Glossary

A foundational diagnostic framework, historically attributed to Zhang Jingyue (1563–1640) of the Ming Dynasty, designed to guide practitioners through a systematic inquiry into a patient’s symptoms. While earlier questioning systems existed, Zhang Jingyue formalised them into a Song of 10 Questions (十問歌):

一問寒熱二問汗，
First, ask hot and cold, second ask sweat,
三問頭身四問便，
Third ask head and body, fourth ask stools and urine,
五問飲食六問胸，
Fifth ask food and drink, sixth ask chest,
七聾八渴具當辨，
Seventh ask hearing, eighth ask thirst,
九問舊病十問因，
Ninth ask old diseases, tenth ask cause.
再兼服藥參機變，
When taking medicinals, what changes appear?
婦人尤必問經期，
For women inquire particularly about the time of menses,
遲速避崩皆可見，
[whether they are] slow, fast, blocked or flooding.
再添片語告兒科，
For children, add a few questions regarding
天花麻疹全占臉。
Smallpox and measles covering the face.

Alternative Systems of Questioning

A potential earlier system of 10 questions, can be posited based on the comment regarding health cultivation practices in the Zhuangzi (3rd - 4th century BCE) that practitioners are concerned with "Expelling the Old and Absorbing the New (吐故納新, Tu Gu Na Xin)," and relating this concern to the Five Phases and their Zangfu. This results in a minimum of 10 questions (whether the Fu and Zang of each Phase can expel the old and absorb the new), or be expanded into 24 questions that includes the Ministerial Fire Phase and asks about the nature of what is being expelled and absorbed to make a systematic interrogation method that covers the functioning of all the body's systems, including their psychological and social situation, and whether their environment is conducive to cultivating health.

References

A+ Hospital (2011). 十問. https://cht.a-hospital.com/w/十問 [Accessed 27th March 2026]
Kim, T. H., Alraek, T., Bian, Z. X., Birch, S., Bovey, M., Lee, J., Lee, M. S., Robinson, N., & Zaslawski, C. (2021). Clinical reasoning in traditional medicine exemplified by the clinical encounter of Korean medicine: a narrative review. Integrative medicine research, 10(2), 100641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imr.2020.100641
Graham, A. C. (1986). Chuang-tzu: The Inner Chapters. Allen and Unwin: London. p265.