I Can Talk to the Internal Organs

Chapter 39: Chapter 35: Why Is Traditional Chinese Medicine So Slow? [2-in-1]

"Big brother, my name is Jiang Yun."

"If you have any problems in the future, try to find a doctor in a local hospital. Online consultations aren’t impossible, but the information is too limited and can easily lead to misjudgments. The Liver Detox and Cooling Formula I mentioned, after taking one dose, you must make your own judgment. If it doesn’t work, don’t continue taking it, understand?" Lu Jiu repeatedly urged on WeChat.

"Isn’t one dose too little?" Jiang Yun asked.

"That’s how Chinese medicine is. If it’s the right treatment, one dose can have a noticeable reaction. Three doses can cure ordinary minor illnesses; there’s no need to keep taking it," Lu Jiu replied.

"I see," Jiang Yun said.

Many people actually have a lot of faith in traditional Chinese medicine, but on the one hand, they can’t find a good practitioner, and on the other hand, they inherently believe that traditional Chinese medicine is relatively slow in curing diseases.

This impression is also left because of the academic schools of Chinese medicine.

Whether it’s among the people or officially, traditional Chinese medicine has many schools, such as the Classical Formula School, Yang Support School, Nourishing Yin School, Warm Disease School, and others.

The Classical Formula School is all-encompassing, using simple formulas and often bold with medications. Many well-known poisons, such as Aconite and the like, are frequently used. In treating some critically ill patients, the dosages are often very aggressive.

In the past hundred years, many schools of Chinese medicine have declined, but the Classical Formula School and the Warm Disease School still have quite a few practitioners. Although the other schools still exist, their numbers are much smaller compared to these two.

Of course, if you compare the Classical Formula School with the Warm Disease School, then unquestionably, the Warm Disease School has more people.

Why?

Originally, when the theory of the Warm Disease School was born, it was an excellent doctrine. It filled a theoretical gap in Chinese medicine, but with different social structures since the Qing era, the status of the Han people declined. The imperial physicians often prescribed slow and mild medications for the Qing Dynasty Royal Family to keep themselves safe, ensuring they wouldn’t be poisoned no matter how long they used them.

But many diseases require potent toxic Chinese medicines. For example, some people with typhoid fever sometimes need to use Dry Ginger and Aconite Decoction to see immediate results. But would you dare prescribe such a stew to the Qing Dynasty Royal Family?

Even if you are an Imperial Physician, you must first consider whether it’s more important to cure the disease or worry about the poisons being discovered by the eunuchs in the court, with the subsequent risk of being beheaded.

After the Qing seized the throne, they were constantly on edge, with the royal family always fearing assassination.

In such times, who cares about the lofty ideal of great physicians saving the world? Of course, self-preservation is paramount.

With the development of the times, the Qing Dynasty Royal Family and secular officials became wealthy beyond measure, while ordinary people hardly had enough to eat. Forget about medical treatment; sustaining basic life was already an achievement.

The well-fed indulged in pleasure and died early, while the undernourished suffered from malnutrition and also died early.

Even today, many people still say that if Chinese medicine were effective, ancient royal families wouldn’t have had such short lifespans, and common people wouldn’t have lived so short lives.

Anyone who has read history wouldn’t say such things.

If Chinese medicine could control the lifespans of the entire nation’s people, then it wouldn’t be medicine but theology!

Because that would be taking over King Yama’s job!

It’s precisely because of this historical background that a phenomenon arose: the highest standard of a doctor was to just keep the royal family’s life hanging, not to cure their illnesses. With this standard, the trend naturally shifted in this direction, so besides some folk practitioners who adhered to the medical path, the official level had already started pandering.

Which school allows people’s illnesses to improve slowly?

The Warm Disease School, of course, suits perfectly, no?

Once the top-down trend forms, how could the Warm Disease School not thrive?

Just that later, when the Qing’s position stabilized, some real classical formula masters gradually appeared among the official imperial physicians.

Like Huang Yuanyu, who was Qianlong’s Imperial Physician.

There were also Wu Qian, Ren Xigeng, Liu Yuduo, and others, all masters of the Classical Formula School.

The classic "Medical Golden Mirror" that later generations learned from was compiled by these two big names, Wu Qian and Liu Yuduo.

In modern times, the Qing was wealthy, but cowardly, arousing the eyes of greedy thieves. Yet, they had nothing to sell here, thus began using opium to pry open our doors. After their victory, they forced Qing to sign a series of humiliating treaties, misleadingly calling it closed-door policy — falling behind means getting beaten.

Nonsense!

You robbed me, and you say it’s my problem?

Falling behind means getting beaten, isn’t this beautifying the act of robbers?

Yes, it’s not only beautifying, but also ingraining this thought in every Huaxia person’s heart.

So, there was a clause allowing the victorious country to proselytize in Huaxia in the series of treaties signed.

The predecessors of more than three hundred Western Hospitals in Huaxia were churches built by Western missionaries.

It’s undeniable that these hospitals have made an indelible contribution to Huaxia’s healthcare. But the reason Western medicine could thrive is also closely related to these historical backgrounds.

Many people say, if Chinese medicine were effective, why is it less developed than Western medicine?

It’s nonsense, during the Republic, people like Yu Yun proposed the "Abolish Chinese Medicine Bill," which was approved by the upper echelons. The four great Jinling doctors, along with many Chinese medicine practitioners, collectively petitioned against the bill, proposing to compete with Western medicine to see who’s stronger.

In the end, Chinese medicine won, and won big, but what was the result?

Chinese medicine could practice, but it couldn’t establish schools, and they still had to prove they were scientific and not remnants of feudal superstitions, without leaving feudal superstitions in academic thought.