Huashi zhongzang jing 華氏中藏經

Huashi zhongzang jing 華氏中藏經 "Master Hua's book on viscera", brief Zhongzangjing 中藏經, is a book on inner medicine allegedly compiled during the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) by Hua Tuo 華佗 (c. 140–208). Hua Tuo spent his life refusing official posts, steadfastly practicing medicine among the common people. He was proficient in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics, with particular expertise in surgery and acupuncture. Known for his high medical ethics and exceptional skill, he was later revered as a divine physician. He invented an anesthetic called mafeisan 麻沸散 that predates the use of anesthesia in the West by over 1,600 years. He also created a form of physical exercise, wuqinxi 五禽戲 "five birds' [actually: beasts] frolics" that promoted fitness and disease prevention through movement. It is said that he authored several medical texts, including the "Acupuncture and moxibustion book from the pillow" Zhenzhong jiuci jing 枕中灸刺經, but all of these works have unfortunately been lost.

The Zhongzangjing, with a length of 3 juan, is recorded in Zheng Qiao's 鄭樵 (1104-1162) book catalogue Tongzhi yiwen lüe 通志•藝文略, and also listed as a single scroll (volume) in Chen Zhensun's 陳振孫 (c. 1183-1262) cataologue Zhizhai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題, and the bibliographical chapter of the official dynastic history Songshi 宋史. During the Qing period 清 (1644-1911), Sun Xingyan 孫星衍 (1753-1818) collated and edited the text into three volumes based on a handwritten Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) manuscript by Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫 (1254-1322) and another Yuan copy preserved by a Master Zhou 周氏.

The first and second fascicles consist of medical discourses, covering 49 essays on topics such as Yin and Yang, cold and heat, deficiency and excess, and various disorders of the internal organs. These discussions examine disease origins, pathology, pulse methods, diagnosis and treatment techniques, and methods for distinguishing between life and death. Guided by the theories of the so-called "Inner Canon" (Neijing 內經 or Huangdi neijing 黃帝內經) and the "Book of Difficult Issues" (Nanjing 難經), the work systematically elaborates on pulse diagnosis and internal organ theory, and had a profound influence on the development of later Chinese pathophysiology.

The third fascicle contains 60 medical prescriptions, designed to be used alongside the theoretical content of the first two volumes, and holds practical clinical value.

Though the book may have been attributed to Hua Tuo by later generations under a borrowed name, its contents appear to be well-founded and largely reflect the original intentions of the School of Master Hua.

The text is included in Wu Mianxue's 吳勉學 (late 16th cent.) Yitong zhengmai 醫統正脈 (full title Gujin yitong zhengmai quanshu 古今醫統正脈全書), and was in 1800 published by the Saoye Shanfang 掃葉山房. Sun Xingyan's commented version is found in the Pingjinguan congshu 平津館叢書本. Modern editions were published in 1956 by the Shangwu Yinshuguan 商務印書館, in 1963 by the Renmin Weisheng Chubanshe 人民衛生出版社, and in 1985 by the Jiangsu Keji Chubanshe.