Introduction
"Danxi's Mastery of Medicine"
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
A 5-volume medical compendium attributed to Zhu Zhenheng (Zhu Danxi, 1281–1358) and compiled by his disciples, completed around 1347. The core text of the "nurture-yin" (滋阴) school and the southern anchor of the "four masters of the Jin-Yuan".
Zhu Zhenheng, styled Yanxiu and self-styled Danxi (the "Cinnabar Creek" recluso), is traditionally cited as the last of the four masters of the Jin-Yuan (after Liu Wansu, Zhang Congzheng, and Li Gao). His signature thesis — "yang is always in excess, yin is always insufficient" (阳常有余, 阴常不足) — reformulated Song-Ming medical thinking around a yin-tonifying, deficiency-correcting axis. The text preserves Bao He Wan, Yue Ju Wan, Zuo Jin Wan, Da Bu Yin Wan, Yu Ping Feng San and other formulas that remain among the most prescribed 中成药 in modern Chinese pharmacies. The book also gives its name to the "Danxi school" (丹溪学派), which dominated Jiangnan medical culture into the Ming and Qing periods.
Historical background
Compiled around 1347 by Zhu Zhenheng's (朱震亨) disciples from the master's lecture notes, the Danxi Xinfa is the principal text of the nourish-yin (滋阴) school. Zhu Zhenheng (1281–1358) was the last of the four masters of the Jin-Yuan. Drawing on Neo-Confucian cosmology, he formulated the influential thesis that yang is always in excess, yin is always insufficient (阳常有余、阴常不足), reframing chronic disease around yin deficiency. The 5-volume text preserves canonical formulas such as Bao He Wan, Yue Ju Wan, Zuo Jin Wan, and Da Bu Yin Wan. The book and the Danxi school (丹溪学派) shaped medical thinking in Jiangnan through the Ming and Qing and remain core references in modern TCM education.
Formulas recorded in this text· 6
Formula · Bǎo Hé Wán
Harmony-Preserving
保和丸
A "food-digesting, dampness-transforming" formula used in Chinese households for the all-too-familiar consequences of overeating, rich food, or a holiday dinner gone slightly too far.
Formula · Dà Bǔ Yīn Wán
Great Yin-Supplementing
大补阴丸
A strong "zi-yin jiang-huo" (enrich yin and descend fire) formula from Zhu Danxi's Yuan-dynasty "Danxi's Experiential Therapy", considered one of the most "forceful" classical yin-tonics.
Formula · Jiā Wèi Zuǒ Jīn Wán
Augmented Left-Metal
加味左金丸
An "qing-gan he-wei, jiang-ni zhi-ou" (clear the liver and harmonize the stomach, descend counterflow and stop vomiting) formula, the augmented expansion of the classical Zuo Jin Wan with additional qi-regulating and pain-stopping herbs.
Formula · Yù Píng Fēng Kē Lì
Jade Windscreen Powder
玉屏风颗粒
A "tonify qi, secure the exterior, stop sweating" formula from the Yuan dynasty, the most frequently prescribed "prevent-catch-cold" formula in TCM pediatric and geriatric practice.
Formula · Yuè Jū Wán
Six Stagnations
越鞠丸
A "resolve the six stagnations" formula from the Yuan dynasty, qi, blood, phlegm, fire, dampness, and food, the classical TCM "regulate everything that gets stuck" formula.
Formula · Zuǒ Jīn Wán
Left-Metal
左金丸
A two-ingredient "qing-gan xie-huo, jiang-ni zhi-ou" (clear the liver and drain fire, descend counterflow and stop vomiting) formula from Zhu Danxi's Yuan-dynasty "Danxi's Experiential Therapy", perhaps the most distilled classical OTC formula for "liver-fire invading the stomach".