1389), born Nguyễn Bá Tĩnh (阮伯靜), also known as Lê Đức Toản, was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, physician, and writer.
One of the earliest figures in the history of traditional Vietnamese medicine, Tuệ Tĩnh spent his later years in China, having been sent there by his government as a "living tributary present" to the Ming emperor.
[4] He arrived at the capital city of Nanjing at the age of fifty-five[6] and wrote a Chinese-language book on Vietnamese medicine, titled Nam dược thần hiệu (南藥神效) or Miraculous Drugs from the South.
[7] Tuệ Tĩnh died around 1389 in Nanjing and was buried there, although part of the inscription on his tombstone beseeches visitors to take his remains back to Vietnam.
[8] According to Leslie de Vries, Tuệ Tĩnh and Hải Thượng Lãn Ông are often referred to as the "founding fathers" of traditional Vietnamese medicine, after whom several hospitals, schools, and streets are named.