Zhang Zhongjing, a famous physician in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was known as the "Saint of Medicine" and was famous for his "Plague Danfang" - "Treatise on Typhoid Fever and Miscellaneous Diseases". Originally, he and Hua Tuo were in the same era, but he did not leave his own biography in the two canonical histories of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Logically, Zhang Zhongjing, who treated the "epidemic disease" for the people, invented the "dumpling", and there are also famous doctors who have been handed down from generation to generation, and historians should not forget his name when they write books. However, the earliest book detailing his life and deeds was a book from the Tang Dynasty called the Records of Famous Doctors.
Prior to that, the Western Jin Dynasty had a Tai Yi Ling named Wang Shuhe who carefully compiled Zhang Zhongjing's "Treatise on Typhoid Fever and Miscellaneous Diseases" into a book. However, some people believe that it is this tai doctor who deliberately invented a "medical saint" in order to make his medical books and works widely circulated! So, what is the real thing? In fact, although there is no biography of Zhang Zhongjing in the main history, in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, there is indeed a story of his "total horn making a jaw". The gist is that when Zhang Zhongjing was a teenager, he visited a sage named He Yong and asked him to evaluate himself.
He Yong believes that Zhang Zhongjing studied very hard, but his political talent is not high, and he can become a good doctor in the future. And Emperor Fu of Wei and Jin also compared Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo in his own book. In addition, in the historical scriptures, there are Zhang Zhongjing's writings. It can be seen that Zhang Zhongjing is a real person. So why is there no biography of him in the canonical history? Speculation may be because: Zhang Zhongjing was originally the Taishou of Changsha, he spent half his life as an official, and while he was an official, he was studying medicine, unlike Hua Tuo, who became famous for his medical skills very early.
In addition, the scope of Zhang Zhongjing's activities may not be as good as Hua Tuoguang. Because he had been an official in Changsha, he did not have time to travel around. Hua Tuo, on the other hand, traveled to most of the provinces of southeastern China. In the end, Hua Tuo was recruited into the palace by Cao Cao to treat his headache, and was later killed by Cao Cao. Therefore, Hua Tuo's first-hand information is more accessible to those historians and more storytelling. Zhang Zhongjing, on the other hand, became famous in world war because of his treatment of the plague. He quickly disappeared into the crowd, making it impossible to record his deeds!
Changsha County, where Zhang Zhongjing was located, was later returned to Eastern Wu. In 217 AD, Cao Pi wrote "Speaking of Epidemic Qi", which said that a great plague broke out in his place at that time, "there were zombies in every house, and there were trumpets in every household." Cao Wei's situation was like this, and he did not know what the situation was in Eastern Wu. Only two years later (219 AD), Zhang Zhongjing disappeared into history!