Sun Zhao, a Diancheng (Palace Attendant), during the Zhiping era, treated a high-ranking official who served as the Acting Prefect of a Fu (Prefecture). The name of this official is forgotten. One day, while sitting in the hall adjudicating matters, with clerks and subordinates standing around him, the Prefect suddenly heard sounds of wind, rain, drums, and horns in his ears. He looked at those around him and asked, "From which prefecture or commandery does this sound come?" The clerk replied that it was the capital city (Tianfu). The Prefect said, "If so, then I am ill." He immediately summoned Sun Zhao. After taking the pulse, Sun Zhao prescribed medicine for treatment. The next day, the Prefect's symptoms remained unchanged. The Prefect summoned Sun Zhao and asked, "The medicine I took seems to be similar to Siwu Yin (Four Substances Decoction), correct?" Sun Zhao replied, "Yes." The Prefect said, "I initially feared it was a major illness; why did taking this medicine lead to an immediate cure? What is the reason?" Sun Zhao explained, "The Heart pulse was excessively vigorous, and the Kidney pulse failed to return to its proper position (indicating Kidney Qi floating upward or yin-yang imbalance). By using herbs to cool the Heart meridian, the Kidney pulse returned to its place, thus averting danger." Sun Zhao's medical skill surpassed that of others; diseases that others found difficult, he found easy; diseases that others considered easy, he regarded as difficult. He was truly a fine physician of his generation (from *Qingxiang Ji*).

Pan, courtesy name Wensou, was a famous physician. The wife of Zhang Xianzhi, Vice Director of the Bureau of Imperial Hunts, had not given birth after five years of amenorrhea (stopped menstruation); the wife of Fu Changling, Magistrate of Nanling County, had not given birth after two years; and a relative of Liu Yisun, Commander-in-Chief of Tuanlian, had not given birth after fourteen months of pregnancy. Wensou examined them and said, "These are illnesses. Physicians mistakenly assume they are pregnant." He then administered a large dose of decoction. The wife of the Vice Director expelled over a hundred fleshy masses resembling human features with eyebrows and eyes; the wife of Changling dreamed of two dark-faced boys who fled in terror; and the relative of Yisun expelled a large snake that remained alive and wriggling. All three women recovered without harm (from *Yijian Zhi*).

The *History of the Southern Dynasties* records: Xue Bozong was skilled in the technique of "transferring carbuncles" (moving internal abscess toxins to the exterior). Gongsun Gong suffered from a back carbuncle (Fa Bei). Bozong used qi sealing techniques to transfer the toxin onto a willow tree in front of the study room. The next day, the carbuncle subsided, but a fist-sized tumor appeared on the tree trunk. Over twenty days, the tumor grew larger, suppurated, and discharged more than one sheng (approx. 1 liter) of yellowish-red fluid, causing the willow tree to wither and suffer damage (from *Taiping Yulan*).