Golden Casket of Essential Prescriptions 孙真人备急千金要方

Compiled by Sun Simiao of the Tang Dynasty, and revised by Lin Yi, Gao Baoheng, Qian Xiangxian and others of the Northern Song Dynasty by imperial order.

The original book consists of thirty volumes, which were widely recorded in both official and private bibliographies of the Tang and Song dynasties. Existing versions include the Song-dynasty facsimile edition, Yuan-dynasty facsimile edition, and the Shenduzhai printed edition of the Ming Dynasty, all of which are in thirty volumes. The version in The Daozang is divided into ninety-three volumes, with two additional volumes of catalogues, totaling ninety-five volumes, and is included in the Taiping Section.

This work is a renowned masterpiece of traditional Chinese medical and Health Preservation studies. The entire book is divided into twenty-six disciplines and fifteen categories, compiling approximately five hundred medical prescriptions and treatises. It covers everything from discussions on zang-fu organs, acupuncture and moxibustion methods, pulse diagnosis and syndrome differentiation, dietary therapy guidelines, to emergency prescriptions and health maintenance techniques. In terms of discussing diseases and prescribing medicines, Sun Simiao drew on ancient practices while making his own judgments. Unlike ancient prescriptions that usually contained no more than a few ingredients, some prescriptions in Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold include dozens of ingredients. He also incorporated folk prescriptions and single-ingredient remedies, thus establishing a unique school of his own.

Sun Simiao, hailed as the "Medical Sage", was proficient in the three teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism) and particularly adept at Taoist techniques. Volume 1 of the book discusses medical ethics; Volume 11 elaborates on incantations for treating demonic possession and infantile fright caused by strangers; Volume 29 presents formulas for preventing plague; Volume 35 records talismans for treating diseases; and Volumes 80 to 83 focus on health preservation methods, specializing in descriptions of health cultivation, regulating Qi, massage, daoyin exercises, herbal ingestion, and sexual health techniques—all of which are deeply influenced by Taoist thought.

In his preface, Sun Simiao stated: "Ancient famous physicians were able to cure almost all diseases. Since the Jin and Song dynasties, although distinguished physicians have emerged from time to time, they can only cure five or six out of ten patients. This is truly because modern people indulge in excessive desires, harbor improper intentions, and indulge in unrestrained pleasures, all of which are detrimental to health maintenance." This stands as an insightful argument that medical practice is closely related to human morality and lifestyle.