Hua Tuo, a renowned physician of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, mastered internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, and acupuncture, earning a high place in Chinese medical history for his precise diagnoses and brilliant skills.
Hua Tuo, the legendary physician, was known for prescribing different treatments based on each patient's unique condition, tailoring his remedies to the specific ailment.
One day, officials Ni Xun and Li Yan went to see Hua Tuo together, both complaining of the same symptoms: headache and fever. After taking their pulses separately, Hua Tuo prescribed a laxative for Ni Xun and a diaphoretic for Li Yan.
The two looked at the prescription, found it very strange, and asked, "Our symptoms are the same, our condition is identical—why are the medicines we take different?"
Hua Tuo explained, "The only thing you two share is the surface appearance of your illness. Ni Xun's condition is caused by internal indigestion, while Li Yan's illness results from external wind-cold exposure. Since your causes differ, I naturally must tailor the treatment to each specific cause and prescribe different medicines for you."
Soon after, Ni Xun and Li Yan took the medicine and both recovered completely.
Later, the idiom "suit the remedy to the case" came to mean being adept at distinguishing different situations and correctly handling various problems.
Source: *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, "Biography of Hua Tuo"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "对症下药" came to describe being adept at distinguishing different situations and correctly handling various problems.