The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Sitting down in the hotel, Wang Wenlong asked Wu Youxing: "May I ask from which master Mr. Wu learned his medical skills?"

Wu Youxing said nonchalantly: "It's a famous local doctor in Suzhou named Li."

Wang Wenlong asked curiously: "I often travel between Wuzhong and Bamin. I wonder which Dr. Li he is?"

Wu Youxing blushed slightly and said in a low voice: "I have never taught him, but I have read Mr.'s medical records..."

Wang Wenlong saw Wu Youxing's somewhat embarrassed expression and then realized that the co-author had never seriously studied medicine from anyone. He had probably read two medical books before running out to work.

Wu Youxing, however, quickly found an explanation and said: "Sir, don't look down on my youth. I have been practicing medicine for five years and have cured thousands of patients. I already have several medical books in my belly as a foundation. When it comes to the soup formula, there are thousands of them." It’s impossible to stop it.”

Wang Wenlong nodded. If Wu Youxing hadn't been quite famous in later generations, he would probably treat Wu Youxing as a quack when he heard this explanation.

Wu Youxing, however, admired Wang Wenlong very much and said happily: "I have read Mr. Wang's "Tianyan Lun" again and again, and I only feel that the principles and medical skills are similar."

"Please tell me." Wang Wenlong was quite curious.

Wu Youxing said: "There are many doctors in our Wu sect, which are divided into miscellaneous diseases school, febrile disease school, febrile disease school, and surgical school. They often look for chapters and excerpts to use the methods in ancient books to cure the diseases of the people of that time. But I I have seen countless patients while practicing medicine, but I have seen that many patients did not get sick according to the methods in the book. At this time, it is necessary to use the principle of survival of the fittest written by my husband - you must not blindly follow the methods in the book. Instead, it should be carefully analyzed and treated based on syndrome differentiation.”

Wang Wenlong nodded. After hearing this insightful statement, he was finally sure that the person in front of him was the medical master who wrote "Treatise on Warm Epidemics" in history.

He and Wu Youxing made some inquiries and found out that the level of doctors these days is also uneven, and most of them are even quacks.

For example, the most concentrated place for doctors at this time was Suzhou, forming the Wu School of Medicine.

The main reason why Suzhou can produce so many doctors is that there are many scholars in Suzhou. Scholars can read medical books and at least memorize a few soup recipes, which already has a huge advantage over illiterate people.

The famous doctor in Suzhou in this dynasty began with Wang Zhongguang.

Scholar Wang Zhongguang wanted to learn medical skills from the famous doctor Dai Yuanli. Dai Yuanli told Wang Zhongguang that medicine required familiarity with the "Huangdi Neijing". Wang Zhongguang returned and studied for three years, mastering the "Huangdi Neijing" by heart. At that time, although Wang Zhongguang I studied medicine, but I had never used any medicine in a clinical setting.

It wasn't until Dai Yuanli wrote his life's medical experience into ten volumes of "Yanxiu Medical Cases" that he kept it secret. Wang Zhongguang managed to get it back and studied hard again. Only then did he have the ability to prescribe medicine. He went out to practice medicine and became famous in Wuxia. , thus creating the Wu School of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Wang Zhongguang, the founder of the Wu School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Ming Dynasty, learned his medical skills by reading books. Therefore, it is really unusual for someone like Wu Youxing, who even though he was named a master, actually just read two books and then went out to practice medicine. What an outlier.

The treatment method of this kind of self-taught doctor is also very simple. Some unskilled doctors will read medical books and prescribe medicines to patients according to the patient's symptoms and copy the prescriptions for treating similar diseases in the original book. Those with higher skills can distinguish the pharmacology. According to the medicinal properties, new prescriptions can be prepared by combining the methods of the emperor, ministers and envoys. Wu Youxing is already considered a leader among them. He can write his own prescriptions and have his own medical theories. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is at the level of a famous doctor.

Wu Youxing liked Wang Wenlong's "Theory of Heavenly Evolution" very much. After talking about it for a long time, Wang Wenlong pointed out to the point: "Sir, he is actually interested in the experimental method of testing the truth in practice in "The Theory of Heavenly Evolution"."

"experimental method?"

Wang Wenlong explained: "For example, there is a prescription written in an ancient medical book. Later generations of doctors don't know whether it can be established. If you want to verify its effect, you don't have to rely on the provisions of the "Huangdi Neijing", but you must really use the medicine carefully. Observe whether the patient’s symptoms improve and whether the condition is alleviated.”

"If this prescription really cures the corresponding condition, then it can become a prescription that specifically treats this disease. If it does not, it will be falsified and should be discarded no matter how medically sound it is. This process is called experimentation. ."

Wu Youxing nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "That's the truth. Many prescriptions in ancient books are succinct, but in fact they are useless in practice. Sometimes the prescriptions I prescribe are more useful than the ancient prescriptions, so I will Specifically recorded, as the gentleman said, for us as doctors, experiment is more important than theory."

Don't laugh at the Wu School of Traditional Chinese Medicine at this time, which advocated following the medical records of the predecessors to prescribe medicine.

The evolution of medicines into ready-made medicines based on the doctor's subjective judgment is actually the development direction of all ancient medicine.

Determine the drug formula so that you can know more about the indications and side effects of the drug.

On the contrary, if something is added to the set of prescriptions today, and something is subtracted from the set of prescriptions tomorrow, and the medicines prescribed every day do not have the same ingredients, how can a controlled experiment be conducted?

Wang Wenlong said: "In fact, Dr. Wuzhong's study of medical records is a method of accumulating experimental data. Senior doctors repeatedly used similar prescriptions, and later people gradually became able to understand the effects and side effects of this prescription. A set of prescriptions is used The longer time passes, the clearer the doctor will understand its properties and the better it can be targeted when using it."

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "It is for this reason that I dare say that medicine in the future will be more and more inclined to develop finished pills, powders, ointments and elixirs. Even the medicinal materials in the prescriptions must be authentic, and the preparation process cannot be too big. Difference. Not because of how the corresponding processing techniques can bring out the medicinal properties, but to ensure that the composition of the final product will not be too different."

Wu Youxing thought carefully, then nodded repeatedly and agreed: "Only by using the same medicine can we ensure that every experiment can be used as a reference."

To put it bluntly, doctors in this era just used people to test medicines. All the real old prescriptions passed down to later generations were tried out from generation to generation. The effects of some drug combinations were also studied clearly by using people to test medicines. The so-called prescriptions are generally like this.

"However, there is really no previous method to refer to for the plague in Zhao'an this time," Wu Youxing said with some distress: "The plague broke out after the Zhao'an disaster. The patients had cold hands and feet and were drowsy. When I first arrived, I thought it was... Wind disease, but the corresponding medicines are not effective, and after a few days it turns into symptoms of typhoid fever. Although the prescriptions in ancient books can slightly relieve the superficial symptoms, the patient's spleen and stomach become even weaker."

Wu Youxing sighed and said: "I think this disease is not wind, cold, heat, or dampness. All the medicines in my hand are ineffective. I have used up all the medicines in my hand, but failed to cure anyone. This time I returned to Putian to seek help. More medicines go to treat diseases, but they are blocked on the road."

(End of this chapter)