeux, Catherine. 1987. Préscriptions d'acuponcture valant milles onces d'or. Paris: Guy Trédaniel. Translation of the chapter on acupuncture of the Qianjing fang.
Engelhart, Ute. 1989. "Qi for Life: Longevity in the Tang." In Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, ed. Livia Kohn in collaboration with Yoshinobu Sakade. Ann Arbor: Center For Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 263-296. Includes an extended summary of the Sheyang zhenzhong fang.
Sakade Yoshinobu. 1992. "Sun Simiao et le Bouddhisme." Kansai Daigaku bungaku ronshû 42.1: 81-98.
Sivin, Nathan. 1967. "A Seventh-Century Chinese Medical Case History." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 41: 267-273.
Sivin, Nathan. 1968. Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press. Includes a biographical study of Sun Simo and an annotated translation of the Taiqing danjing yaojue.
Unschuld, Paul. 1985. Medicine in China: A History of Ideas. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. See pp. 42-45, 303-304.