饒卿言：有馬醫子病癖，脊間有塊礙手。病日甚，百藥不效，死矣。其父恨之，取刀刮其脊，有物如筋狀，韌甚，取出，刀斧不能割斷。其物既出，而子之鼻間栩栩然，撫其胸前微溫，遂縫刀割處，置之于地，久之漸蘇。經一晝夜能言，索湯水，竟生矣，調理久之而愈。此事雖怪誕，然有至理，華陀之方，皆從此入想，惜其學不傳耳。聰明而能深思者，當于此別開一路

Does Chinese medicine include surgery? If yes, what is its content? Modern Chinese medicine seldom talks about this area, and it is possibly because of the stereotype that Chinese medicine does not have anatomy and does little about the human body. On the contrary, Western medicine has sophisticated anatomy, and detailed researches on the human body organs and functions. The stereotype that Chinese medicine is specialized in internal medicine, and Western medicine emphasizes on surgery. This bias is then confirmed by the lack of clinical research and treatment on surgery in Chinese medicine. In the history of Chinese medicine, what was surgery like? This paper discusses this issue based on the book “Essences of Surgery” written by Chen Tze-ming (1190-1270), a doctor in South Song Dynasty. This book was the first known publication on surgery, and the author examined the actions taken by doctors in the surgical field, patients’ imagination of surgical treatment, and the dilemma faced by the field of surgery in China at that time. This paper intends to construct the features and development context of surgery from multiple perspectives, including doctors, patients, human body, science, and society. Suggestions on future observations and thoughts are also proposed.