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Pien Ch'iao
www.famouschinese.com
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Pien Ch'iao (Bian Que; ca. 500 B.C.). Bian Que was the legendary first medical doctor of Chinese medicine in ancient Chinese history that had a formal biography written about him. The famous historian Sima Qian, who lived during the West Han dynasty, wrote Bian Que?s biography. Bian Que?s real name was Qi Yueren. He was reputed to be an excellent diagnostician, excelling in pulse taking and acupuncture therapy. He is ascribed the authorship of Bian Que Neijing (Internal Classic of Bian Que). Han Dynasty physicians claimed to have studied his works, which have since been lost. Credited with incredible healing knowledge, stories of his life and treatments are used in teaching and known to all Chinese medicine practitioners today.In Sima Qian's book Shi Ji, in Bian Que Chronicles, An Ancient Miracle Doctor: Bian Que (I), Sima Qian described that Bian Que obtained his medical skills from personal teachings by Chang Sangjun. After consuming a certain herb, Bian Que had the supernormal
capability to see through walls and the human body. Sima Qian also recorded three specific medical cases that Bian Que handled.In the first case, he diagnosed Zhao Jianzi?s illness by feeling his pulses.In the second case, he kept track of the state of the illness of the Crown Prince Guo through consulting, examining and feeling the pulse and finally brought Crown Prince Guo back from death. In the third case, Bian was able to describe the developing illness of Marquis Qi Huan by simply looking at him.
Once Bian Que, along with an apprentice, went to the Kingdom of Guo (what is now part of
Henan province) as a traveling physician. There they saw that the people of the city were
busily running around and discovered that a funeral was being prepared for the king's son.
Bian Que went up to the door of the palace, asked someone what had happened. He learned that
the king's son passed away from a sudden illness and had already been dead for a half day.
Bian Que asked in detail about the circumstances of the prince's illness and death and came
to believe that it was not certain that the prince was dead. He requested to be let into
the palace to examine the prince. After he entered the palace, Bian Que palpated the thick
part of the princes thighs, and discovered that they were warm.
He also detected a very slight sound in the prince's ears, and diagnosed the prince as
"body collapsed" (quite similar to shock), not dead. He then instructed his apprentice to
set a single acupuncture needle, in the Baihui point (Du 20) on the head, and the prince
regained consciousness. They then boiled some herbal medicine and used it for compresses
applied to the prince's armpits, after which he was able to slowly sit up. The prince was
then prescribed boiled herbal compounds to be taken for twenty days, and fully recovered
his health. Word of this spread, everyone was saying that Bian Que could bring the dead
back to life. Bian Que said "No, I can't bring the dead back to life, the prince wasn't
dead. I only treated his illness, and that's what brought him around."
Bian Que went to the kingdom of Qi (what is now Shandong province) as a traveling physician.
He saw the king' facial color and energy and at once said,
"You have an illness at the level of the skin. If not treated, it may become more serious."
The king said, "I'm not sick." Five days later, Bian Que again saw the king. He said,
"Your illness has already entered the blood and meridians. If not treated, it will become
deeper and more severe." The king still said that he wasn't sick, and suspected that Bian
Que was trying to cheat him out of money. A few more days passed, the king still felt
that he wasn't ill, yet this time when Bian Que saw him, he didn't speak a single word,
he simply walked away. The king felt this was a bit strange and sent some to ask why.
Bian Que said, "When an illness is at the level of the skin, it can be cured with medicinal
hot compresses; when an illness has entered the blood and meridians, it can be cured with
acupuncture and moxibustion; when an illness has entered the stomach and intestines,
it can be cured with boiled medicinal compounds. The king's illness has already sunk into
his bone marrow, there is no way to treat it. Some days later, as Bian Que expected,
the king fell ill. He immediately sent someone off to ask for Bian Que's help, but Bian
Que had already left the kingdom of Qi and the king died shortly thereafter.
These stories reflect the humility needed of a doctor and the high level of skill in
the area of diagnosis by observation.
In Lie Zi- Chapter on Tangwen, it described how Bian Que
administered anesthesia to patients for heart replacement surgery.
Gong Hu from the Warring State of Lu and Qi Ying from the Warring State of Zhao had gotten ill.
Both of them asked Bian Que to provide treatment. Under Bian Que?s care, both of them
recovered from their diseases and became completely healthy.
But then Bian Que said to them, Both of your illnesses are caused by invasion from external
negatives which affected the function of your digestive system. Taking medicine or performing
acupuncture could control the illnesses. But both of you suffer from another, inherent
illness. It will grow more and more apparent and serious as you age. It would be better if
I can do something about that right away. What do you think about it? Hearing that, both of
them said, Please tell us what our illnesses are first. Bian Que said, Gong Hu has a strong
self consciousness but lacks courage, so he?s very resourceful but indecisive.
Qi Ying has a weak self consciousness but has courage. He is not good at strategy planning
but is very stubborn and likes to have his way with everything. If you could exchange your
hearts, both of you wouldl be perfect. The two people agreed with Bian Que?s assessment of
themselves and allowed Bian Que to treat them. Bian Que let them drink wine fortified with
a narcotic, putting them into a sleep state for three days. During these days, Bian Que
opened their chests, took out their hearts, exchanged the hearts, put their hearts back
into their chests, and applied his own secret medicine. The cut healed so well that it
seemed like no surgery had been performed. Both bid farewell to Bian Que and returned to
their respective homes.
Unexpectedly Gong Hu went back to the home of Qi Ying but the family didn?t know him;
likewise, at the same time, Qi Ying went to Gong Hu?s home where Gong Hu?s wife did not
recognize him either. So the two families went to court asking Bian Que to explain what
had happened. Bian Que explained what he did, and that was the end of the lawsuit.
This famous physician
also initiated ways for traditional Chinese medicine to arrive at a diagnosis by observing,
learning, and feeling the pulse. Bian Que is the well-known founder of sphygmology
(the science and art of pulse reading) in Chinese medicine.
Bian Que's fame for medicine spread far and wide, and later when he traveled to the kingdom
of Qin, he was murdered by an imperial physician who was jealous of him. The people
cherished the memory of him, and in Renqiu (Hebei province), Kaifeng (Henan province),
Cao county (Shandong province) Xianyang (Shaanxi province), and many other places,
mausoleums, steles, and temples were built to memorialize him.
Diseases Symptoms and Diagnosis
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Last Modified: 2004-03-19 |
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