Is the history of surgery in Chinese medicine an independent field of research? In Chinese medicine, the historical sources concerning surgery are fragmented, discontinued, and often filled with descriptions of mythical character. This presentation discusses the use of using silk-thread for suturing back together windpipes that is described in sixteenth century Chinese medical sources, understanding the descriptions of these rarely seen procedures as records of surgical operations that were actually carried out. To this purpose, the author proposes a research method of “investigating precedents”. Every independent example of surgery must be dealt with separately. We cannot assume, a priori, that the records of these surgeries are far-fetched interpretations or fabrications, or evaluate them using the background of the therapies of internal medicine. Apart from “abnormal” cases, we do not have a record of other types of surgery in the history of Chinese medicine, therefore we must find a method that allows us to investigate these records on their own terms.