At this point, Tang Ji shook his head and sighed, "Medicine is the art of saving lives, but one must also guard against others while saving lives. It's a sad thing. Fortunately, it was a chaotic era. When doctors were saving lives, especially when they encountered powerful and influential people, they couldn't help but be trembling with fear, lest they make a mistake and bring trouble upon themselves."
Tang Ji continued, "After Qi Liang's death, the members of the Tianyi School inevitably harbored resentment towards your great-grandfather. Later, when the political situation changed and Yuan Shikai openly declared himself emperor, it drew widespread opposition throughout the country, causing Qi Liang to fall ill. The physicians were helpless, so they sought out renowned doctors from the common people. Some narrow-minded members of the Tianyi School seized the opportunity to strongly recommend your great-grandfather, Song Jingchun, intending to trick him, sending him to his doom, to vent their personal anger. As the saying goes, serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, and under such circumstances, physicians would avoid it at all costs—failure meant death, success meant disgrace. Naturally, no one dared to accept the task. Unexpectedly, your great-grandfather readily agreed, displaying both skill and daring, and outwitted Yuan Shikai, escaping unscathed once again. However, he disappeared without a trace, presumably fleeing to another place. The Qi family of the Tianyi School could never find any trace of your Song family again, a regrettable matter."
"The Qi family of the Heavenly Physician Sect!"
Song Hao muttered something inexplicably.
Chapter Twenty-Four of the Record of Extraordinary Writings: The Heavenly Physician
The *Tao Te Ching* states, "All things carry yin and embrace yang." The *I Ching* says, "The alternation of yin and yang is called the Tao."
"Yin and Yang are named but formless" (Ling Shu, Yin Yang and the Sun and Moon).
"Yin and Yang are two separate things." (Classified Canon of Yin and Yang)
"Human life has form, and it is inseparable from yin and yang."
"When Yin and Yang are in harmony, the spirit is healthy; when Yin and Yang are separated, the essence and energy are exhausted."
"Extreme cold leads to heat, and extreme heat leads to cold." "Extreme yin will inevitably lead to yang, and extreme yang will inevitably lead to yin."
"When Yang is excessive, there is heat; when Yin is excessive, there is cold; when Yang is deficient, there is cold; when Yin is deficient, there is heat."
"When Yang is damaged, Yin is affected; when Yin is damaged, Yang is affected."
Therefore, "a skilled physician observes the complexion and palpates the pulse, first distinguishing between yin and yang."
—The Inner Canon
The eight principles of Yin, Yang, Exterior, Interior, Cold, Heat, Deficiency, and Excess, with Yin and Yang as the general framework, are the cornerstone of syndrome differentiation and treatment.
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Tang Ji recounted the past of the medical sect to Song Hao, and then said, "It is said that the disciples of the Heavenly Physician Sect are now all over the world. Wherever there are Chinese people, there are Heavenly Physician Sect members practicing medicine. The nine sects and eighteen medical schools of the past have continued in various forms, jointly supporting the lifeline of traditional Chinese medicine. Although some of them have changed their nature, most of them take it as their responsibility to promote traditional Chinese medicine and maintain the development of traditional medicine."
Tang Ji then sighed and said, "Even so, the current situation is that traditional Chinese medicine is on the verge of being replaced by Western medicine. In a sense, Western medicine focuses on treating diseases, while traditional Chinese medicine focuses on regulating diseases, that is, regulating the balance of Yin and Yang. Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Chinese medicine and Western medicine are actually two completely different concepts in theory. In terms of treatment, they can complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, but if the research on medicines is entirely based on the methods used to study Western medicines, it may lead traditional Chinese medicine astray."
Tang Ji continued, “Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes the properties and meridians of herbs, using the four natures of cold, heat, warmth, and coolness, along with the five flavors of pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, to regulate the yin-yang balance of the human body according to their ascending, descending, floating, and sinking characteristics. If you were to test the molecular structure of herbs in a laboratory to see if they could kill a certain virus cell, most Chinese herbs would disappoint researchers. They wouldn't be able to isolate what they expect from those roots and bark. Of course, some rare herbs can still yield some results in the laboratory. But doing so in general deviates from the true path of the development of traditional Chinese medicine. Take ginseng as an example; the results from laboratory tests are almost worthless, even less nutritious than carrots. However, ginseng's ability to greatly replenish vital energy, especially wild ginseng, has proven remarkably effective in the emergency treatment of deficiency syndromes, both in ancient medical records and modern clinical practice.”
"The development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) does not preclude the use of modern technology to verify and improve it. Some medicines can have their active ingredients purified in the laboratory, thereby improving their therapeutic effects. However, others cannot and must still be processed using traditional methods based on their natural origin. Different processing methods, or even differences in the time, can result in different medicinal properties for a single herb. These are the characteristics of Chinese herbal medicines, which those who study molecular structures will never understand. It is not feasible to study and view TCM from the perspective of Western medicine. Therefore, finding a reasonable path that truly allows TCM to develop is an urgent and crucial matter!"
Upon hearing this, Song Hao nodded repeatedly in agreement.
“Sir, Western medicine targets single diseases, while traditional Chinese medicine focuses on holistic harmony. To put it more grandly, it’s about the harmony between man and nature. The truly advanced level of medicine is about finding the opportune moment between man and nature to heal diseases, sometimes even without medicine,” Song Hao said.
“Well said! The so-called superior physician treats illness without medicine. This means that the physician has thoroughly understood the mysteries of heaven and earth and comprehended the balance between heaven and man, using natural methods to harmonize diseases. Although medicine is not used, everything is medicine, it all depends on how the physician uses it.”
"Let me tell you a story," Tang Ji said. "It's a legend about the ancient physician, the Medicine King Pi Tong. Whether it's true or not, it just illustrates the principle that everything can be used as medicine and that diseases can be treated using natural methods. Pi Tong was known as the Medicine King, and in his eyes, everything could be medicine. Once, a plague broke out in the south, and Pi Tong, with a heart to help the world and relieve suffering, left his hometown to treat the people. Not long after Pi Tong left home, his mother fell seriously ill, and all the doctors were ineffective. Seeing that there was no cure, and in order not to waste time, his brother Pi Zhu had no choice but to take their mother south to seek treatment from Pi Tong."
"After finding Pi Tong, Pi Tong diagnosed his mother and, while secretly surprised, said to her, 'It is not that I am unfilial, but that I am incompetent. The strange disease that Mother suffers from is beyond human control. Although there is a cure, it is hard to find in this world. But if Heaven and Earth have mercy and remember my virtue of wholeheartedly healing people, perhaps we will have the opportunity to meet. Mother, take care and go back to your hometown with your brother to await fate.' Pi Tong was treating people in the epidemic area and had no time to take care of his mother, so his brother Pi Zhu had no choice but to take his mother back to their hometown."
"Having traveled to the wilderness, his mother was parched with thirst. Pi Zhu settled his mother by the roadside, but could not find any water source anywhere. Just as he was becoming extremely anxious, he happened to find a human skull in the woods, containing a puddle of rainwater. However, there were two small snakes playing in the water. In desperation, Pi Tong used a branch to remove the two snakes, and disregarding the dirty water, gave it to his extremely thirsty mother to drink."
"After traveling to a village, his mother was hungry and sought out a family to beg for food. Coincidentally, the daughter-in-law of that family had just given birth to twins, and the mother-in-law was blind and the father-in-law was crippled. In their joy at the arrival of the twins, they were delighted to see someone begging for food, so they kindly gave Pi Zhu's mother a bowl of leftover barley rice with an egg. The barley rice was freshly milled by the mother-in-law's younger sister-in-law in the mill, driven by a horse. And the egg was a double-yolk egg, which was an extremely coincidental thing."
"Strangely enough, after Pi Zhu brought his mother home, her previous serious illness miraculously disappeared without her noticing. A few days later, a letter from Pi Tong arrived, saying: 'If Mother can drink the natural water of "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl," eat twin eggs with double yolks, milled Job's tears by the ox and horse, and cooked by the blind old man and woman, her illness will naturally be cured. These four remedies are beyond human power to produce. If Mother is lucky, the remedies will naturally arrive by chance. I am very worried about Mother's journey.'"
"After reading it, Pi Zhu was greatly surprised. Recalling his encounters along the way, he realized it perfectly matched the prescription Pi Tong had written. He hurriedly wrote back to inform him of everything. Upon receiving the letter and learning the details, Pi Tong exclaimed, 'Truly, divine intervention! I, Pi Tong, should act in accordance with Heaven's will and help all living beings to repay this grace.'"
At this point, Tang Ji exclaimed, "The medical skills that Pi Tong has reached are truly those of a celestial physician! Only a celestial physician could know such heavenly medicines! This is a kind of connection between heaven and man, which cannot be understood without thoroughly studying the principles of all things! The profundity of the medical skills is beyond our imagination."
Tang Ji smiled again and said, "When we talk about things that seem 'mysterious and mysterious' to ordinary people, some people will criticize us for engaging in mysticism and superstition. In ancient times, medicine and shamanism were not distinguished, which inevitably gave others ammunition against us. But what is shamanism? Many religions today originated from ancient shamanism. The formation of religions is about explaining the mysteries of the universe and life from different perspectives, sometimes getting closer to the essence of things. The Tao is also Buddha and God; the names are different, but the principle is the same!"
After listening, Song Hao exclaimed, "Uncle, your words are more valuable than ten years of study! In my humble opinion, the art of medicine is all-encompassing and far-reaching; it's not as simple as just taking medicine to cure diseases. It is a philosophy, and even more so, an art."
"Indeed!" Tang Ji sighed, "Learning traditional Chinese medicine is inherently difficult, and even fewer people can comprehend such a high level of medical principles. Medicine is about intention; how many can truly understand it!"
At dinner time, Song Hao sat at the Tang family's dining table; Tang Ji had dragged him there.
Facing the astonished Tang Qingshan, Tang Tangyu, and others, Tang Ji said, "From now on, Song Hao is no longer a so-called hostage in your hands, but a distinguished guest of our Tang family. Speaking of which, Song Hao's ancestors have some connection with our Tang family, because he is the great-grandson of Song Jingchun, a famous doctor during the Republic of China era."
The Tang father and daughter were shocked to hear this.
Chapter Twenty-Five of the Record of Strange Writings: Conspiracy
The five elements are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
"Heaven produces five materials, which the people use together; none can be neglected." (Zuo Zhuan)
"Wood is associated with straightness and curvature," signifying growth, flourishing, and unrestrained development. It corresponds to the five seasons (spring), the five directions (east), the five elements (wind), the five transformations (life), the five colors (green), the five flavors (sour), the five musical notes (horn), the five internal organs (liver), the six bowels (gallbladder), the five sensory organs (eyes), the five sounds (call), the emotions (anger), the physical form (tendons), and the movement (grasping).
"Fire is associated with rising and warmth." Summer is the season, the south is the direction, heat is the element of the five elements, growth is the transformation of the five elements, red is the color of the five elements, bitter is the flavor of the five elements, the zhi is the tone of the five elements, the heart is the organ of the five organs, the small intestine is the fu organ of the six fu organs, the tongue is the sensory organ of the five elements, the pulse is the physical body, joy is the emotion of the five elements, laughter is the sound of the five elements, and worry is the change of the five elements.
"Earth nourishes crops," signifying creation, bearing, and receiving. Of the five seasons, summer is the longest; of the five directions, the center is the center; of the five elements, dampness is the dampness; of the five transformations, transformation is the transformation; of the five colors, yellow is the yellow; of the five flavors, sweetness is the sweetness; of the five musical notes, the palace tone is the palace tone; of the five internal organs, the spleen is the spleen; of the six bowels, the stomach is the stomach; of the five sensory organs, the mouth is the mouth; of the physical form, flesh is the flesh; of the emotions, thought is thought; of the five sounds, song is song; and of change, hiccuping is hiccuping. "Earth carries the four elements and is the mother of all things."
"Metal signifies change, cleansing, purifying, and gathering. Autumn is the season, the west is the direction, dryness is the element of the five elements, harvest is the transformation of the five elements, white is the color of the five elements, pungent is the flavor of the five elements, the Shang tone is the musical note of the five elements, the lungs are the five internal organs, the large intestine is the other internal organ, the nose is the sensory organ, the skin and hair are the physical form, grief is the emotion, crying is the sound of the five elements, and cough is the change of the five elements."
"Water is said to flow downwards," meaning it is cold, moistening, and flowing downwards. The five seasons are winter, the five directions are north, the five elements are cold, the five transformations are storage, the five colors are black, the five flavors are salty, the five musical notes are yu, the five internal organs are the kidneys, the six bowels are the bladder, the five sensory organs are the ears, the body is the bones, the emotion is fear, the five sounds are groans, and the change is trembling.
The five elements generate each other: wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood.
The five elements are mutually restraining: wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, fire restrains metal, and metal restrains wood.
"The mechanism of creation cannot exist without birth, nor can it exist without restraint. Without birth, there is no way for development; without restraint, it will become excessive and harmful." — *Classified Canon Illustrated Supplement*
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"What! He's a descendant of Song Jingchun?" Tang Qingshan exclaimed in astonishment.