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Jinyuan Sidajia refers to the four famous medical scholars during the Jin and Yuan periods (1127-1386 AD) in Chinese history: Liu Wan-su (Hejian), Zhang Cong-zheng (Zihe), Li Gao (Dongyuan), and Zhu Zhen-heng (Danxi).

Chinese medicine has a long and profound history. By the Song, Jin, and Yuan periods, a flourishing era of diverse academic theories emerged, with the four great scholars being the outstanding representatives of their time. Each of the four scholars had their own distinct academic characteristics. They wrote books, established their own schools of thought, engaged in vigorous debates, and thus gave rise to four major schools: the Hejian School, the Attack on Pathogens School, the Yishui School, and the Danxi School.

Liu Wan-su was the representative figure of the Hejian School. The central focus of this school was the pathogenesis and pattern identification and treatment of fire-related diseases, advocating the theory that "six qi all transform into fire." Zhang Zi-he inherited and developed the academic thoughts of Liu Wan-su and became the representative figure of the Attack on Pathogens School. He emphasized that "diseases arise from pathogens, and attacking pathogens cures diseases," and accumulated rich clinical experience in the specific application of the three methods: sweating, vomiting, and purging. The founder of the Yishui School was Zhang Yuan-su, whose research primarily focused on the pathogenesis and pattern identification and treatment of zang-fu organ diseases, forming a comprehensive theoretical system of zang-fu organ pattern identification. His disciple Li Gao inherited and expanded upon his teacher's theories, establishing the doctrine of spleen and stomach internal injuries and creating the Earth-Tonifying School. Zhu Dan-xi was the representative figure of the Danxi School. Zhu, having inherited the teachings of the Hejian School, also integrated the ideas of the Yishui School and the Attack on Pathogens School. He advocated the theories of "yang is often excessive while yin is often deficient" and "ministerial fire," emphasizing the treatment of nourishing yin and reducing fire, thus opening a new chapter in the treatment of internal injuries.

The academic thoughts and debates of the four great scholars had a profound impact on the development of later medical science. They not only promoted the study and development of Chinese medicine in terms of pathogenesis theory, the theory of pathogens and body resistance, and the zang-fu organ pattern identification and treatment theory, but also laid the foundation for the formation of the warm diseases theory during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Furthermore, they advanced the development of clinical medicine. Since the time of the four great scholars, the development of Chinese medicine has been like a hundred boats racing forward, constantly evolving. Even today, the academic thoughts of the four great scholars, as well as their specific treatment principles and prescriptions, are still widely applied in Chinese medicine clinical practice.