Yun Tie-qiao, whose given name was Shu Yu, also known by the pseudonyms Leng Feng, Jiao Mu, and Huang Shan Min, was born in 1878 in Taizhou, Fujian Province, where his father Yun Mozhao was stationed. He lost his father at the age of five and his mother at eleven, after which he was taken by relatives back to his ancestral home in Wujin County, Jiangsu Province, the cradle of modern Chinese medicine.

Exceptionally intelligent, Yun Tie-qiao, despite his family's poverty and the harsh treatment from his elder brother and sister-in-law, was determined to study hard. He attended a private school run by his clan at the age of 13, passed the county-level imperial examination at 16, and by 20 had completed all the classical texts required for the imperial exams, paving a clear path for his deep exploration into Chinese medicine. Influenced by local customs, he had also dabbled in medical texts such as "Wenbing Tiaobian" and had a basic understanding of medical principles. When his great-uncle Mr. Beishan suffered from a fever with food stagnation and a quack doctor recklessly prescribed "Xiao Qing Long," Yun was able to discern the right from wrong and raised questions. In 1903, he was admitted to Nanyang Public School in Shanghai to study English, becoming the first in the field of Chinese medicine to be well-versed in traditional learning while systematically receiving a modern education, laying the foundation for integrating modern scientific knowledge into Chinese medicine.

After graduating from Nanyang Public School in 1906, Yun Tie-qiao first taught in Changsha, Hunan, and then returned to teach at Pudong Middle School in Shanghai. In his spare time, he translated novellas such as Charles Garvice's "Whitefruit Amomim Fruit," "The Night Mother," and "Bohun Yiyin," which were published in the "Fiction Times" in Shanghai from 1909 to 1910, earning him a reputation alongside Lin Shu but with a distinct style. In 1911, he became a compiler at the Commercial Press, and in 1912, he was appointed editor of "The Short Story Magazine." Yun Tie-qiao, as an editor, valued literary style and structure, stating that "fiction should have enduring vitality." He selected manuscripts based solely on quality, regardless of the author's status or fame, and particularly encouraged young talents. When Lu Xun submitted his first short story "Reminiscence" under the pen name "Zhou Chuo" to "The Short Story Magazine," Yun Tie-qiao, with his discerning eye, highly appreciated the story and its author. He published it in the first issue of the fourth volume, meticulously annotating the excellent parts and enthusiastically recommending it to readers, leaving a deep impression on Lu Xun. Twenty years later, Lu Xun mentioned this incident in a letter to Yang Jiyun, making it a timeless anecdote. Although his ten-year editorial career was unrelated to medicine, it provided a solid foundation for his familiarity with Western medical knowledge and his subsequent scholarly writings.

Just as Yun Tie-qiao was achieving success in his career, the pain of losing his son would occasionally strike him. In 1916, his eldest son, A Tong, who was already 14 years old, died of cold-damage disease. The following year, his second and third sons also succumbed to cold-damage disease. Yun Tie-qiao, who had a basic understanding of medicine, often knew what illness they were suffering from and what medicine should be used, but he was hindered by his lack of clinical experience and dared not act rashly. When he suggested and discussed with doctors, there was never any room for adoption, and he could only watch helplessly as they waited for death. After much reflection, he deeply felt that relying on others was not as good as relying on oneself, so he delved deeply into the study of the "Treatise on Cold-Damage Diseases" and also sought guidance from the renowned cold-damage disease expert, Mr. Wang Lianshi. A year later, his fourth son fell ill again, with fever and chills, without sweating but with panting, clearly showing the symptoms of Taiyang (EX-HN5) cold-damage disease's Ephedra syndrome. The famous doctor he invited, although well-versed in the "Treatise on Cold-Damage Diseases," did not dare to use cold-damage disease prescriptions, and instead continuously used Fermented Soybean, Gardenia, Soybean Curd, Mulberry Leaf, Chrysanthemum Flower, Bitter Apricot Seed, Forsythia, etc., which led to worsening panting and fever. Yun Tie-qiao hesitated and paced all night, suffering from insomnia, until dawn when he decisively prescribed a dose of Ephedra Decoction. He told his wife: "Three sons have already died from cold-damage disease, and now Hui is sick. The doctor says there's nothing he can do. Rather than sitting and waiting for death, I would rather die from taking medicine." His wife remained silent and immediately prepared and administered the medicine. After one dose, the skin became moist, and the panting slightly eased; after the second dose, sweating occurred, the fever subsided, and the panting stopped, leading to recovery. Thus, Yun Tie-qiao became even more convinced of the efficacy of cold-damage disease prescriptions and delved deeper into the study of Chinese medicine classics. Friends and relatives with illnesses also came to request prescriptions, and many of those treated had good results. One day, a colleague's child was critically ill with a cold-damage disease yin syndrome, and the famous doctors in Shanghai were ineffective. Yun Tie-qiao used a dose of Cold-Extremities Decoction to turn the situation around. The family was extremely grateful and published a thank-you note in the newspaper saying: "Don't worry if your child is sick, quickly invite Yun Tie-qiao if there's an illness." The number of people seeking treatment increased day by day, and he was overwhelmed during his spare time, so in 1920, he resigned and hung up his shingle, starting his medical practice. Soon, his practice became very busy, and his reputation as a doctor greatly increased.

At the time when Yun Tieqiao practiced medicine, Chinese medicine was at a critical juncture of life and death. In the early 20th century, with the introduction of new cultures and the advancement of Western science, two extremes emerged regarding how to view traditional Chinese medicine: one was blind worship of foreign cultures, completely negating Chinese medicine, such as Yu Yunxiu, who in 1916 published "Lingsu Shangdui," starting from the basic theory, believing that the Neijing "has not a single correct point," that Chinese medicine is "unscientific," "relies on the effect of suggestion," "the role of the spirit," "similar to hypnotism," and even advocated for the legal abolition of Chinese medicine; the other was self-conceit, stubbornly conservative, refusing to accept modern science, attacking the study of Western medicine as "fawning on foreign countries, trampling on national essence."

Yun Tieqiao, with his profound knowledge and rich clinical experience, surveyed the progress of world science and believed that Chinese medicine had practical effects and was a useful study, while Western medicine had its own strengths, especially in physiological research. Due to the different cultural backgrounds and medical foundations of China and the West, two different systems were formed. "Western science is not the only path, Eastern medicine has its own foothold," but Chinese medicine, due to its long history, should be organized and improved to develop and progress. He clearly proposed absorbing the strengths of Western medicine, integrating them to produce new medicine, saying, "Chinese medicine has evolutionary value, it must absorb the strengths of Western medicine, integrate with it to produce new Chinese medicine, which is the inevitable path for Chinese medicine in the future," and also said, "Speaking of medical reform today, if it is not in conjunction with Western medicine, there is no second path." However, this is for the development of Chinese medicine, to supplement Chinese medicine, "we must not abandon the essence for the superficial, take scientization as a trend, and only seek superficial resemblance, forgetting its original nature." His insightful views pointed out the path for the survival and development of the critically endangered Chinese medicine. Looking back at the course Chinese medicine has taken over the past half-century, the viewpoint of basing on Chinese medicine and absorbing new knowledge is undoubtedly correct.

To advance the regressed Chinese medicine and organize the chaotic academics, Yun Tieqiao swept away the old habits of citing classics and textual research, did not follow the prejudices of predecessors, did not echo the views of seasonal epidemics, blazed a new trail, innovated old theories, and comprehensively and systematically organized the classics and important works of Chinese medicine. First, in response to the arbitrary attacks of "Lingsu Shangdui," he published the famous work "Qunjing Jianzhi Lu" in 1922. Using scientific methods, he studied the origins and essence of Neijing theory, proposed the viewpoint of "four seasons and five zang -organs," believing that the ancients regarded the four seasons as the dominant force of all things' changes, and also as the method for the ancients to understand the changes of things. From the four seasons' wind, cold, summer heat, and dampness, six qi were produced; growth, transformation, collection, and storage produced the five elements, and from the four seasons and five elements, the five zang -organs were derived. Therefore, the four seasons are the backbone of Neijing, "the five zang -organs of Neijing are not the flesh and blood five zang -organs, but the four seasons' five zang -organs." He revealed the mysteries of Chinese medicine theory, especially the doctrine of visceral manifestation, from the height of methodology, showing a simple, understandable, and graspable line of thought of ancient physicians, refuting the attacks of "Lingsu Shangdui," and defending the integrity of Chinese medicine.