Upon hearing this, Song Hao suddenly realized that the man earlier was indeed shrouded in black mist, indicating a precarious situation. His furious questioning and unusual demeanor were likely a last gasp of life before death.
Lin Fengyi then smiled reassuringly at the patients waiting for their turn, who were already showing signs of fear: "Let's continue. Life and death are predestined, beyond my control, but I could foresee it. When death is imminent, I cannot bear to watch, so I have no choice but to tell you frankly to avoid unnecessary treatments and increase the financial burden on your family. Although my words may be harsh, I am telling you the truth. In such situations, there is nothing I can do!"
Upon hearing this, the patients' expressions softened, and they all nodded in agreement.
(This concludes the first part of "Traditional Chinese Medicine Under Heaven: The Acupuncture Bronze Man." Please continue to follow the second part of "Traditional Chinese Medicine Under Heaven: The Heavenly Doctor's Hall.")
Volume Two: Traditional Chinese Medicine Under Heaven - Chapter One: Pulse Diagnosis
Lin Fengyi continued his diagnosis, and everything returned to calm as he continued to demonstrate the wonders of his pulse diagnosis. It wasn't until around four o'clock in the afternoon that Lin Fengyi finished seeing all the patients who had arrived. Song Hao roughly calculated that he had seen over two hundred patients that day. Lin Fengyi was busy but not flustered, always diagnosing his patients with a calm demeanor, and his diagnosis was quick and accurate, as if he possessed the ability to see through the patients' internal ailments; everything he touched, even the pulse, was crystal clear. Song Hao was deeply impressed.
After seeing off the last patient, Lin Fengyi stretched and let out a long sigh of relief. He glanced at Song Hao, who was still sitting there, as if to say: You've seen it all, why aren't you leaving yet?
Song Hao stood up and said respectfully, "Teacher Lin's pulse diagnosis is amazing. Today I have witnessed what the true way of pulse diagnosis is! By the way, these are two books that my master asked me to pass on to Teacher Lin, the Yin Jie Jing and the Yang Jie Jing, which explain the original meaning of Yin and Yang. They are photocopies of the entire text."
As Song Hao spoke, he unfolded the two books wrapped in newspaper and placed them in front of Lin Fengyi.
Seeing this, Lin Fengyi's eyes flashed with a sharp light, which disappeared in an instant. He seemed to sneer and said, "That old Taoist Xiao showed me these two original scriptures back then. I only flipped through them for less than half an hour, and I was in the middle of reading them when your master took them back and refused to lend them to me again, treating them like treasures. Why is his disciple offering them up to me today? Is he trying to negotiate some conditions? If that's his intention, then take them. I, Lin, have never compromised with anyone in my life. This old Taoist Xiao really knows how to play mind games with me, but unfortunately, I don't care anymore." He sneered repeatedly as he spoke.
Song Hao, realizing that his thoughts had been exposed, gave an awkward smile and said, "Teacher Lin, please don't misunderstand. My master specifically instructed me before I came that I acted so foolishly back then because of my stubbornness. Today, I have come to my senses. The original intention of the sages in writing books is to give them to useful people to read. Therefore, I am giving them to you without any conditions attached. Please accept them with a smile."
"Really?" Lin Fengyi glanced at Song Hao sideways after hearing this.
“That’s right! Master said this is a gift he owed you back then, and today I have the opportunity to repay it, fulfilling a wish.” Song Hao replied.
"Alright! Since Master Xiao says so, I'll accept it. Who told him to keep me in suspense all those years ago? Speaking of which, your Taoist master is quite cunning. Now I understand that his actions back then were all for today, and he gave me this gift for his disciple. It's just a pity that he miscalculated." Lin Fengyi said, accepting the two books without any hesitation.
Upon seeing this, Song Hao smiled inwardly. Just as his master had predicted, these two volumes, "Yin Jie Jing" and "Yang Jie Jing," were the key to unlocking the cold, unapproachable door that Lin Fengyi had once kept tightly shut to him.
"Teacher Lin, you've been busy all day. Would you do me the honor of having a meal with me? I have no other intention than to have a meal with you, so we can get to know each other a bit," Song Hao then said.
"Your real intentions are not what they seem! But seeing that you're a sensible young man and have behaved well today, I'll give you face and let you keep me company all day. I also wanted to tell you later that it's not that I'm stubborn, but you can't learn my pulse diagnosis technique." Lin Fengyi nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Teacher Lin!" Song Hao was overjoyed to hear this. He quickly called Tang Yu and told her to book a table at a nearby restaurant so he could treat Lin Fengyi to dinner.
Upon hearing this, Tang Yu happily replied on the other end of the phone, "This old man has finally taken a liking to it! Okay! Let's go to the restaurant where we ate yesterday. I'll go book a private room now, and you can come over in half an hour."
"Song Hao!" Lin Fengyi said at this moment, "You haven't been studying under Master Xiao for many years, have you? Yet he values you highly!"
Song Hao replied, "It's been half a year!"
"Only half a year!" Lin Fengyi was slightly surprised. "What could you possibly learn from him in half a year?"
Song Hao said, "My master mainly wanted me to understand the true meaning of medicine and trace its origins. Once the principle is understood, the techniques become easier to grasp."
Lin Fengyi nodded and said, "Your master has a profound understanding of the way of medicine. He is a true master who understands the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. I benefited a lot from exchanging ideas with him for a few days back then. Yes! Nowadays, those who study traditional Chinese medicine are all looking for quick results in terms of technique, but they find it difficult to understand the true essence of the way! This is why it is difficult to become a great doctor."
"Teacher Lin, I'd like to ask you a question, if that's alright?" Song Hao asked.
"What's the problem? Tell me about it," Lin Fengyi said.
Song Hao said, "Professor Lin's diagnosis is divine, so why doesn't he prescribe medicine for the patients? I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Lin last night, and although we chatted briefly, I know that Professor Lin is an expert in pharmacology. I don't understand why he tells the patients to take your diagnosis to other doctors and seek other prescriptions for treatment?"
Seeing that Song Hao wasn't talking about becoming an apprentice, Lin Fengyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's not that I can't prescribe medicine, but there's a problem with 'medical luck' involved."
"Medical fortune!?" Song Hao was slightly surprised upon hearing this.
"Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes following the principles of the Five Elements and Six Qi in treatment, believing that the pathogenic Qi must align with the natural order to achieve fundamental and remarkable effects. The practice of medicine also involves the concept of 'luck'. Take the renowned Qing Dynasty physician Ye Tianshi, for example. He had practiced medicine for many years and achieved great success, but his 'medical luck' hadn't arrived, resulting in few effective treatments and few patients seeking his care. One day, Zhang Tianshi passed by his residence and inquired about the reason. Zhang Tianshi explained that it was because Ye Tianshi's 'medical luck' hadn't arrived. Only those who believe can practice medicine effectively. It was Ye Tianshi who met Zhang Tianshi..." "His medical fortune had arrived. According to Zhang Tianshi's account, the next day at noon, Ye Tianshi was passing under a bridge in his boat when Zhang Tianshi strolled onto the bridge. Suddenly, he stood on the bridge and bowed to Ye Tianshi in the boat. Zhang Tianshi was renowned throughout the land; the person he bowed to could not be an ordinary person. A passerby who recognized him asked in surprise why. Zhang Tianshi replied, 'This is a celestial physician. How can I not bow to him!' As a result, Zhang Tianshi's words elevated Ye Tianshi to a heavenly status, making him famous and establishing him as a renowned physician," Lin Fengyi said earnestly.
"Hehe! Teacher Lin believes in this too." Song Hao shook his head and smiled upon hearing this.
"Of course, that's not the main problem," Lin Fengyi said with a smile. "It's also because I was studying pulse diagnosis back then. I used rough prescriptions on patients, but the results weren't very good. I was afraid that if I continued like this, I would lose confidence in my established pulse diagnosis methods. You know, the subtlety and detail of pulse diagnosis depends especially on one's own state of mind, so I stopped prescribing medicine and focused on diagnosis to avoid causing any trouble."
"I see!" Song Hao exclaimed, finally understanding.
"Although I've made some progress in my prescriptions over the years, I realize my medical luck hasn't arrived yet, so I still diagnose but don't treat patients. This is to avoid the effects being ineffective, which would cause patients and myself to lose confidence and affect the application of pulse diagnosis. In that case, I wouldn't bring any economic benefits to the hospital. So, the hospital leaders sent me to this small department to serve as a figurehead for traditional Chinese medicine. Unlike before, when I was studying pulse diagnosis, I would always ask patients to undergo relevant examinations after each diagnosis to verify the accuracy of my pulse diagnosis. Back then, the examination fees weren't expensive, so patients were happy to cooperate. At that time, the benefits I brought were the best in the entire hospital. Alas! Times have changed!" Lin Fengyi sighed again.
Song Hao said, "I've heard my master mention that Teacher Lin's pulse diagnosis method combines ancient and modern techniques."
Lin Fengyi said, "Using medical instruments to verify pulse diagnosis is only an auxiliary means when starting to study pulse diagnosis, to verify some symptoms corresponding to the pulse. However, modern medical instruments cannot detect all the symptoms shown by the pulse diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine. The principles of pulse diagnosis are subtle and require one's own personal understanding. The wonder and importance of the pulse diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine is no less than that of the meridians and collaterals. For modern medicine, it is also a mysterious and unknowable thing. It is a dynamic holographic image that reflects diseases throughout the body. In particular, the pulse diagnosis of the three parts and nine positions of the wrists is the essence of the ancients' simplification. Pulse diagnosis, like meridians, is mysterious and its essence cannot yet be explained, but the ancients discovered and proved its existence and function. We just need to make use of it."
Song Hao asked, "I wonder what prompted Teacher Lin to specialize in pulse diagnosis?"
Lin Fengyi said, "Although it was triggered by chance and happened naturally, nothing is accidental. There is always a reason behind it. It was about thirty years ago when I met a wandering doctor who claimed to be proficient in the legendary 'Tai Su Divine Pulse.' He was quite amazing. His pulse diagnosis was always accurate, and he could even predict life and death. He refused to learn from me and left. At that time, I thought, if he could master this kind of divine pulse diagnosis, why can't I? So I studied it with all my might and made progress from a young age. At first, I followed the pulse diagnosis books passed down by the ancients, but after ten years, I abandoned the books and sought enlightenment elsewhere."
Song Hao said, "But in addition to the pulse diagnosis methods recorded in the Inner Canon and the Difficult Classic, there should also be the Pulse Classic by Wang Shuhe of the Jin Dynasty, the Pulse Study of Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty, and the Three-Finger Flick by Zhou Xueting of the Qing Dynasty."
Lin Fengyi said, “That’s right, these are all books on pulse diagnosis from the world. But I also deal with Zhang Zhongjing’s pulse diagnosis in the Treatise on Cold Damage, Hua Tuo’s pulse diagnosis in the Central Canon, Wang Shuhe’s other pulse diagnosis book, The Pulse Diagnosis, and Zhang Xichun’s pulse diagnosis. I have studied all the ancient books on pulse diagnosis. Then I summarized and combined them to form my own understanding of pulse diagnosis.”
At this point, Lin Fengyi seemed to realize something and quickly stopped mentioning pulse diagnosis, changing the subject.
Seeing this, Song Hao smiled to himself. Seeing that it was almost time, he said, "Teacher Lin, let's go eat first. My friend should be ready."
"Then I'll go eat with you!" Lin Fengyi stood up, seemingly still a little hesitant.
"Don't be shy!" Song Hao stepped forward and pulled Lin Fengyi out.
The two left the hospital and turned towards the entrance of a restaurant, where they saw Tang Yu waiting. Upon seeing Song Hao accompanying Lin Fengyi, Tang Yu happily went to greet them. Inside a private room upstairs, a sumptuous feast had already been prepared. Luo Feiying was arranging the food with the waiter.
Song Hao gave a brief introduction. Lin Fengyi glanced at Luo Feiying, then at Tang Yu, and then gave Song Hao a sly smile, saying, "Another one! You're something else!"
Song Hao, not understanding his meaning, first led Lin Fengyi to sit in the head seat inside. Luo Feiying then made a face behind Lin Fengyi.
Everyone sat down, and Song Hao poured Lin Fengyi a full glass of wine. Lin Fengyi saw this and did not refuse, saying, "Let's have a drink together today, otherwise I won't drink for the first three days of the clinic."
Luo Feiying said, "If you like drinking, just drink. Why restrict yourself?"
Lin Fengyi shook his head and said, "You must abstain from alcohol for three days before starting your clinic to balance your Qi and blood; otherwise, your diagnosis will be inaccurate."