A native of Chongchuan (now Nantong City, Jiangsu Province), he suffered from many illnesses in his childhood and began to focus on the study of medicine in his youth. He specialized in surgery for over 40 years and authored the 12-volume Waike Zhengzong (1617), which collected effective surgical prescriptions from the Tang Dynasty onwards and was written based on his own clinical experience.

Mr. Chen had high medical ethics and placed great emphasis on the construction of medical ethics. His written "Five Precepts and Ten Essentials for Physicians" imposed strict requirements on doctors and established a comprehensive system of medical ethics, such as not being concerned about consultation fees, treating patients of all financial statuses equally, diligently studying medical techniques, and carefully selecting medications, which remain significant to this day.