Chapter 91
"Ah! Little girl, is this prescription written by you?" The old man asked with a thick northern accent. He looked at her with piercing eyes, which showed obvious surprise and disbelief.
At this time, the Chinese people who came to America were mostly from the southern dialect, and there were really few northerners. Listening to his slightly familiar hometown accent, Fang Mo Nan felt particularly close. "What's wrong with this prescription?" Fang Mo Nan asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked at Agnes and said, "Let her take your pulse." Seeing that she was unmoved, Fang Mo Nan added, "You don't believe me, do you? Having one more person diagnose your pulse wouldn't be better."
Agnes smiled awkwardly and sat down on the stool in front of the counter, placing her hands on it.
The old man looked at this situation, knowing that the blonde-haired and blue-eyed foreigner was the patient. He concentrated his mind, held his breath, and carefully felt the pulse. After about a minute, the old man let go of his hand, and his tightly furrowed eyebrows also relaxed, staring blankly at Fang Mo Nan.
"Grandpa, what's wrong?" The girl standing beside the old man pushed him and asked anxiously.
The old man came back to his senses and looked at Fang Mo Nan, his eyes not hiding his eagerness. "Eh! Girl, let's talk."
"Good!" Fang Mo Nan nodded, and the two began to speak as if no one was around them. They spoke in Chinese, which the girl could understand, Jerry understood a little but listened with great effort. Only Agnes showed no interest, looking around the pharmacy, smelling the strong scent of medicine, wrinkling her nose, and showing a face full of unwillingness. If it weren't for her own illness, she wouldn't have wanted to stay here for a moment.
"Cancer isn't an incurable disease, as long as you find the root of the illness and starve the cancer cells to death. It's not that difficult. It's better than going through surgery and chemotherapy again and again, killing both good and bad cells together." Fang Mernan said with a smile.
"Haha……you're absolutely right, I've always been opposed to Western medicine. The wisdom left behind by our ancestors is still the best, after being refined for two thousand years, it's definitely better than the few hundred years of history that Western medicine has developed." The old man said with a big laugh. "Indeed, listening to your words is like reading ten years' worth of books."
"No, I still need to ask for more advice from seniors like you." Fang Mo bowed and said, able to see that the prescription she wrote was extraordinary. Her medical skills must be exceptional too.
"Girl, be humble, no need for these mundane formalities." The old man waved his hand impatiently. His bold and straightforward demeanor was fully revealed.
"Hehe..." Fang Mo Nan smiled and said, "It seems that the old man is quite generous. Let's sharpen each other and make progress together."
The girl stood beside the old man, listening to her grandfather's hearty laughter, with a wide open mouth and an incredulous face. She rarely saw her grandfather smile in her memory, he was introverted and never showed his emotions. Today is really an exception. I don't know what charm this little girl has that makes the old man so happy.
Agnes tapped impatiently on the counter, "You two stop chatting, speaking only Chinese, we can't understand a word, it's completely impolite. Hurry up and get the medicine! I'm in a rush to leave!" She lifted her wrist to glance at her watch again.
"Oh! Ah Yuan, hurry up and decoct the medicine here." The old man urged: "I want to see its efficacy."
"Eh! Good!" The girl who was called A-Yuan turned around and started grabbing medicine from the grid. After weighing the medicine, she went to decoct it.
Fang Mo Nan said to Ai Ge Ni Si: "Let's just decoct the medicine here, it's a lot of trouble and will save you some effort."
"That's just right!" Agnes looked at the old man and asked tentatively: "This prescription......"
"This prescription is tailored to your illness, very suitable for you." The old man said with a straight face, he disliked this kind of person the most, but also because the person who prescribed the medicine was too young, so he didn't mind that much.
During the medicine decoction, Fang Mo Nan and Old Master Tang sat down for a further conversation. Fang Mo Nan learned that Old Master Tang's name was Tang Yao Xian, who was also a well-known figure in the medical field on the mainland. He had fled to America to escape war and had been here for over 40 years. His children had received American education for a long time and were unwilling to take over the old family pharmacy and medical skills. In order to pass down the ancestral heritage, he broke the family's tradition of only passing it down to males. Now, only his granddaughter Tang Yan followed her to study traditional Chinese medicine. It was also a comfort in his old age.
Tang Yaoxian also knew in the conversation that the girl's name was Fang Monan, and her family had a medical tradition.
Fang Mo Nan carefully observed his expression, grasped Tang Lao's wrist with one hand, and placed his cool and refreshing fingers on top of Tang Lao's. In less than a moment, he calmly said, "You've been experiencing heart palpitations today, insomnia, fatigue all over your body, yet you're in an excited state of mind. Am I right?"
Tang Lao looked at her in surprise and nodded.
Fang Mo Nan smiled slightly, picked up the paper and pen on the doctor's desk, wrote a few big characters with a flourish, and said softly, "This Chinese medicine should be decocted over low heat for three hours before taking, once a day, no need to take more, five days later it will definitely cure your illness."
Tang Lao held the prescription and looked at the medicinal materials inside. He furrowed his brow, which gradually relaxed as he figured out some of the principles, but still couldn't grasp the overall method.
After another half-day of careful inquiry, it was still unclear, and Fang Mo Nan was asked to give a detailed account of her study of Daoist medicine. The Five Elements theory in Daoist medicine holds that everything in the world is generated by the movement and change of the five basic substances: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. At the same time, it uses the relationships of generation and restraint between the Five Elements to explain the interconnections between things, believing that all things are not isolated or static, but rather maintain harmony and balance in a state of constant generation and restraint. This is the basic meaning of the Five Elements theory. Ancient thinkers used these five substances to explain the origin of all things in the world. Traditional Chinese medicine also uses the principles of generation, restraint, and transformation of the Five Elements to explain and analyze various physiological and pathological phenomena.
The earth element is associated with the four seasons and the four directions, and it represents the stable movement of energy. The planting of crops is called "growing" and the harvesting of grains is called "reaping". The earth has the functions of sowing seeds, reaping grains, and transforming and generating all things. It can be further extended to include the characteristics of growth, support, transformation, nourishment, and cultivation. The earth gives birth to and nurtures all things, and it contains the image of all things. All things or phenomena that possess these characteristics can be classified as belonging to the earth element. The spleen and stomach belong to the earth element, and they are connected to the mouth. When the spleen and stomach are not in harmony, it is reflected in the mouth. The earth is associated with trustworthiness: the earth has the ability to carry things, transform and store them, so it carries all directions and is the mother of all things, possessing a generous and thick character. Its nature is heavy, its emotions are deep, and people who have a strong earth element in their horoscope have a round waist and a moist nose, clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and a loud voice. They are loyal, filial, and sincere, with a broad and generous heart, and they always keep their promises and put them into action. When the earth element is excessive, it can lead to a closed-off personality, stubbornness, and a lack of adaptability. People who have an excessive earth element may have a biased face, a low nose, a worried expression, and a tendency to be dishonest, cruel, and stingy. They do not understand reason or emotions.
The method of linking and inferring: that is, based on the known five elements of some things, infer and induce other related things to determine their five elements. For example: it is known that the liver belongs to wood (major premise), since the liver is connected with the gallbladder, in charge of tendons, its beauty is in the nails, and opens the orifices at the eyes (minor premise), therefore it can be inferred that the gallbladder, tendons, nails, and eyes all belong to wood; similarly, the heart belongs to fire, then the small intestine, blood vessels, face, and tongue are related to the heart, so they also belong to fire; the spleen belongs to earth, the stomach, muscles, lips, and mouth are related to the spleen, so they also belong to earth; the lungs belong to metal. The large intestine, skin, hair, nose, and ears are related to the lungs, so they also belong to metal; the kidneys belong to water, *** , bones, hair, ears, and two yin (female genitalia) are related to the kidneys, so they also belong to water.
The Five Elements theory is based on the characteristics of the Five Elements, using the methods of taking images and analogies, and deducing connections to categorize various things and phenomena in nature into five major categories: wood, fire, earth, gold, and water. Each category has its own specific attributes or similar properties, forming a certain connection between them.
Traditional Chinese medicine, under the guidance of the idea of heaven and man corresponding to each other, takes the five elements as its center. With the spatial structure of the five directions, the temporal structure of the five seasons, and the bodily structure of the five organs as its basic framework, it categorizes various things and phenomena in nature and physiological and pathological phenomena in the human body according to their properties, thereby linking the life activities of the human body with things or phenomena in nature, forming a system of five-element structures that connect the internal and external environments of the human body, used to explain the unity of the human body and man with the natural environment.
"Metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the Taoist school calls it the five elements technique, believing that all things in heaven and earth are composed of them, generating and overcoming each other, is the true principle of the origin of all things. As long as one studies it clearly and thoroughly, any illness or suffering will be easily resolved." Fang Mò Nán said calmly, looking like a 'god stick' no matter how you looked at him.
Mr. Tang listened more and more shocked, how to look at it has a shadow of feudal superstition. What's going on here?
Fang Mornan looked at his bewildered expression, "In simple terms, 'Medical Taoism shares the same origin', the medical 'Tao' and the Taoist 'Tao' can be clearly explained by 'Medical Taoism shares the same origin'. Moreover, there is also 'Ten Taoists and Nine Doctors', in history almost all famous doctors were either revered as Medical Saints or Kings by Taoism; or they themselves were Taoist priests; or they were believers of Taoist culture, just like Bian Que, Hua Tuo, Sun Simiao and so on."
"Oh!" Old Master Tang nodded, "It's got some meaning."
"The four major philosophical theories of traditional Chinese medicine are: the theory of holism, the theory of yin and yang, the theory of five elements, and the theory of essence and spirit. The theories of yin and yang and five elements share a common origin with Taoism, so I'm sure you understand them.
The theory of essence and spirit originated from the understanding of life in Chinese Taoist culture, which has entered into every person's mind. Chinese people often say that one's essence and spirit are good or bad, and whether they are sufficient or not. There is also a holistic theory, which is the biggest difference between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. This holistic theory is actually the theory of unity between heaven and humanity in Chinese Taoist culture.
Taoists have long said that 'heaven and humanity are one'. This holistic theory not only refers to our individual body as a whole, but also views ourselves with a holistic concept. Moreover, this body and the universe are interconnected and interdependent, which is the unity of heaven and humanity, and the oneness of heaven and humanity.
The medical system of Taoist culture has always been an empirical system of traditional Chinese medicine."
Fang Mo Nan looked at him, his expression had clearly changed, but he didn't know what he was thinking. Having gone through that chaotic era, everything was geared towards Western-style learning, and of course, they thought all things were feudal dregs. It wasn't something that could be changed in a short while, people's inherent way of thinking. Even the current textbooks of traditional Chinese medicine colleges were compiled by Western doctors turned into traditional Chinese medicine, it can be said that they were half-hearted from the start, and fundamentally incorrect.
"Simply put, the human body is like heaven and earth, constantly changing. Therefore, sometimes it's healthy, sometimes it's sick. The reasons for getting sick are multifaceted, including external environmental influences (i.e., external contraction) and internal conditions deteriorating (i.e., internal causes); both physical organ function decline and mental state collapse. External contraction and bodily factors are important, but internal causes and spiritual effects are even more crucial."
"Ah! That makes sense, spiritual factors and attitudes towards life also play an important role in physical health. As Sun Simiao's 'Qian Jin Yao Fang' says: 'Those who cultivate their nature, do so to make it a habit... Human nature is inherently good. If one's nature is good, then internal and external illnesses will not arise, and disasters and calamities will have no way of occurring. This is the grand principle of nurturing life.'" Old Master Tang said.
"Those who do good will bring spiritual joy to themselves, accumulate virtues without seeking personal gain, and are not troubled by gains or losses. Their hearts will be peaceful, their blood will be harmonious, and their bodies and minds will be comfortable." Fang Mennai smiled and said, "It seems that strange diseases and terminal illnesses can actually be easily cured. The most difficult to cure is the 'heart disease' of humans. Human hearts are higher than heaven, wanting to possess all the wealth in the world for oneself. Human hearts are also deeper than the ocean, and no one knows what they really want to do. Some people don't learn from their mistakes and specialize in harming others, with blackened hearts and livers. Of course, they will contract strange diseases. Strange diseases require unorthodox treatments - you must scold them severely, expose their shortcomings and the root of their illness, shock them into a cold sweat, and only then can their disease be cured. Therefore, when treating someone's illness, one must first treat their heart, make them change their evil ways and return to the right path. After they repent and start anew, you can give them some medicine, and naturally, it will be effective."
Fang Mernan smiled slightly, turned his head and saw a big man rushing in from outside, with a young man on his back. The young man seemed to be suffering from some illness, but it was impossible to tell what it was. However, his anguished groans could be heard from afar.
The two of them rushed forward as soon as they saw Old Man Tang, as if they had seen a lifesaver. Both were Chinese and spoke Mandarin, hastily saying "Old Tang, save us!" He put down the patient on his back, grabbed Old Man Tang's hand, and anxiously called out in a thick Southern accent.
"What's going on?" Old Tang asked, "You see..." Dashan stretched out the young man's hand.
"Ah!" Agnes let out a sharp cry, quickly covering her mouth and nodding apologetically to the others, who also showed understanding.
The young man's left hand was injured, and the four fingers that were originally straight and upright now hung down like soft noodles at a 90-degree angle. The wind blew and they seemed to tremble. It looked very frightening. Old Tang asked: "What happened to your hand?"
