Born around the third year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty (620), and died in the third year of the Shengli era of the Tang Dynasty (700). He was a native of Luoyang, Luozhou, Tang (present-day Luoyang, Henan). In the first year of the Guangzhai era of Wu Zetian (684), he served as a royal physician and later rose to the position of Shangyao Fengyu. Wen Zhong was well-versed in medical theory, especially skilled in the study of wind and qi. He believed that there were 124 types of wind and 80 types of qi, and that failure to distinguish between them could delay treatment and lead to death; although the treatment for qi disorders and wind diseases was largely similar, individual differences mattered. Conditions like beriberi, recurrent headache, and abnormal rising of qi often required continuous medication, while others could be treated as symptoms arose. People suffering from wind and qi disorders should seek purgative treatments in late spring and early summer, as well as in late autumn, to avoid severe illnesses. Old Book of Tang, Biography of Zhang Wen-zhong, Chapter 141, Volume 191, Zhonghua Book Company, first edition, 1975 . At that time, Wu Zetian ordered him to compile various prescriptions for wind and qi disorders with other renowned physicians of the time, and appointed Wang Fangqing, the Director of the Lintai, to oversee the compilation. Wen Zhong composed eighteen prescriptions for regular use throughout the four seasons, varying in severity and dosage, and presented them to the court. He also wrote Emergency Formulas for Personal Use in three volumes and Treatise on the Laws of Nature in one volume, both of which are now lost. Parts of his work can be found in the Waitai Miyao.