581-682
Doctor

Canonization. Sun Simiao was one of the most important monk doctors of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Born in Shanxi province, he was the son of a scholar. At the age of seven he was a devoted and diligent student. As a youth he studied the great Daoist writers as well as the Buddhist Canons. Early in his life he lived as a recluse in the mountains, but he was so famous that two emperors offered him high positions in their courts. He refused on the pretext of illness and returned to his hermitage in keeping with the tradition of the great Chinese sages. He died at an advanced age in 682 and was canonized after his death under the name Sun Zhenren.

Medical System. His medical system is a combination of Indian doctrine of the four elements (earth, water, fire, and wind) and the Chinese...