Bian Que brings Prince "back" to life
One of the most well know story is talks about how Bian Que succeeded in curing
the crown prince of the Kingdom of Guo of his fatal illness. According to the
legend, the prince of Gua was very ill and as he lay dying, the court physician
could do nothing to help. One version of this story has it that Bian Que was
summoned to treat the prince, however when he arrived at the palace he found
the crown prince being prepared for the funeral. Despite the funeral arrangements,
Bian Que requested examining the prince. His examination confirmed his suspicion
that the prince had actually gone into a deep coma. He gave the prince acupuncture
treatment to retrieve him and then applied compresses soaked in a decoction
of herbs. Within hours of Bian Que's arrival, the prince was able to get his
feet. The prince was then prescribed boiled herbal compounds to be taken for
twenty days, which helped him to fully recover.
Soon the rumors spread that Bian Que was a miracle worker who could bring the
dead back to life. Bian Que said "No, I can't bring the dead back to life,
the prince wasn't dead. I only treated his illness, and that is what brought
him around."
Two Famous Doctors
Zhang Zhongjing (150-219 CE), the most famous of China's ancient herbal doctors
lived during the Eastern Han dynasty was known for his remarkable medical skill.
He wrote a book a medical masterpiece entitled Shang Han Lun or "Treatise
on Febrile Diseases". To date Zhang Zhongjing's theory and prescriptions
are still of great practical value. It is still used as a standard reference
work for traditional Chinese medicine, including moxibustion, needling and herbal
medicine.
One of the most famous physicians/surgeon of traditional Chinese medicine was
Hua To (110-207 CE) also lived during the Eastern Han period. Hua To was the
first of the Taoist physicians, the most famous doctor in ancient China who
developed/invented the use of anaesthesia called Mafei San, and furthered the
limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy. He was the first person who used narcotic
drugs in the world and his skill in this field was ahead of the west about 1600-1700
years. He also developed Five Animal Play, exercises that mimics the movements
and postures of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird. According to
Hu Tao the motion is fundamentally important to health, and by mimicking the
movements of different animals; all parts of the body were exercised and stretched,
thereby activating the flow of fluid and energy in the body.
Two Important Books
During the Sui Dynasty, Chao Yuanfang, together with others compiled a book
called the Zhubing Yuanhou Zonglun (The General Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms
of Disease), which consisted of 50 volumes, divided into 67 categories, and
list 1,700 syndromes. This book had a strong influence on the later development
of medicine, expounding on the pathology, signs and symptoms of various diseases,
surgery, gynaecology, and paediatrics.
In 752 CE, Wang Tao another well-known scholar of Chinese medicine wrote a book
called Waitai Miyao(The Medical Secrets of An Official). This book consisted
of 40 volumes, 1,104 categories and discusses over 6,000 herbal prescriptions.
The Tang Connection
The Tang dynasty is often referred to as the second golden age of China. It
was during the Tang dynasty when China's first school of medicine was established.
Sun Simiao (581-682 CE), the most famous physician of the Tang Dynasty devoted
his whole life to Chinese medicine starting from a very young age. It is said
that by the age of 15 he not only had a thorough understanding of Taoism and
the classics of many of its sects, but also had also deeply researched Buddhist
classics. He had mastered all the Chinese classics by the age 20 and became
a well-known medical practitioner and was crowned "King of Herbal Medicine".
The Materia Medica
During the Yuan Dynasty, China was controlled by Genghis Khan's vast Mongolian
empire. During the period of Mongolian empire Chinese medicine became increasingly
specialized and the understanding of acupuncture was further detailed. In 1368
BCE, the Chinese regained control of their land under the Ming dynasty. Li Shizhen,
(1518-1593 CE) was one of the greatest physician and pharmacologist of the Ming
dynasty. His major contribution to medicine was his forty-year work, which is
found in his epic book Ben Cao Gang-mu (The Compendium of Materia Medica). The
text contains 1,900,000 Chinese characters and details more than 1,800 drugs,
including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions, as well as record of
1,094 herbs, detailing their type, form, flavor, nature and application in treatment.
This book was one of the greatest contributions to the development of pharmacology
both in China and throughout the world. Materia Medica has been translated into
many different languages and remains as the premier reference work for herbal
medicine.
1900's of TCM
The Revolution of 1911 saw the beginning of the People's Republic of China.
During this time China developed a desire to modernize, and its people began
to turn to Western medicine. The government of the time proposed the abolishment
of traditional Chinese medicine and took measures to stop its development and
use. In 1928 the Communist party of China was formed, under the leadership of
Chairman Mao and in 1949 the Communist party came to power. As there was very
little or no medical services at the time, the new communist government encouraged
the use of traditional Chinese remedies because they were cheap, acceptable
to the Chinese, and used the skills already available in the countryside. Finally
the traditional Chinese medicine regained popularity by the early to mid 1950s
and the use of acupuncture and herbal medicine became standard medicine in many
hospitals. Many hospital opened clinics to provide, teach and investigate the
traditional methods, the main research institutes being in Beijing, Shanghai
and Nanjing.
Unfortunately, Chinese medicine, as a reflection of traditional Chinese culture,
underwent a period of extreme hardship during the Cultural Revolution. From
1966 to 1976, traditional doctors were purged from the schools, hospitals and
clinics, and many of the old practitioners were jailed or killed. In 1979, the
National Association for Chinese Medicine was established, and many of the traditional
texts were edited and republished.
In 1980, the World Health Organization released a list of 43 types of pathologies,
which can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Today the traditional Chinese
medicine with its many branches has spread far and wide, gaining popularity
in all parts of the world.
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ANSI
/ American National Standard Institute