[1] Ming dynasty medical scholar Li Zhongji [zh] compared the distinct approaches of Zhang, who pioneered the gongxia pai (攻下派, literally "Attack and purge") school of thought, and Xue Ji, who advocated for wenbu pai (温补派, literally "Warming and restoring") remedies: "How could these two gentlemen's use of drugs be opposite but equally effective?
[8] He reportedly conducted an emergency delivery of the dead foetus using a makeshift device comprising a hook from a steelyard balance attached to a rope.
[9] In another case, Zhang diagnosed a married woman, who had for years dreamt of "intercourse with ghosts and deities", with an "overflow of yin" in the body which was preventing her from getting pregnant.
[11] Zhang noted, for instance, that people could develop mental illnesses after "(falling) off a horse" or "(dropping) into a well", because of "mucus-saliva that is acting up in the upper body" which could only be removed with therapeutic vomiting.
[1] In modern histories of medicine in China, Zhang is referred to as one of the Si dajia (四大家, literally "Four Great Masters") of the Jin-Yuan period,[13][14] alongside Li Dongyuan [zh], Liu Wansu, and Zhu Zhenheng.