[A preliminary discussion on the contents and value of (1), ].

Among the medical bamboo slips unearthed from Han tomb in Laoguanshan of Chengdu, the () is a monograph to discuss the characteristics of signs and symptoms. Based on the differences of writing styles, diseases involved, expounding methods and writing rules, the book is divided, by the research team, into 2 parts: (1) and (2). (1) includes over 130 slips, 2 000 characters with totally more than 100 disease names, containing multiple clinical disciplines. The elaborated classification, varied naming methods, grasping the symptom characteristics guided by the four diagnostic approaches, paying attention to the comparison of similar diseases, and dealing with the prognosis and healthcare in this part reflect the holism of correspondence between human body and natural environment, and syndrome differentiation thought of combining disease with symptoms and signs, revealing its academic significance.