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The Attacking and Purging School

Zhang Zi-He, a military physician from the Song Dynasty, developed the 'Six Doors and Three Methods' approach to medicine, focusing on purging, vomiting, and sweating to treat illnesses. He believed that sickness entered the body through six channels and emphasized matching the force of the ailment to expel it. His practices, while influential, faced criticism due to the potential harm caused during treatment.

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73 views8 pages

The Attacking and Purging School

Zhang Zi-He, a military physician from the Song Dynasty, developed the 'Six Doors and Three Methods' approach to medicine, focusing on purging, vomiting, and sweating to treat illnesses. He believed that sickness entered the body through six channels and emphasized matching the force of the ailment to expel it. His practices, while influential, faced criticism due to the potential harm caused during treatment.

Uploaded by

omarahclayton
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The

Attacking
and Purging
School
By Zhang Zi-He
Zhang Zi-He
Zhang Zi-He
• Also known as Zhang Con Zheng, lived between 1156 and 1228,
and was a military physician. (Sherman, 2020)

• It is said that each physician in their time not only created their
own decoctions, treatments, and learnings but took from those that
came before them and revamped oriental medicine for their time.
(Sherman, 2020)

• After his time in the military, he returned home and opened a


medical practice based on the “Six Doors and Three Methods”.
(Sherman, 2020)

• The Six Doors also known as the Six Evil Qi: Wind, Summer Heat,
Dampness, Fire, Dryness, and Cold. (Sherman, 2020)

• The Three Methods referred to his preferred methods of treatment:


Sweating, Vomiting, and Purging. (Sherman, 2020)
It was understood that purging, vomiting, and sweating were the
fundamentals of getting rid of certain illnesses. This ideology
was not agreed upon by many because of the detriment to the
body during the time of treatment. (Sherman, 2020)

Zhang Con Zheng believed that sickness entered the body by


the six doors opened by the heavens, the earth, and man’s
actions. (Sherman, 2020)

Zhang Con Zheng was a neo-Confucianist of the Song Dynasty.


(Sherman, 2020)

“The revived Confucianism of the Song period (often called Neo-


Confucianism) emphasized self-cultivation as a path not only to
self-fulfillment but to the formation of a virtuous and harmonious
society and state.” (Columbia University, n.d.)

He believed that there were many things that caused disease


and that with the same force, the ailment wreaked havoc on the
body, you must match the force and measure to expel it from
the body. (Sherman, 2020)
Case Study
San Hua Shen You Wan (Three Flower Divine Blessing Pill)

This pill in today’s Western medicine has evolved over time


and has now been used in spiritual rituals and religious
practices for protection.

Back then, if a patient was too weak to handle the herbal


medicines that were prescribed, then the patient would die
from the treatments given.

Zhang Con Zheng was consulted at times that was too late
to revive patients. During a time when a patient was given
the right treatment but too late, he could not withstand the
treatment and succumbed to his illness and descended.

(Wilcox, 2016)
Recipe
. 哳連清心湯 Huáng Lián Qīng Xīn Tāng (Huáng Lián Heart Clearing
Decoction): This is the formula from Zhāng’s own book, Rú Mén
Shì Qīn (Confucian Duties Toward One’s Parents). It consists of
Liáng Gé Sǎn plus half a liǎng of huáng lián. 大哳 dà huáng one
liǎng of each 樸消 pò xiāo 甘㥹 gān cǎo 山梔子 shān zhī zǐ 薄荷 bò hé
哳芩 huáng qín 連翹 lián qiáo four liǎng 哳連 huáng lián half a liǎng
Make the above into a coarse powder. Each does is three or five
qián boiled in one small-cup of water with some added honey
and bamboo leaves ( 竹葉 zhú yè). Remove the dregs and take
warm at any time.

(Wilcox, 2016)
• Traditional Chinese Medicine has relatively little regard for purging medicine.
Purging aims to clear excess Humors and foulness from the body in order to
both clear the pathogen, as well as free the system up in order to help it.
(Tate, 2012)

• What are Humors in TCM? Bodily fluids: Blood, yellow bile, black bile, and
phlegm. (Walkington, 1639)

FUN FACTS
References
• Columbia University. (n.d.). China in 1000 CE. The Song Dynasty in China | Asia
for Educators.
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/songdynasty-module/confucian-neo.html#:~:text=
The%20revived%20Confucianism%20of%20the,and%20harmonious%20society%
20and%20state
.
• Sherman, S. (2020a, February 20). Chinese medicine’s Zhang Zi-he and the
school of attacking and purging. Empirical Point.
https://www.philadelphia-acupuncture.com/zhang-zi-he-school-of-attacking-and-p
urging/

• Tate, A. (2012). Schools of thought in Traditional Medicine . Medicine Traditions.


https://www.medicinetraditions.com/schools-of-thought.html
• Walkington, T. (1639). “and there’s the humor of it” Shakespeare and the four
humors. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/shakespeare-and-the-four-humors/index.html
#:~:text=According%20to%20humoralism%2C%20four%20bodily,parts%2C%20
and%20stages%20of%20life
.

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