During the final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there lived a famous physician named Hua Tuo, whose skill with medicine was superb. One day, two men suffering from headaches and fever both came to Hua Tuo. After detailed questioning and careful diagnosis, he prescribed treatments for the two men. Upon comparing the two prescriptions, the two men were puzzled, and asked, "The two of us are suffering from the same illness .Why are the medications you prescribed different?" Hua Tuo replied, "Treatment depends on the specific circumstances of the patient. Although the two of you have similar illnesses, their causes are actually quite different. One has nothing wrong internally, but has contracted a cold from external causes. The other one has nothing wrong externally, but has become ill from excessive eating and drinking; an internal problem. With two different causes, of course the treatments must be different.
The original meaning of "对症下药" is to prescribe a medicine specific to the illness. Later, it was used as a metaphor to find specific ways to solve each individual problem.
例句:
1. 你应该去看医生,对症下药,不要自己乱吃药。 You should go to see a doctor and he will prescribe a medicine for the disease. Don't eat medicine without prescription.
2.心理医生一定要对症下药,要先找出病人的心理问题再对他们进行治疗。 Psychologists must suit one's methods to the situation. They should find out the patients' mental problems and then provide treatment.