The great SuíTáng 隋-唐 physician and Daoist master, traditionally dated c. 581–682 (though the actual dates are disputed — various sources give birth as early as 541 or as late as 590; death 682 is more securely established). Known in the Chinese medical tradition as the Yào wáng 藥王 (“Medicine King”) and often titled Sūn zhēn rén 孫真人 (“Perfected Sūn”). Native of Jīng zhào 京兆 Huá yuán 華原 (modern Yào xiàn 耀縣, Shǎn xī 陝西).
Career. Declined official positions repeatedly — from Suí Wén dì 隋文帝 through Táng Tài zōng 太宗 and Gāo zōng 高宗 — preferring the life of a physician-recluse. His medical expertise became legendary, and his works became standard references of classical Chinese medicine.
Major medical works.
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Bèi jí qiān jīn yào fāng 備急千金要方 (“Essential Emergency Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold”, 30 juàn, c. 652) — his foundational medical compendium. The title references the proverbial saying that “human life is worth a thousand gold pieces” — meaning every prescription in the work is worth the expense of its preservation.
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Qiān jīn yì fāng 千金翼方 (“Supplementary Thousand-Gold Prescriptions”, 30 juàn, c. 680) — the supplement to the first work.
These two together — the Qiān jīn fāng 千金方 cycle — constitute one of the foundational works of the classical Chinese medical tradition, alongside the Huáng dì nèi jīng and Zhāng Zhòng jǐng’s Shāng hán lùn.
Daoist engagement. Sūn Sīmiǎo’s medical work is deeply intertwined with Daoist yǎng shēng 養生 cultivation tradition. Several short Daoist-medical works are attributed to him in the Daozang:
- [[KR5c0231|Cún shén liàn qì míng]] 存神鍊氣銘 (DZ 834).
- [[KR5c0232|Bǎo shēng míng]] 保生銘 (DZ 835).
- [[KR5c0238|Sūn zhēn rén shè yǎng lùn]] 孫真人攝養論 (DZ 841).
Dating. Traditional 581–682 dating adopted (as in the catalog). Actual dates disputed among modern scholars. The 101-year lifespan claimed by tradition is probably legendary embellishment.
Source. Jiù Táng shū 舊唐書 191; Xīn Táng shū 新唐書 196.