A person from the Tang Dynasty, whose life details and place of origin are unknown, once compiled the Biographies of Famous Physicians in seven volumes. This book collects biographies of 120 renowned physicians from the era of the Three Sovereigns to the Tang Dynasty, making it the earliest specialized monograph on medical figures in China. Later generations referred to it as The Great Biographies of Famous Physicians or The Records of Famous Physicians. In the Song Dynasty, Xu Shenzhai expanded the figures in the book to include those from the Five Dynasties period, renaming it The Chart of Exploring the Origins and Repaying the Roots of Famous Physicians Through the Ages. This work is a historical biography of physicians that includes narratives, illustrations, and eulogies. Unfortunately, the original book has long been lost, with some of its contents scattered in the Song Dynasty work Lidai Mingyi Mengqiu.