Illness Runs in the Family

Authors: Liu Hongzhang, Liu Bo

Liu Chun, the founding ancestor of the Liu family, had the courtesy name Jinghou and the sobriquet Elder Yangzheng. He was from Xianning, Hubei Province. Born in 1363 and passing away in 1489, he lived to the age of 126. A ninth-generation descendant of Liu Wansu, he was revered by the Imperial Medical Academies of the Ming and Qing dynasties as the guardian deity of imperial physicians. By imperial order, he tested medicines on prisoners and led medical officers in 66 years of work, compiling ten principles for disease prevention and health preservation, as well as a method of treating illness that emphasized nourishment through food, dietary therapy, and cautious use of medicine: three parts treatment and seven parts care. His work benefited generations to come. His teachings,