In the first lecture of Zhang Rulun’s Fifteen Lectures on Modern Western Philosophy, it is mentioned that “philosophy is the history of philosophy”[1], and a detailed discussion is provided. As a philosophy novice, I will not debate whether this statement is correct; instead, I want to introduce another saying from the title: “The history of medicine is a part of medicine.”
Medicine is a practical discipline, and its object of practice is humans. I believe most people agree with this. Due to this nature of practice, medical practitioners must deeply study knowledge related to the human body (such as physiology and anatomy), which I think most people also agree with.
However, some people may overlook the development of medical history. When compared to “more important” subjects (like physiology and anatomy), history seems less significant. In reality, this is reflected in the fact that medical history is treated as a less rigorous course, where knowing a few historical events is considered sufficient. For example, many know that antibiotics were invented during the world wars, but few delve into the background and knowledge behind these historical events. For example, how were antibiotics discovered and produced? How could they be mass-produced? How did it develop into so many kinds of antibiotics later? Why was it necessary to invent so many antibiotics? What new understandings of microorganisms emerged during the invention of antibiotics? And so on.
Personally, I believe that the history of medicine is also a part of medicine, just as the history of scholarship is part of scholarship. Before making any achievements, one must understand the developmental history of their field. Even if one does not write a review article oneself, one should read several reviews by others. If doctors demand of themselves the identity of “scholars,” then being familiar with medical history is what a “medical scholar” should do. If one is unaware of medical history, then one is a “medical worker” — only able to receive training and solve problems without thinking or being willing to think about “why.”
As Wang Chong wrote in Lunheng, Xie Short Piece, “To know the present and not the past is called blindness.
Before the Five Classics, regarding the beginning of Heaven and Earth, and the establishment of emperors, who was in charge of naming, the Confucian scholars do not know either. To know the present and not the past is called blindness. Compared with the ancient times, the Five Classics are still regarded as the present. Those who only recite the classics but do not understand ancient times are the so-called blind Confucian scholars.”[2]
In [[A061 Starting from Zero Listening to Classical Music]], I mentioned that due to the long period of exam-oriented education, I hated all classical literature and art works. Similarly, because of exam-oriented education, I also hated history, as my history classes only involved dull historical events and historical meanings that I could not understand at all.
Unfortunately, medical history courses in university are also taught in this dull and tasteless manner.
Fortunately, the development of the internet allows knowledgeable people to share “interesting” knowledge, covering topics from physiology to pathology, from how doctors understood diseases in the past to how they understand them now.
Having said so much, I want to recommend an “interesting” series on the history of medicine. It not only covers the history of Chinese medicine but also Western medicine; it discusses modern science as well as traditional culture. You cannot produce it without some accumulation of knowledge, but with some accumulation, you can understand it.
Collection · Origins of Chinese Medicine https://space.bilibili.com/115546594/lists?sid=5248152
That’s right, it’s for this meal of dumplings with vinegar dip 
References
Zhang Rulun. Fifteen Lectures on Modern Western Philosophy [M/OL]. CITIC Publishing Group, 2020 [2025-07-29]. https://book.douban.com/subject/34919595/. ↩︎
Qiu Feng, Chang Sun Haotian (trans. and annot.). Lunheng [M/OL]. Zhonghua Book Company, 2024 [2025-07-29]. https://book.douban.com/subject/36749409/. ↩︎