Volume 203 Biographies 90: Medicine and Divination, Arts and Crafts

自昔帝王勃興，雖星曆醫卜方術異能之士，莫不過絕於人，類非後來所及，蓋天運也。元有中土，巨公異人，身兼數器者，皆應期而出，相與立法創制，開物成務，以輔成大業，亦云盛哉。若道流釋子，所挾多方，事適逢時，既皆別為之傳。其他以術數言事輒驗，及以醫著效，被光寵者甚眾。舊史多闕弗錄，今取其事蹟可見者，為《方技篇》。而以工藝貴顯，亦附見焉。

Whenever emperors have risen to power in ages past, experts in astronomy, medicine, divination, and the occult arts have invariably stood head and shoulders above their contemporaries — gifts few later generations could match, shaped by heaven's own design. Under the Yuan in China, remarkable men who mastered many disciplines appeared as if on cue, joining together to frame laws, devise institutions, and advance civilization in support of the dynasty's founding triumph — a flourishing age indeed. Taoist priests and Buddhist monks, each with their own wide-ranging arts and timely rise to prominence, already have separate biographies elsewhere in these annals. Countless others won imperial favor by foretelling events through divination with uncanny accuracy, or by achieving conspicuous success in medicine. Earlier histories largely passed them over; here we gather those whose careers can still be traced into this chapter on medicine, divination, and the technical arts. Those who rose to distinction through the practical arts are included here as well.

田忠良，字正卿，其先平陽趙城人，金亡，徙中山。忠良好學，通儒家、雜家言。嘗識太保劉秉忠於微時。秉忠薦於世祖，遣使召至，帝視其狀貌步趨，顧謂侍臣曰：「是雖以陰陽家進，必將為國用。」俄指西序第二人謂忠良曰：「彼手中握何物？」忠良對曰：「雞卵也。」果然。帝喜，又曰：「朕有事縈心，汝試占之。」對曰：「以臣術推之，當是一名僧病耳。「帝曰：「然，國師也。」遂遣左侍儀奉御也先乃送忠良司天台，給筆札，令秉忠試星曆、遁甲諸書。秉忠奏曰：「所試皆通，司天諸生鮮有及者。」詔官之司天。帝曰：「朕用兵江南，困於襄樊，累年不決，奈何？」忠良對曰：「在酉年矣。」

Tian Zhongliang, styled Zhengqing, came from a family originally of Zhaocheng in Pingyang; when the Jin dynasty fell, they relocated to Zhongshan. Zhongliang was a devoted scholar, well versed in both Confucian classics and the eclectic learning of the miscellaneous schools. He had known Grand Preceptor Liu Bingzhong long before Liu rose to power. Liu Bingzhong recommended him to Kublai Khan, who sent for him. When Zhongliang arrived, the emperor studied his bearing and stride and told his attendants, "He may have come up through the arts of yin and yang, but he will prove indispensable to the realm." Then he pointed to the second man seated on the west side and asked Zhongliang, "What is he holding in his hand?" Zhongliang answered, "A hen's egg." And so it proved. Delighted, the emperor said, "Something has been troubling me — try your divination on it." By my reckoning," he replied, "it concerns the illness of a monk. " The emperor said, "Exactly — the Imperial Preceptor." He then had Yexianai, attendant of the Left Ceremonial Office, escort Zhongliang to the Directorate of Astronomy, supplied him with writing materials, and ordered Liu Bingzhong to examine him in astronomy, calendrics, and the dunjia arts. Liu Bingzhong reported, "He has mastered every subject tested — few students at the Directorate of Astronomy can equal him." The emperor appointed him to a post at the Directorate of Astronomy. The emperor said, "Our armies in the south have been stalled at Xiangyang and Fancheng for years with no end in sight — what can be done?" Zhongliang answered, "Victory will come in the year of the rooster."

至元十一年，阿里海牙奏請率十萬眾渡江，朝議難之，帝密問曰：「汝試筮之，濟否？」忠良對曰：「濟。」帝獵於柳林，禦幄殿，侍臣甚眾，顧忠良曰：「今拜一大將取江南，朕心已定，果何人耶？」忠良環視左右，目一人，對曰：「是偉丈夫，可屬大事。」帝笑曰：「此伯顏也，為西王旭烈兀使，朕以其才留用之，汝識朕心。」賜鈔五百貫、衣一襲。七月十五日夜，白氣貫三台，帝問何祥，忠良對曰：「三公其死乎！」未幾，太保劉秉忠卒。八月，帝出獵，駐輦召忠良曰：「朕有所遺，汝知何物，還可復得否？」對曰：「其數珠乎？明日，二十里外人當有得而來獻者。」已而果然。帝喜，賜以貂裘。十月，有旨問忠良：「南征將士能渡江否？勞師費財，朕甚憂之。」忠良奏曰：「明年正月當奏捷矣。」

In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan (1274), Alihaiya petitioned to lead a hundred thousand troops across the Yangtze; the court was divided. The emperor asked Zhongliang privately, "Divine for me — will the crossing succeed?" "They will," Zhongliang replied." While hunting at Willow Grove, the emperor sat in his tent surrounded by attendants and asked Zhongliang, "I have decided to appoint a great general to conquer the south — who is it, in your judgment?" Zhongliang scanned those around him, fixed on one man, and said, "There stands the man — a commanding figure fit to bear a great charge." The emperor laughed. "That is Bayan — he came as envoy from Prince Hulagu in the west, and I kept him for his ability. You read my thoughts well." He was rewarded with five hundred strings of paper money and a suit of robes. On the night of the fifteenth of the seventh month, a white comet streaked through the Three Terraces constellation. When the emperor asked what it portended, Zhongliang said, "Surely one of the Three Dukes is about to die!" Soon afterward Grand Preceptor Liu Bingzhong died. In the eighth month, while out hunting, the emperor halted his carriage and called Zhongliang. "I have lost something," he said. "Do you know what it is, and whether I shall get it back?" "Your prayer beads?" he replied. Tomorrow someone twenty li distant will find them and bring them to you." And so it happened. The emperor was delighted and gave him a sable fur coat. In the tenth month the emperor asked Zhongliang by edict, "Can our southern expedition cross the Yangtze? The campaign strains our troops and drains our treasury — I am deeply worried." Zhongliang replied, "Victory will be reported in the first month of next year."

十二年正月，師取鄂州，丞相伯顏遣使來獻宋寶，有玉香爐，輟以賜忠良，及金織文十匹。二月，帝不豫，召忠良謂曰：「或言朕今歲不嘉，汝術云何？」忠良對曰：「聖體行自安矣。」三月，帝疾愈，賜銀五百兩、衣材三十匹。五月，車駕清暑上都，遣使來召曰：「叛者浸入山陵，久而不去，汝與和禮霍孫率眾往視之。」既至，山陵如故，俄而叛兵大至，圍之三匝，三日不解。忠良引眾夜歸，敵殊不覺，和禮霍孫以為神，白其事於帝，賜黃金十兩。八月，以海都為邊患，遣皇子北平王那木罕、丞相安童征之，忠良奏曰：「不吉，將有叛者。」帝不悅。十二月，諸王昔里吉劫皇子、丞相以入海都，帝召忠良曰：「朕幾信讒言罪汝，今如汝言，汝祀神致禱，雖黃金朕所不吝。」忠良對曰：「無事於神，皇子未年當還。」後果然。十四年八月，車駕駐隆興北，忠良奏曰：「昔里吉之叛，以安童之食不彼及也。今宿衛之士，日食一瓜，豈能充飢，竊有怨言矣。」帝怒，笞主膳二人，俾均其食。十五年三月，汴梁河清三百里，帝曰：「憲宗生，河清；朕生，河又清；今河又清，何耶？」忠良對曰：「應在皇太子宮矣。」帝語符寶郎董文忠曰：「是不妄言，殆有徵也。」

In the first month of the twelfth year (1275) the army captured Ezhou. Chancellor Bayan sent tribute from the Song, including a jade incense burner, which he reserved for Zhongliang along with ten bolts of gold brocade. In the second month the emperor fell ill and summoned Zhongliang. "Some say this year bodes ill for me," he said. "What does your art tell you?" "Your Majesty will soon recover," Zhongliang answered." In the third month the emperor recovered and rewarded him with five hundred taels of silver and thirty bolts of fabric for robes. In the fifth month the court retired to Shangdu for the summer. An envoy summoned Zhongliang: "Rebels have entered the imperial tombs and will not leave — take Holihosun and a force to investigate." When they arrived the tombs were undisturbed, but rebel forces soon appeared in strength, surrounding them three deep for three days without relief. Zhongliang led his men out by night without the enemy detecting them. Holihosun took it for a miracle, reported the exploit to the emperor, and Zhongliang received ten taels of gold. In the eighth month, with Haidu threatening the frontier, the Prince of Beiping Namuhan and Chancellor Antong were dispatched against him. Zhongliang warned, "The omens are bad — rebellion will follow." The emperor was displeased. In the twelfth month Prince Shiregi seized the prince and chancellor and delivered them to Haidu. The emperor summoned Zhongliang: "I nearly believed your enemies and punished you; events have proved you right. Pray to the spirits on our behalf — ask for whatever gold you need." "No need to trouble the spirits," Zhongliang said. "The prince will return before year's end." And so it proved. In the eighth month of the fourteenth year, while the court was encamped north of Longxing, Zhongliang said, "Shiregi's rebellion stemmed from Antong's troops going without adequate rations. Today the palace guards receive only one melon a day — hardly enough to sustain them — and discontent is already spreading." The emperor was furious, had the two chief provisioners flogged, and ordered rations distributed fairly. In the third month of the fifteenth year the Yellow River at Bianliang ran clear for three hundred li. The emperor said, "When Emperor Xianzong was born, the river ran clear; when I was born, it ran clear again; and now it runs clear once more — what does this mean?" "The omen concerns the Heir Apparent," Zhongliang replied." The emperor told Dong Wenzhong, Keeper of the Imperial Seals, "He does not speak lightly — there may be something to this."

十八年，特命為太常丞。少府為諸王昌童建宅於太廟南，忠良往僕其柱，少府奏之，帝問忠良，對曰：「太廟前豈諸王建宅所耶？」帝曰：「卿言是也。」又奏曰：「太廟前無馳道，非禮也。」即敕中書辟道。國製，十月上吉，有事於太廟。或請牲不用牛，忠良奏曰：「梁武帝用面為犧牲，後如何耶？」從之。遷太常少卿。二十年，將徵日本國，召忠良擇日出師，忠良奏曰：「僻陋海隅，何足勞天戈。」不聽。二十四年，請建太社於朝右，建郊壇於國南。俄兼引進使。二十九年，遷太常卿。

In the eighteenth year he was specially appointed Vice Minister of Imperial Sacrifices. The Palace Provisioner was building a mansion for Prince Changtong south of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Zhongliang leaned against its pillars in protest. When the Provisioner reported this and the emperor questioned him, Zhongliang said, "Is the ground before the Imperial Ancestral Temple fit for a prince's residence?" "You are right," the emperor said." He added, "There is no imperial roadway before the temple — this violates ritual propriety." The emperor immediately ordered the Secretariat to open one. By dynastic custom, sacrifices at the Imperial Ancestral Temple are held on an auspicious day early in the tenth month. Some proposed dispensing with cattle as sacrificial victims. Zhongliang objected, "Emperor Wu of Liang offered dough in place of livestock — and what became of his dynasty?" The court accepted his view. He was promoted to Junior Minister of Imperial Sacrifices. In the twentieth year, as an expedition against Japan was being planned, Zhongliang was asked to select an auspicious departure date. He urged, "Why waste the imperial armies on a remote island at the edge of the sea?" The emperor would not listen. In the twenty-fourth year he petitioned to erect the Grand Earth Altar to the right of the palace and the suburban sacrifice altar south of the capital. Soon afterward he was also appointed Introducing Commissioner. In the twenty-ninth year he was promoted to Minister of Imperial Sacrifices.

大德元年，遷昭文館大學士、中奉大夫，兼太常太卿。十一年，成宗崩，阿忽台等持異謀，將以皇后教，祔成宗於廟。忠良爭曰：「嗣皇帝祔先帝於廟，禮也；皇后教，非制也。」阿忽台等怒曰：「制自天降耶？汝不畏死，敢沮大事！」忠良竟不從。既而仁宗以太弟奉皇太后至自懷州，潛與密謀誅阿忽台等。武宗即位，進榮祿大夫、大司徒，賜銀印。仁宗即位，又進光祿大夫，領太常禮儀院事。延祐四年正月卒，年七十五。贈推忠守正佐運功臣、太師、開府儀同三司、上柱國，追封趙國公，諡忠獻。

In the first year of Dade (1297) he became Grand Academician of the Hall for the Diffusion of Literature and Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, while retaining his post as Grand Minister of Imperial Sacrifices. In the eleventh year Emperor Chengzong died. Ahutai and his faction plotted to install the deceased emperor in the ancestral temple by empress's decree rather than by proper succession ritual. Zhongliang protested, "It is proper ritual for the succeeding emperor to install his predecessor in the ancestral temple; an empress's decree is not established precedent." Ahutai's faction raged, "Do you think precedent falls from heaven? You dare risk your life to block our plans!" Zhongliang held firm and refused. Soon afterward the future Emperor Renzong, as heir apparent, escorted the Empress Dowager back from Huai Prefecture and secretly conspired to execute Ahutai and his faction. When Emperor Wuzong ascended the throne, Zhongliang was promoted to Grand Master for Glorious Blessings and Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent and received a silver seal. When Emperor Renzong succeeded, he was further promoted to Grand Master for Splendid Happiness and placed in charge of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Ritual. He died in the first month of the fourth year of Yanyou (1317), at the age of seventy-five. Posthumously he was honored as Meritorious Minister Who Pushed Loyalty, Upheld Rectitude, and Assisted the Mandate, Grand Preceptor, and Pillar of the State with credentials equal to the Three Excellencies, enfeoffed as Duke of Zhao with the posthumous name Zhongxian (Loyal and Dedicated).

子天澤，翰林侍講學士、嘉議大夫、知制誥兼修國史。

His son Tianze served as Attendant Academician of the Hanlin Academy, Grand Master for Exalted Counsel, drafter of edicts, and compiler of the national history.

靳德進，其先潞州人，後徙大名。祖璇，業儒。父祥，師事陵川郝溫，兼善星曆。金末兵亂，與母相失，母悲泣而盲，祥訪得之，舐其目，百日復明，人稱其孝。國初，玉出乾劉敏行省於燕，辟祥置幕下，佩以金符。時籓帥得擅生殺，無辜者多賴祥以免。贈集賢大學士，諡安靖。

Jin Dejin came from a family originally of Luzhou that later relocated to Daming. His grandfather Xuan was a Confucian scholar. His father Xiang studied under Hao Wen of Lingchuan and was also accomplished in astronomy and calendrics. During the chaos at the end of the Jin dynasty he was separated from his mother, who wept until she went blind. Xiang found her, licked her eyes in the ancient healing rite, and after a hundred days her sight returned — an act of filial devotion widely praised. Early in the dynasty, when Yelü Chucai and Liu Min governed the Yan region, they took Xiang onto their staff and awarded him a gold tally of authority. In those days frontier princes held the power of life and death, and many innocents were spared only through Xiang's intervention. Posthumously he was honored as Grand Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies with the posthumous name Anjing (Peaceful and Tranquil).

德進為人材辨，幼讀書，能通大義，父歿，益自刻勵，尤精於星曆之學。世祖命太保秉忠選太史官屬，德進以選授天文、星曆、卜筮三科管勾，凡交蝕躔次、六氣侵沴，所言休咎輒應。時因天象以進規諫，多所裨益。累遷秘書監，掌司天事。從征叛王乃顏，揆度日時，率中機會。諸將欲剿絕其黨，德進獨陳天道好生，請緩師以待其降。俄奏言：「叛始由惑於妖言，遂謀不軌，宜括天下術士，設陰陽教官，使訓學者，仍歲貢有成者一人。」帝從之，遂著為令。

Dejin was a man of keen discernment. He read widely from youth and grasped essential principles. After his father's death he applied himself with redoubled discipline, becoming especially expert in astronomy and calendrics. Kublai ordered Liu Bingzhong to select staff for the Directorate of Astronomy. Dejin was chosen and made superintendent of its three divisions — astronomy, calendrics, and divination. Whether predicting eclipses, planetary movements, or atmospheric disturbances, his forecasts of fortune and misfortune invariably proved correct. He often used celestial omens as occasions to offer remonstrance to the throne, to considerable benefit. He rose through successive promotions to Director of the Palace Library, overseeing all astronomical affairs. On the campaign against the rebel prince Nayan, his calculations of timing and auspicious moments proved consistently accurate. When the generals wanted to annihilate Nayan's followers, Dejin alone appealed to heaven's preference for preserving life and urged them to hold back and await surrender. He soon memorialized, "This rebellion began with men led astray by occult prophecy. We should register diviners throughout the realm, appoint Yin-Yang instructors to train students properly, and each year present one accomplished graduate to the court." The emperor agreed, and the policy was enacted as law.

張康，字汝安，號明遠，潭州湘潭人。祖安厚，父世英。康早孤力學，旁通術數。宋呂文德、江万裡、留夢炎皆推重之，辟置幕下。宋亡，隱衡山。至元十四年，世祖遣中丞崔彧祀南嶽，就訪隱逸。彧兄湖南行省參政崔斌言康隱衡山，學通天文地理。彧還，具以聞，遣使召康，與斌偕至京師。十五年夏四月，至上都見帝，親試所學，大驗，授著作佐郎，仍以內嬪松夫人妻之。凡召對，禮遇殊厚，呼以明遠而不名。嘗面諭：凡有所問，使極言之。

Zhang Kang, styled Ru'an and known as Mingyuan, came from Xiangtan in Tan Prefecture. His grandfather was named Anhou and his father was named Shiying. Orphaned young, Kang devoted himself to study and became widely versed in divination and numerology. During the Song, Lü Wende, Jiang Wanli, and Liu Mengyan all held him in high regard and brought him onto their staffs. After the Song dynasty fell, he withdrew to live in seclusion on Mount Heng. In 1277, Emperor Shizu sent Censor-in-Chief Cui Yu to perform rites at Mount Heng and to inquire after reclusive worthies on the way. Yu's elder brother Cui Bin, a vice administrator of the Hunan Branch Secretariat, told him that Kang was living in seclusion on Mount Heng and was versed in astronomy and geography. On his return, Yu reported this in full to the court, which dispatched an envoy to summon Kang; he and Bin traveled together to the capital. In the fourth month of summer 1278 he appeared before the emperor at Shangdu; the emperor personally tested his skills and found them remarkably accurate. He was appointed Assistant Compiler, and the court also gave him Lady Song of the inner palace in marriage. Whenever he was summoned to audience, he received exceptional honors; the emperor called him Mingyuan and never used his personal name. The emperor once told him face to face, "When I question you about anything, speak your mind fully."

十八年，康上奏：「歲壬午，太一理艮宮，主大將客、參將囚，直符治事，正屬燕分。明年春，京城當有盜兵，事干將相。」十九年三月，盜果起京師，殺阿合馬等。帝欲徵日本，命康以太一推之，康奏曰：「南國甫定，民力未蘇，且今年太一無算，舉兵不利。」從之。嘗賜太史院錢，分千貫以與康，不受，眾服其廉。久之，乞歸田裡，優詔不許，遷奉直大夫、秘書監丞。年六十五卒。子天祐。

In 1281 Kang submitted a memorial: "In the year renpwu, Taiyi occupies the Gen Palace, with the Grand General as guest, the Deputy General imprisoned, and the Direct Talisman in charge of affairs — precisely the sphere of the Yan region. Next spring the capital will see armed rebels, and the affair will touch generals and chief ministers." In March 1282 rebels did arise in the capital and killed Ahmad and others. When the emperor planned a campaign against Japan, he had Kang read the Taiyi charts. Kang replied, "The south has only just been subdued and the people are not yet restored. This year Taiyi offers no favorable reckoning; to mobilize now would be ill-advised." The emperor accepted his counsel. Once, when the Astrological Academy received a grant, Kang was offered a thousand strings of cash; he refused, and everyone respected him for his integrity. After some years he asked to retire to his home village, but an exceptional edict denied the request and he was promoted to Grand Master for Fostering Integrity and Deputy Director of the Palace Library. He died at the age of sixty-five. He left a son named Tianyou.

李杲，字明之，鎮人也，世以貲雄鄉里。杲幼歲好醫藥，時易人張元素以醫名燕趙間，杲捐千金從之學，不數年，盡傳其業。家既富厚，無事於技，操有餘以自重，人不敢以醫名之。大夫士或病其資性高謇，少所降屈，非危急之疾，不敢謁也。其學於傷寒、癰疽、眼目病為尤長。

Li Gao, styled Mingzhi, came from Zhen; his family had been wealthy and prominent in the region for generations. From childhood Gao loved medicine. Zhang Yuansu of Yi was then the most celebrated physician in the Yan-Zhao region; Gao paid a thousand in gold to study under him and within a few years had mastered his entire art. His family was already wealthy, so he had no need to practice medicine for a living; secure in his means, he carried himself with reserve, and people did not dare treat him as a common physician. Some gentlemen found his proud, uncompromising temperament off-putting; unless the case was truly dire, they hesitated to seek him out. He was especially masterful in treating cold-damage fevers, abscesses, and eye disorders.

北京人王善甫，為京兆酒官，病小便不利，目睛凸出，腹脹如鼓，膝以上堅硬欲裂，飲食且不下，甘淡滲洩之藥皆不效。杲謂眾醫曰：「疾深矣。《內經》有之：膀胱者，津液之府，必氣化乃出焉。今用滲洩之劑而病益甚者，是氣不化也。啟玄子云：'無陽者陰無以生，無陰者陽無以化。 '甘淡滲洩皆陽藥，獨陽無陰，其欲化得乎？」明日，以群陰之劑投，不再服而愈。

Wang Shanpu of Beijing, a wine officer in the Jingzhao region, suffered from urinary retention. His eyes bulged, his abdomen swelled drum-tight, and the flesh above his knees hardened as if it might split. He could barely eat or drink, and every sweet, bland diuretic the other physicians tried failed. Gao told the other physicians, "This illness is far advanced. The Inner Canon says, "The bladder is the storehouse of fluids; they can be released only when qi transforms them." If draining formulas are used and the illness only worsens, it means the qi is failing to transform. Qixuanzi wrote, "Without yang, yin cannot be generated; without yin, yang cannot transform." Sweet, bland diuretics are all yang medicines. With yang alone and no yin, how can transformation occur?" The next day he prescribed a compound of yin-natured medicines; the patient needed no second dose and recovered.

西台掾蕭君瑞，二月中病傷寒發熱，醫以白虎湯投之，病者面黑如墨，本證不復見，脈沉細，小便不禁。杲初不知用何藥，及診之，曰：「此立夏前誤用白虎湯之過。白虎湯大寒，非行經之藥，止能寒腑藏，不善用之，則傷寒本病隱曲於經絡之間。或更以大熱之藥救之，以苦陰邪，則他證必起，非所以救白虎也。有溫藥之昇陽行經者，吾用之。」有難者曰：「白虎大寒，非大熱何以救，君之治奈何？」杲曰：「病隱於經絡間，陽不升則經不行，經行而本證見矣。本證又何難焉。」果如其言而愈。

Xiao Junrui, a clerk on the Western Platform, contracted a cold-damage fever in the second month. Physicians gave him White Tiger Decoction. His face turned ink-black, the original symptoms vanished, his pulse was deep and thready, and he lost control of urination. Gao did not at first know what medicine had been given, but on examining the patient he said, "This is the result of misusing White Tiger Decoction before the Start of Summer. White Tiger Decoction is intensely cold; it is not a channel-traveling medicine and can only chill the bowels and viscera. Used improperly, it drives the underlying cold-damage illness into hiding within the channels and collaterals. If one then tries to counter it with intensely hot medicines to suppress the yin pathogen, other symptoms will inevitably appear — that is not how to undo the harm of White Tiger Decoction. I will use warm medicines that lift yang and move through the channels." Someone objected, "White Tiger Decoction is intensely cold — how can anything but great heat remedy that? What is your approach?" Gao replied, "The illness is lodged in the channels and collaterals. If yang does not rise, the channels cannot function; once the channels move again, the original symptoms will reappear. Then treating the original illness will be straightforward." Events unfolded exactly as he had predicted, and the patient recovered.

魏邦彥之妻，目翳暴生，從下而上，其色綠，腫痛不可忍。杲云：「翳從下而上，病從陽明來也。綠非五色之正，殆肺與腎合而為病邪。」乃瀉肺腎之邪，而以入陽明之藥為之使。既效矣，而他日病復作者三，其所從來之經，與翳色各異。乃曰：「諸脈皆屬於目，脈病則目從之。此必經絡不調，經不調，則目病未已也。」問之果然，因如所論而治之，疾遂不作。

The wife of Wei Bangyan suddenly developed a film over her eye, spreading upward from below. It was green in color, and the swelling and pain were unbearable. Gao said, "A film rising from below means the illness originates in the Yangming channel. Green is not one of the five standard colors; this likely means the lung and kidney pathologies have joined together." He purged the pathogenic influences in the lung and kidney and used medicines that enter the Yangming channel as guides. The treatment worked, but the condition recurred three times on later days, each time arising from a different channel and showing a different color in the film. He then said, "All the channels connect to the eyes; when a channel is diseased, the eye reflects it. The channels and collaterals must be out of balance; until they are regulated, the eye disorder will not truly end." Inquiry confirmed his diagnosis; he treated accordingly, and the illness never returned.

馮叔獻之侄櫟，年十五六，病傷寒，目赤而頓渴，脈七八至，醫欲以承氣湯下之，已煮藥，而杲適從外來，馮告之故。杲切脈，大駭曰：「幾殺此兒。《內經》有言：'在脈，諸數為熱，諸遲為寒。 '今脈八九至，是熱極也。而《會要大論》云：'病有脈從而病反者何也？脈至而從，按之不鼓，諸陽皆然。 '此傳而為陰證矣。令持姜、附來，吾當以熱因寒用法處之。」藥未就而病者爪甲變，頓服者八兩，汗尋出而愈。

Li, a nephew of Feng Shuxian, was fifteen or sixteen and suffering from cold-damage fever. His eyes were red and he was suddenly ravenous with thirst; his pulse raced seven or eight beats to the breath. Physicians were about to purge him with Order-the-Qi Decoction and had already begun boiling the medicine when Gao arrived from outside and Feng told him what was happening. Gao took the pulse and cried out in alarm, "You almost killed this boy. The Inner Canon says, "Among pulses, rapid ones indicate heat and slow ones indicate cold." Yet this pulse comes eight or nine times to the breath — that is heat pushed to the limit. But the Comprehensive Treatise on the Essentials asks, "When the pulse and the disease seem to agree yet the illness runs contrary, what does that mean?" The pulse is rapid and seems to conform, yet when pressed it does not surge — that is true of all yang signs. This has already transformed into a yin syndrome. Bring ginger and aconite — I will treat this by the method of applying heat in response to cold." Before the decoction was finished the patient's fingernails changed color. He took eight taels in one dose, sweat broke out shortly afterward, and he recovered.

陝帥郭巨濟病偏枯，二指著足底不能伸，杲以長針刺骫中，深至骨而不知痛，出血一二升，其色如墨，又且謬刺之。如此者六七，服藥三月，病良已。裴擇之妻病寒熱，月事不至者數年，已喘嗽矣。醫者率以蛤蚧、桂、附之藥投之，杲曰：「不然，夫病陰為陽所搏，溫劑太過，故無益而反害。投以寒血之藥，則經行矣。」已而果然。杲之設施多類此。當時之人，皆以神醫目之。所著書，今多傳於世云。

Guo Juji, commander in Shaan, suffered from hemiplegia; two fingers lay pressed against the sole of his foot and would not straighten. Gao drove a long needle into Weizhong, deep to the bone without causing pain, and one or two sheng of blood flowed out, black as ink. He needled other points as well. He repeated this six or seven times; after three months of medication the illness was completely cured. The wife of Pei Ze suffered from alternating chills and fever; her menses had ceased for several years, and she was already coughing and wheezing. Physicians had been treating her with gecko, cinnamon, and aconite. Gao said, "No — her yin has been overwhelmed by yang. Warm formulas are too strong here; they do no good and only make matters worse. Give her cold-natured blood-moving medicines, and her menses will return." It happened exactly as he said. Most of Gao's cures followed this pattern. Contemporaries regarded him as a miraculous physician. Many of the books he wrote are still widely circulated today.

孫威，渾源人。幼沉鷙，有巧思。金貞祐間，應募為兵，以驍勇稱。及雲中來附，守帥表授義軍千戶，從軍攻潞州，破鳳翔，皆有功。善為甲，嘗以意制蹄筋翎根鎧以獻，太祖親射之，不能徹，大悅。賜名也可兀蘭，佩以金符，授順天安平懷州河南平陽諸路工匠都總管。從攻邠、乾，突戰不避矢石，帝勞之曰：「汝縱不自愛，獨不為吾甲胄計乎！」因命諸將衣其甲者問曰：「汝等知所愛重否？」諸將對，皆失旨意。太宗曰：「能捍蔽爾輩以與我國家立功者，非威之甲耶！而爾輩言不及此，何也？」復以錦衣賜威。每從戰伐，恐民有橫被屠戮者，輒以搜簡工匠為言，而全活之。歲庚子，卒，年五十八。至大二年，贈中奉大夫、武備院使、神川郡公，諡忠惠。

Sun Wei came from Hunyuan. From childhood he was steady and sharp-minded, with a gift for invention. During the Jin dynasty's Zhenyou era he enlisted as a soldier and earned a reputation for fierce courage. When he came from Yunzhong to join the Mongols, the local commander recommended him as chiliarch of a volunteer unit. He campaigned at Luz Prefecture and helped capture Fengxiang, distinguishing himself in both. He was a master armorer. Once he devised and presented a suit made from hoof sinew and feather shafts. Taizu shot at it himself and could not pierce it; he was delighted. He was given the name Keyewulan, awarded a gold tally, and appointed Grand Supervisor of Artisans for Shuntian, Anping, Huaizhou, Henan, Pingyang, and related circuits. During campaigns at Bin and Qian he charged into battle without flinching from arrows and stones. The emperor remonstrated with him, saying, "Even if you care nothing for your own life, have you no regard for the armor I depend on?" He then summoned the generals who wore Wei's armor and asked, "Do you know what you ought to value?" The generals answered, but none grasped what he meant. Taizong said, "What shields you and lets you serve the state — is it not Wei's armor? Yet none of you said as much — why not?" He then rewarded Wei with brocade robes. On every campaign he feared that civilians might be slaughtered indiscriminately; he would plead to have craftsmen rounded up and selected, thereby saving many lives. He died in the gengzi year at the age of fifty-eight. In 1309 he was posthumously honored as Grand Master for Attending Affairs, Commissioner of the Armory Court, and Duke of Shenchuan, with the posthumous name Loyal and Gracious.

子拱，為監察御史，後襲順天安平懷州河南等路甲匠都總管。巧思如其父，嘗制甲二百八十襲以獻。至元十一年，別制疊盾，其制，張則為盾，斂則合而易持。世祖以為古所未有，賜以幣帛。丞相伯顏南征，以甲胄不足，詔諸路集匠民分制。拱董順天、河間甲匠，先期畢工，且象虎豹異獸之形，各殊其制，皆稱旨。十五年，授保定路治中。適歲饑，議開倉賑民，或曰：「宜請於朝。」拱曰：「救荒事不可緩也，若得請而後發粟以賑之，則民餒死矣。苟見罪，吾自任之。」遂發粟四千五百石以賑饑民。高陽土豪據沙河橋取行者錢，人以為病，拱執而罪之。二十二年，除武備少卿，遷大都路軍器人匠總管，升工部侍郎。成宗即位，典朝會供給，賜銀百兩、織紋段五十匹、帛二十五匹、鈔萬貫。元貞二年，授大同路總管，兼府尹。大德五年，遷兩浙都轉運使。鹽課舊二十五萬引，歲不能足，拱至增五萬引，遂為定額。九年，改益都路總管，兼府尹，仍出內府弓矢寶刀賜之。卒於官。贈大司農、神川郡公，諡文莊。

His son Gong served as an investigating censor and later inherited the post of Grand Supervisor of Armor Artisans for Shuntian, Anping, Huaizhou, Henan, and related circuits. He inherited his father's ingenuity and once presented two hundred eighty suits of armor to the court. In 1274 he invented a folding shield: spread open it served as a shield, folded shut it was compact and easy to carry. Emperor Shizu declared that nothing like it had existed in antiquity and rewarded him with silks and cloth. When Chancellor Bayan marched south, armor ran short; the court ordered every circuit to mobilize craftsmen and divide production among them. Gong oversaw the armor craftsmen of Shuntian and Hejian. They finished ahead of schedule and fashioned pieces in the shapes of tigers, leopards, and other exotic beasts, each with a unique design — all to the emperor's satisfaction. In 1278 he was appointed administrative assistant of Baoding Circuit. That year brought famine, and officials debated opening the granaries to feed the people. Some said, "We should request permission from the court." Gong replied, "Famine relief cannot wait. If we hold back grain until permission arrives, people will die of hunger. If I am punished for this, I will accept the blame myself." He immediately released four thousand five hundred shi of grain to feed the starving population. A local bully in Gaoyang controlled Shahe Bridge and extorted tolls from travelers, a grievance widely resented. Gong arrested him and punished him. In 1285 he was made Vice Commissioner of the Armory Court, then transferred to Grand Supervisor of Military Equipment and Artisan Households in Dadu, and promoted to Vice Minister of Works. When Emperor Chengzong took the throne, Gong managed provisions for court assemblies and was rewarded with a hundred taels of silver, fifty bolts of brocade, twenty-five bolts of silk, and ten thousand strings of paper money. In 1296 he was appointed prefect of Datong Circuit, serving concurrently as prefectural governor. In 1301 he was transferred to Commissioner of Transport for the Two Zhe region. The salt quota had stood at two hundred fifty thousand yin, but collections routinely fell short. Under Gong it rose by fifty thousand yin and that figure became the fixed quota. In 1305 he was reassigned as prefect of Yidu Circuit, again serving concurrently as prefectural governor, and the inner palace bestowed bows, arrows, and treasured swords upon him. He died while still in office. He was posthumously honored as Grand Minister of Agriculture and Duke of Shenchuan, with the posthumous name Cultured and Upright.

阿老瓦丁，回回氏，西域木發里人也。至元八年，世祖遣使砲匠於宗王阿不哥，王以阿老瓦丁、亦思馬因應詔，二人舉家馳驛至京師，給以官舍。首造大砲豎於五門前，帝命試之，各賜衣段。十一年，國兵渡江，平章阿里海牙遣使求砲手匠，命阿老瓦丁往，破潭州、靜江等郡，悉賴其力。十五年，授宣武將軍、管軍總管。十七年，陛見，賜鈔五千貫。十八年，命屯田於南京。二十二年，樞密院奉旨，改元帥府為回回砲手軍匠上萬戶府，以阿老瓦丁為副萬戶。大德四年告老。子富謀只，襲副萬戶。皇慶元年卒，子馬哈馬沙襲。

Ala al-Din was a Muslim from Mayafarikin in the Western Regions. In 1271 Emperor Shizu sent envoys to Prince Abagha seeking artillery craftsmen. The prince dispatched Ala al-Din and Ismail in answer to the imperial summons; both men rushed their entire households by relay to the capital, where the court lodged them in official residences. They built great cannons first and set them up before the Five Gates. The emperor ordered trials, then rewarded each man with bolts of cloth. In 1274, as the imperial army crossed the Yangtze, Pingzhang Alihaiya sent for cannon masters and craftsmen and dispatched Ala al-Din. The fall of Tanzhou, Jingjiang, and other commanderies owed everything to his skill. In 1278 he was made General Who Proclaims Martiality and commander-in-chief of troops under his charge. In 1280 he was received in audience and granted five thousand strings of paper money. In 1281 he was ordered to establish military colonies at Nanjing. In 1285 the Privy Council, acting on imperial orders, reorganized the marshal's office as the Upper Myriarchate of Muslim Artillerymen and Military Craftsmen and appointed Ala al-Din deputy myriarch. In 1300 he retired on grounds of age. His son Fumouzhi inherited the deputy myriarchate. He died in 1312; his son Mahmushah succeeded him.

亦思馬因，回回氏，西域旭烈人也。善造砲，至元八年與阿老瓦丁至京師。十年，從國兵攻襄陽未下，亦思馬因相地勢，置砲於城東南隅，重一百五十斤，機發，聲震天地，所擊無不摧陷，入地七尺。宋安撫呂文煥懼，以城降。既而以功賜銀二百五十兩，命為回回砲手總管，佩虎符。十一年，以疾卒。子佈伯襲職。

Ismail was a Muslim from Herat in the Western Regions. A skilled cannon maker, he reached the capital with Ala al-Din in 1271. In 1273 he joined the siege of Xiangyang, which still held out. Ismail studied the ground and emplaced a cannon at the city's southeast corner. The stone it hurled weighed one hundred fifty jin; when the mechanism fired, the blast shook heaven and earth. Nothing it struck escaped ruin, and the projectile buried itself seven feet deep. Song pacification commissioner Lü Wenhuan, terrified, surrendered the city. For this achievement he received two hundred fifty taels of silver, was appointed grand supervisor of Muslim artillerymen, and was invested with a tiger tally. He died of illness in 1274. His son Bucha inherited the post.

時國兵渡江，宋兵陳於南岸，擁舟師迎戰，布伯於北岸豎砲以擊之，舟悉沉沒。後每戰用之，皆有功。十八年，佩三珠虎符，加鎮國上將軍、回回砲手都元帥。明年，改軍匠萬戶府萬戶。遷刑部尚書，以弟亦不剌金為萬戶，佩元降虎符，官廣威將軍。布伯俄進通奉大夫、浙東道宣慰使，賜鈔二萬五千貫，俾養老焉。

While the imperial army was crossing the Yangtze, Song forces lined the south bank with their fleet ready for battle. Bucha set up cannons on the north bank and blasted them; every boat went down. In every battle thereafter where they were deployed, they won distinction. In 1281 he received a three-pearl tiger tally and was promoted to general-in-chief who stabilizes the state and commander-in-chief of Muslim artillerymen. The next year he was made myriarch of the Myriarchate of Military Craftsmen. He was transferred to minister of justice; his younger brother Ablaqin was made myriarch, invested with an imperial tiger tally, and given the rank of general of broad authority. Before long Bucha was promoted to grand master for appeasing offerings and pacification commissioner for the Zhedong circuit, with twenty-five thousand strings of paper money to live out his old age.

子哈散，廕授昭信校尉、高郵府同知。致和元年八月，樞密院檄亦不剌金所部軍匠至京師，賜鈔二千五百貫、金綺四端，與馬哈馬沙造砲。天歷二年，以疾卒。子亞古襲。

His son Hasan received hereditary appointment as commandant of illustrious trust and vice prefect of Gaoyou. In the eighth month of 1328 the Privy Council ordered the military craftsmen under Ablaqin to the capital, gave them two thousand five hundred strings of paper money and four bolts of gold brocade, and set them to building cannons with Mahmushah. He died of illness in 1329. His son Yagu succeeded him.

阿尼哥，尼波羅國人也，其國人稱之曰八魯布。幼敏悟異凡兒，稍長，誦習佛書，期年能曉其義。同學有為繪畫妝塑業者，讀《尺寸經》，阿尼哥一聞，即能記。長善畫塑，及鑄金為像。中統元年，命帝師八合斯巴建黃金塔於吐蕃，尼波羅國選匠百人往成之，得八十人，求部送之人未得。阿尼哥年十七，請行，眾以其幼，難之。對曰：「年幼心不幼也。」乃遣之。帝師一見奇之，命監其役。明年，塔成，請歸，帝師勉以入朝，乃祝髮受具為弟子，從帝師入見。帝視之久，問曰：「汝來大國，得無懼乎？」對曰：「聖人子育萬方，子至父前，何懼之有。」又問：「汝來何為？」對曰：「臣家西域，奉命造塔吐蕃，二載而成。見彼土兵難，民不堪命，願陛下安輯之，不遠萬里，為生靈而來耳。」又問：「汝何所能？」對曰：「臣以心為師，頗知畫塑鑄金之藝。」帝命取明堂針灸銅像示之曰：「此宣撫王楫使宋時所進，歲久闕壞，無能修完之者，汝能新之乎？」對曰：「臣雖未嘗為此，請試之。」至元二年，新像成，關鬲脈絡皆備，金工歎其天巧，莫不愧服。凡兩京寺觀之像，多出其手。為七寶鑌鐵法輪，車駕行幸，用以前導。原廟列聖御容，織錦為之，圖畫弗及也。至元十年，始授人匠總管，銀章虎符。十五年，有詔返初服，授光祿大夫，大司徒，領將作院事，寵遇賞賜，無與為比。卒，贈太師、開府儀同三司、涼國公、上柱國，諡敏慧。

Anige came from Nepal; his countrymen called him Balibu. As a boy he was unusually bright and perceptive. When he grew older he studied Buddhist scriptures, and within a year he understood their meaning. A classmate who worked in painting, ornamentation, and sculpture was reading the Scripture of Measurements aloud; Anige heard it once and could recite it from memory. As an adult he excelled at painting and sculpture and at casting images in gold. In 1260 Imperial Preceptor Phagpa was ordered to build a golden pagoda in Tibet. Nepal selected one hundred craftsmen for the work; eighty were found, but no escort had yet been secured to convey them. Anige was seventeen and volunteered to go, but the others objected that he was too young. He answered, "I may be young in years, but my heart is not young." So he was sent. The Imperial Preceptor was astonished at first sight and put him in charge of the work. The next year, when the pagoda was finished, he asked to go home. Phagpa urged him to enter court instead; Anige had his head shaved, took full monastic vows as Phagpa's disciple, and accompanied him to an imperial audience. The emperor studied him for a long time and asked, "You have come to a great empire — are you not afraid?" He replied, "The sage nourishes all under heaven. When a son stands before his father, what is there to fear?" The emperor asked again, "Why have you come?" He answered, "Your subject's family is from the Western Regions. I was ordered to build a pagoda in Tibet, and finished it in two years. I saw that land torn by war and the people crushed under hardship. I beg Your Majesty to pacify them. I have traveled ten thousand li not for myself, but for the sake of the people." The emperor asked again, "What can you do?" He replied, "Your subject takes the heart as his teacher and is well versed in painting, sculpture, and casting in gold." The emperor had the bronze acupuncture figure from the Hall of Brightness brought out and said, "This was presented when Commissioner Wang Ji was sent to the Song. After many years it has broken and no one can repair it. Can you make it anew?" He answered, "Your subject has never done this, but I beg leave to try." In 1265 the new figure was finished, with every joint, opening, and meridian line in place. Metalworkers marveled at its heaven-sent skill; none who saw it failed to acknowledge his mastery. Most of the images in the temples and monasteries of the two capitals were his work. He made a seven-jeweled dharma wheel of Damascus steel that led the way whenever the imperial carriage went on progress. The imperial portraits of successive emperors in the Original Ancestral Temple were rendered in woven brocade — beyond anything painting could achieve. In 1273 he was first appointed grand supervisor of artisan households and invested with a silver seal and tiger tally. In 1278 an edict restored him to lay dress; he was made grand master for splendid happiness and grand preceptor and placed in charge of the Directorate of Palace Buildings. In favor, rank, and reward none could compare with him. At his death he was posthumously honored as grand preceptor, granted the privilege of an office equal to the three excellencies, enfeoffed as Duke of Liang, made pillar of state, and given the posthumous name Keen and Wise.

子六人，曰阿僧哥，大司徒；阿述臘，諸色人匠總管府達魯花赤。

He had six sons. The first, Asengge, became grand preceptor; Ashula served as darughachi of the General Bureau of Supervisors of Artisan Households of All Categories.

有劉元者，嘗從阿尼哥學西天梵相，亦稱絕藝。元字秉元，薊之寶坻人。始為黃冠，師事青州把道錄，傳其藝非一。至元中，凡兩都名剎，塑土、范金、搏換為佛像，出元手者，神思妙合，天下稱之。其上都三皇尤古粹，識者以為造意得三聖人之微者。由是兩賜宮女為妻，命以官長其屬，行幸必從。仁宗嘗敕元非有旨不許為人造他神像。後大都南城作東嶽廟，元為造仁聖帝像，巍巍然有帝王之度，其侍臣像，乃若憂深思遠者。始元欲作侍臣像，久之未措手，適閱秘書圖畫，見唐魏徵像，矍然曰：「得之矣，非若此，莫稱為相臣者。」遽走廟中為之，即日成，士大夫觀者，咸嘆異焉。其所為西番佛像多秘，人罕得見者。元官為昭文館大學士、正奉大夫、秘書卿，以壽終。搏換者，漫帛土偶上而髹之，已而去其土，髹帛儼然成像云。

There was a Liu Yuan who had studied Indian Buddhist images under Anige and was likewise acclaimed as a master of unsurpassed skill. Liu Yuan, courtesy name Bingyuan, was a native of Baodi in Ji prefecture. He began as a Daoist priest and studied under Registrar Ba of Qingzhou, from whom he learned many crafts. During the Zhiyuan era, among the great monasteries of both capitals, clay, cast-metal, and boduo huan Buddha images from Liu Yuan's hand were marvels of inspired design, and the realm acclaimed them. Above all, his Three Sovereigns at Shangdu were ancient and pure in spirit; connoisseurs said he had captured the subtle essence of the three sage-kings in his conception. For this he was twice granted palace women as wives, given an office to command his subordinates, and always accompanied the emperor on progress. Emperor Renzong once decreed that Liu Yuan might not make images of other deities for private patrons unless expressly ordered by the throne. Later, when the Eastern Peak Temple was built in the southern city of Dadu, Liu Yuan made the image of the Emperor of Benevolence and Sagacity — towering, with true imperial bearing. The attendant ministers he sculpted seemed men of deep worry and far-reaching thought. At first Liu Yuan meant to sculpt the attendant ministers but for a long time could not begin. Browsing the Secretariat's collection of paintings, he came upon a portrait of Wei Zheng of Tang and started up, crying, "This is it! Without such a figure, none can be called a chancellor." He rushed to the temple and finished it that same day. Scholar-officials who came to see it all marveled. Most of the Western Regions Buddha images he made were kept secret, and few ever saw them. Liu Yuan held the offices of grand academician of the Academy of Literary Brilliance, grand master for proper service, and director of the Secretariat, and died at a ripe old age. Boduo huan is the hollow lacquer sculpture technique: silk cloth is layered over a clay model and lacquered; when the clay is removed, the lacquered silk shell remains as a finished image.

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