Traditionally Chinese have not liked to use divine beasts, of which the turtle is one, as sources of medicine. In Qianjin Yaofang, the Han dynasty doctor Zhang Chong-jing said, "Killing one life to provide for another is far from the spirit of life." And in the books on Chinese medicine through history, the turtle shells regarded as most effective were the ones of turtles that died of natural causes.
中醫傳統上並不喜歡以烏龜這樣的靈獸當藥材，漢朝醫師張仲景在《千金要方》書中就針對中醫師開藥方，提出「夫殺生求生，去生更遠」的說法，意思就是不應為了救一條生命，卻犧牲其他生命。