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This book is the first specialized work on tongue inspection. Ao was the original author, later supplemented by Yuan Dynasty's Du Qing-bi. The version currently in circulation is mostly the Du supplemented edition, completed in 1341. This book is based on Ao's Jin Jing Lu, expanding from the original 12 tongue coating diagrams to 36 diagrams. It is also known as Cold-Damage Disease Jin Jing Lu.

The entire book illustrates 36 common clinical tongue manifestations, each accompanied by textual explanations, primarily linking the symptoms to cold-damage disease, while also covering internal medicine Zabing and other conditions. For each pathological tongue manifestation, it combines pulse manifestations to explain the etiology, pathology, treatment methods, and prognosis, or to differentiate the severity and urgency of similar conditions, as well as their cold, heat, deficiency, and excess nature. It is the first extant Chinese book that combines text and images for tongue inspection, playing a pivotal role in the development of tongue inspection.

The book consists of one volume, featuring 36 tongue inspection diagrams including white coating tongue, impending epidemic tongue, middle scorching tongue, spotted tongue, red star tongue, black glossy tongue, black ring tongue, fire-cracked tongue, worm-eaten tongue, inner black tongue, jueyin tongue, death-presenting tongue, yellow coating tongue, black heart tongue, etc. Among these, 24 diagrams focus on tongue coating, 4 on tongue texture, and 8 on both tongue coating and texture. The tongue colors depicted include pale, red, and blue; changes on the tongue surface include red thorns, red stars, and cracks; tongue coating colors include white, yellow, black, and gray; coating textures are described as dry, smooth, rough, thorny, partial, complete, and segmented. The book provides a comprehensive overview of major pathological tongue manifestations. It emphasizes the importance of changes in tongue coating and texture in exploring etiology, verifying causes for treatment, and judging prognosis.

In addition to detailing the examination of the tongue to determine causes, the book also elaborates on establishing methods for tongue inspection, prescribing medications, and formulating treatments. The book not only presents vivid and clear diagrams but also rigorously analyzes the causes and treatments based on tongue inspection, establishing a foundation for the development of tongue inspection in Chinese medicine and earning praise from later physicians.

Major extant versions include: the Ming Dynasty Jiajing eighth year Beihai Ma Chongru proofread edition; the Qing Dynasty Qianlong twenty-fifth year Qiantang Wang family edition; seen in Xue's Medical Records (titled: External Injury Jin Jing Lu); seen in the Ten Bamboo Studio's Pocket Edition Medical Books; and seen in Medical Forest Finger Moon.

Xue Ji first mentioned in the preface to his publication Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu: "Ao Jun established methods for tongue differentiation, specializing in this field, with such precision that he authored Dian Dian Jin and Jin Jing Lu", clearly stating that Ao was the author of the "twelve tongues" mentioned before Du Qing-bi.

Some scholars believe that Ao was Ao Ji-weng. Ao Ji-weng, also known as Ao Jigong, styled Junshan, from Changle, Fuzhou, residing in Wuxing (now Huzhou, Zhejiang), was a Yuan Dynasty classicist and an important figure in the history of ancient Chinese ritual studies. There is no existing literature documenting Ao Ji-weng's involvement in medicine. Ming Dynasty physician Lu Fu once said: "Ao, of unknown origin, had twelve tongue methods to verify the external and internal aspects of cold-damage disease." The claim that Ao was Ao Ji-weng{|166|} remains questionable and requires further verification.

The person who promoted Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu from being a secret transmission to public knowledge was Xue Ji. Xue's works include Xue's Medical Records, with 24 types and 16 surviving, and Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu is included among them.

Xue Ji mentioned in the preface of Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu that in the year Zhengde Wuchen (1508), he witnessed someone diagnosing illnesses by observing tongue color, and the medication used was highly effective. However, when he inquired about the technique of tongue inspection, the person remained silent. Later, Xue Ji accidentally discovered Jinjinglu at the Imperial Medical Institute in Nanjing, which allowed him to understand the content of tongue inspection. Consequently, Xue Ji published the book. The preface records that the publication date was Jiajing Yichou (1529), just one year before Xue Ji resigned from Imperial Medical Institute.

Xue Ji republished the book in the year Jiajing Bingchen (1556) after leaving Imperial Medical Institute. In the "Jiajing Bingchen edition," Xue Ji wrote another preface, noting that the assistant for this publication was the court official Qian Tiren. Xue Ji showed Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu to Qian in order to promote tongue inspection, and Qian "was pleased upon seeing it and thus ordered it to be printed." Xue Ji also mentioned in the preface of this edition that he had previously published Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu while at Imperial Medical Institute, stating, "In the past, while serving in the capital, I once published it."

For this publication, Xue Jipreface was signed as "Written by Fengzheng Daifu, retired Yuan Shi of Imperial Medical Institute, Gusu Xue Ji, on an autumn day in Jiajing Bingchen," indicating that he had already left Imperial Medical Institute by then. Xue Ji made great efforts to promote the publication of Aoshi Shanghan Jinjinglu, which led to the book's public availability and popularity.