In early Taoism (Wudoumi Road and Taiping Road), there was a saying that water curses were used to treat diseases. Taiping Jing, an early classic of Taoism, also describes people's physiological conditions from the perspective of Yin-Yang, Five Elements and Collaterals. It is believed that human diseases are related to heaven and earth, yin and yang, four seasons, five elements, cold and heat, and it is proposed to regulate 360 pulses of human body with acupuncture and treat diseases with plants, animals and plants. Some classics regard strengthening the essence, refining qi and nourishing the spirit as the methods of strengthening the body.
The most famous are Ge Hong, a Taoist priest in Jin Dynasty, Tao Hongjing, a Taoist priest in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and Sun Simiao, a Taoist priest in Tang Dynasty, who have made indelible contributions to the development of Chinese medicine.
Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty wrote Synopsis of the Golden Chamber and Elbow Emergency Prescription. There are records of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and smallpox in synopsis of the golden chamber, and it is pointed out that tuberculosis ("corpse") can infect people and lead to the collapse of the whole family. There are more than 100 simple prescriptions in the compilation of elbow emergency prescriptions, which can be described as the first first aid manual in China. Tao Hongjing, a native of Qi and Liang Dynasties, is proficient in medical skills, and has written Notes on Materia Medica, Prescriptions for Prescriptions, Effective Prescriptions and Hundred Prescriptions after Elbow. Among them, Compendium of Materia Medica is a compilation of 730 drugs used at that time, based on different disciplines and regions, as well as the land used by the imperial edict. Explain the name, source, origin, characteristics, identification, function, processing, etc. of the drug. It is a compendium of materia medica in Tang Dynasty and an important work of ancient pharmacology. In addition, Tao Hongjing also pioneered the method of classifying drugs according to their properties.
Sun Simiao, a famous Taoist priest in the Tang Dynasty, is known as the "King of Medicine". He has written more than 30 kinds of medical works, such as Emergency Prescription, Nursing Theory, Classic List, and Pilin Zhongfang. The history book says that "as for the weak crown, it is quite conscious and beneficial to the sick at home and abroad." Sun Simiao attaches great importance to diet therapy and medical ethics in medicine, and also attaches great importance to maternal and infant diseases. There are three volumes in Qian Jin Fang Yao: Women Fang and Xiaoer Fang.
In addition to the medical achievements of the three Taoist doctors mentioned above, there are also some Taoist health preservation methods, such as promoting qi circulation, dredging, pranayama and massage. , has been included in the field of Chinese medicine; Taoist external alchemy has been brought into the pharmaceutical field and become a pharmaceutical means; Taoist inner alchemy also greatly enriched China's traditional medical theory and means.