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Why Study Traditional Chinese Medicine?
My Journey in Studying Traditional Chinese Medicine
1. Why Choose to Study Traditional Chinese Medicine?
In 2013, I was admitted as the top science student in the county to the eight-year program at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Since then, at every lecture, classmates would always ask me, “Why do you want to study Traditional Chinese Medicine?” Indeed, why? I once answered with the original aspiration of saving lives and helping the world. Although before university I had proudly joined the Communist Party of China and was determined to strive for the cause of communism for life, frankly speaking, at that time I did not yet have the determination to dedicate my life to the health of the people. I chose to apply for Traditional Chinese Medicine for two reasons, both closely related to my grandfather. My grandfather was the youngest in the family. Back then, my great-grandfather had no intention of letting him inherit the family legacy. From 1966 to 1976, the eldest son of the family passed away, and the collection of medical books and case records were all destroyed, so the responsibility of inheritance fell solely on my grandfather. Although my great-grandfather was skilled in medicine, he was not good at expressing himself, and my grandfather was very young at the time. For various reasons, nearly ten generations of inheritance were almost interrupted. Therefore, the responsibility to inherit the family legacy was the first reason I chose to study Traditional Chinese Medicine. The second reason came from the shock I experienced from the effectiveness of TCM. I was still young, living in the bungalow where my great-grandfather used to live. One midnight, the door was knocked loudly, a young couple came and knelt crying at my grandfather’s feet. I didn’t understand what was being said. Within a few minutes, my grandfather left with them and did not return until dawn. Later I understood that this couple’s young daughter had measles complicated with pneumonia and encephalitis; western medicine had given up, and her limbs were cold past the elbows and knees. My grandfather did not have extensive experience treating measles because, by the time he entered clinical practice, measles was already rare (in fact, “extensive” can be removed). They came seeking my grandfather because the western medical doctor in charge said my great-grandfather had once treated many measles patients in the northeast who western medicine considered hopeless. It is said that before the founding of the country, there were many measles patients; hospital beds in the county hospital were occupied by patients deemed incurable by western medicine. Finally, they consulted my great-grandfather, and those he said could be saved were mostly preserved—about 80 to 90% survival. Although my grandfather lacked rich experience in treating measles, he still saved the child following my great-grandfather’s experience. According to my grandfather, the prescription was a modified version of Baoyuan Tang. This was the second reason I chose TCM.
2. The Process of Studying Traditional Chinese Medicine
Like most freshmen, after just graduating from high school, free from the daily grind of endless questions, I wanted to enjoy myself every day. Before registration, I bought a Lenovo Legion, the most expensive gaming laptop from Lenovo that year. At the beginning of the first semester, I took notes seriously, but later I found my notes were just copying the PowerPoint or textbooks, so I gave up. Studying fundamental TCM theory felt straightforward and sensory; it was very easy to understand, not requiring much effort. So throughout the entire first semester, the only subject I took seriously was English, since I had to pass the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, and that year Liaoning’s college entrance exam did not test listening (facepalm). Thus, the first semester I played games almost every day, studied English occasionally, and studied TCM sporadically. The night before the midterm of Basic Chinese Medicine, I played games until 1:30 a.m. and bought a noon train ticket. Carrying my luggage, I headed to the exam hall, hurriedly finished the exam, submitted the papers immediately, and rushed to the train station. Yet, I still scored 95 points. Back at home, my grandfather asked what I had studied all semester. I said not much. When asked about the basic functions of the Zang-Fu organs, I said it was straightforward and easy to understand. Then he asked about the relationship between the liver and the spleen, and I said “Wood controls Earth,” which everyone knows. Then he asked if the liver could have Qi deficiency or Yin deficiency, and what the difference was between liver Yin deficiency and liver blood deficiency. Also, why does the kidney lack fire excess? I was speechless; my brain instantly froze. Followed by a series of questions I did not know how to answer, I couldn’t even understand the questions’ meanings, so much so that even today I don’t remember what was asked.
From then on, I realized that I had been learning very superficially. Although I thought TCM was simple and easy, in reality, I knew nothing. At that time, I saw an inspirational article titled “Don’t Let University Let You Down After High School,” which moved me deeply, and I copied and stuck it on my desk. From that moment, I turned over a new leaf, deleted over 300 GB of games from my computer, and started seriously studying TCM. During every vacation, I previewed upcoming courses, so by sophomore year I had already self-studied the four major foundations, four great classics, and TCM internal medicine. I memorized nearly a thousand prescriptions, the core principles of Yizong Jinjian, Shanghan Lun, Jinkui Yaolue, Huangdi Neijing, Wenbing Tiaobian, Wenre Lun, chapters on damp-heat diseases, among others—all required memorization back then. A good memory is no match for the pen; I copied these classics by hand more than three times. I always carried a small-sized recitation book, using every spare moment to reinforce memory. From then on, I was almost always top in TCM exams. I scored 100 in Chinese Materia Medica, 99 in prescriptions (because the teacher didn’t want to give full marks at the time), and first place almost always in courses like Internal Medicine, Diagnostics, Western Internal Medicine, Dermatology, Gynecology, Pediatrics, and so on. My classmates at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine had a great learning atmosphere. I never went to the library for self-study because I could never get a seat. Every day before class ended, I would take several books and go to the stairwell corridors on both sides of the White Building to grab a spot on the stairs—a hotly contested spot because you could put down a small stool. Occasionally not getting a spot, I would have to stand on the stairs. Regardless of spring, summer, autumn, winter, or exam periods, the sound of classmates reciting in the corridors was constant. That scene no longer exists now. Honestly, I studied TCM very diligently during my undergraduate years. During cold and summer vacations, I often stayed at school for one to two weeks to study with my mentors. I remember one winter, I was the only one on the entire floor; after showering and returning to my dorm, my hair froze into ice lumps. Before my fifth year, I didn’t know the Aegean Sea was a shopping mall near the school, nor had I visited the Summer Palace or Great Wall. I was a complete homebody—never stepping outside the main gate or second gate. When vacation came, I would just read books, memorize, and accompany doctors in clinics. It seems dull now, but back then I was perfectly content.
Throughout university, I followed many teachers and had my own plan even before clinical rotations. I consciously learned from teachers in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics, as well as from specialists in neurological, cardiovascular, pulmonary, splenic-stomach, hepatic-biliary, renal systems, among others. Likewise, while studying classic medical texts from all dynasties, I consciously studied the classics of each specialty. Eleven years have passed quickly, and I have read nearly 400 volumes. I have a habit in clinical practice and reading that I consider quite good—so-called “One book, one teacher; one teacher, one book.” I treat each book as a teacher and systematically summarize each teacher’s experience, striving to learn from and emulate each teacher. Achieving the spiritual resemblance and inheriting the essence is relatively difficult, but achieving the physical resemblance and gradually appreciating the essence later is easier and aligns with the development laws of things. When I read medical case books, I first read more than ten cases to preliminarily learn and summarize the doctor’s medication experience. Then I cover the principles, methods, prescriptions, and medicines in subsequent cases and prescribe based only on the four diagnoses. After prescribing, I compare my prescriptions with those in the book to deepen understanding and memory, aiming to have the principles, methods, prescriptions, medicines, and dosages close to the originals. For all internal medicine case books, I study them this way, repeating readings until successful. Learning from teachers is the same—I must imitate them, first seeking physical resemblance, then spiritual resemblance. In imitation, I gradually understand each doctor’s medication experience and habits. Of course, each doctor’s experience varies. After achieving physical resemblance, I compare and analyze different doctors’ prescribing experiences for the same disease, syndrome, and symptoms in clinical practice, summarizing the best indications of different doctors’ experience and transforming it into my own. Additionally, I have used some modern physicians’ specialty books as the basic framework for TCM thinking related to certain diseases and memorized entire volumes, such as Mr. Xu Rongzhai’s “Essentials of Gynecology,” Mr. Zhao Bingnan’s “Concise Study of TCM Dermatology,” and so on.
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