Author: Liu Yong
Su Dongpo, a great scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, is a super foodie, he not only loves to eat, can eat, but also good at cooking, through his invention, concocted a variety of delicious foods, such as Dongpo meat, Dongpo wine and other delicacies, still let people eat and relish. The vision of foodies is unique, it can be said that everywhere Su Dongpo goes, his eyes are full of food. In Huangzhou, he wrote a poem praising: "The Yangtze River goes around Guo Zhiyu is beautiful, and the bamboo and mountains are fragrant."
While he laughed at himself for running for his stomach all day, he also felt that the mountains and fields in Huangzhou were delicious, since it was fate, what was not satisfied? In Huizhou, a degrading place, he wrote a poem and sang: "Three hundred litchi in a day, do not quit being a Lingnanian." For the sake of this lychee delicacy, he did not seem to care about the difficult environment of the wild smoke and miasma, and he was willing to be a Lingnanian.
Huangzhou is today's Huanggang City, Hubei Province, at present, the people of Huanggang are fighting the new crown disease to the death, I think, Su Dongpo's positive and optimistic spirit is also inspiring their confidence and courage to defeat the new crown disease. In February of the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), Su Dongpo was demoted to Huanggang, Hubei Province, where his land was near the river, how humble and wet, and the living conditions were very bad.
However, Huanggang was not the most difficult place where Su Dongpo was demoted, and he was later demoted to a more desolate and miserable, miasma-like Lingnan. Unexpectedly, the more Su Dongpo went to a difficult place, the more happy he was. He also wrote poems boasting that he was at ease with his encounters, full of lychee delicacies, and especially sweet spring sleep. This further infuriated his political enemies, who directly relegated him to Hainan Island, which is known as the "cliff of heaven and the corner of the sea".
1. Has Su Dongpo ever drunk bat soup?
In the fourth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1097), Su Dongpo was exiled to the Changhua Army (present-day Danzhou, Hainan) under the false title of Qiongzhou Beiqi. At that time, Su Dongpo was 62 years old, and when he left in June of the third year of Yuan Fu (1100), he lived on Hainan Island for nearly three years.
Danzhou is located in the northwest of Hainan Island, located in the tropics, the weather is extremely hot, the territory is full of poisonous snakes and beasts; the most terrifying are miasma and malaria, the epidemic of diseases, which always threaten people's lives. According to the Danzhou Chronicle: "Its land is extremely hot, and the sea breeze is very cold, and the mountains are rainy and foggy", "The cold of the wind invades the muscles; the turbidity of the qi is inhaled into the mouth and nose; the poison of the water is poured into the chest, abdomen and lungs, and its immortals are rare." It is no wonder that the imperial court has been used as a place of exile for death row prisoners for generations. Su Dongpo went to Hainan with the heart of death, however, what made him feel most uncomfortable was the eating habits here.
In the poem "Smelling from Thin, Ear to Rare Meat", Su Dongpo recounted his hard life in Danzhou, he wrote: "Five days to see flower pork, ten days to meet yellow chicken porridge." The natives ate taro and recommended burning bats with lavender rats. Old smell honey taste vomit, slightly closer to the shrimp toad edge customs." Ziyu, that is, Su Dongpo's younger brother Su Rui. Su Dongpo heard that Su Rui was being tortured by the harsh environment and his body was getting thinner and weaker, so he wrote this poem to comfort him, telling him that his life in Hainan was also extremely difficult.
Not only is pork and chicken porridge rare to eat, but the locals' habit is to eat potatoes and potatoes. The good things that come to their house and entertain themselves are lavender rats and burnt bats. "Honey Chi" refers to a newborn mouse that the locals use to dip honey and eat it, and regard it as a delicacy. For this food, Su Dongpo felt that his scalp was tingling when he heard it, and he almost vomited on the spot. But there is no way, after all, to go into the countryside, bat soup, shrimp and toad meat and other foods, he still has to endure disgust, taste it.
In ancient times, materials were scarce, and the ancients could only hunt the nutrients necessary for their own survival from these wild animals according to local conditions. This is very different from the wrong practice of people today who eat wild animals out of good food, curiosity, and no taboos, thus triggering the new coronavirus epidemic and causing disastrous consequences.
However, it can also be seen that the eating habits of Chinese bats in some places have a long history and have a long history. It's just that modern Chinese have long since lost this eating habit, and some of the video scenes of eating bats circulating on the Internet today are mostly horror pictures recorded by tourists traveling abroad.
At present, a people's war against the new coronavirus is underway throughout the country, and bats have been identified by scientists as the culprits that lead to the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia. Looking back at the history of Chinese eating bats, Su Dongpo, as a literati and a scholar, was unfortunately listed. However, if we consider the history of mankind's struggle against the plague, we will be pleasantly surprised to find that Su Dongpo is also a great hero against the epidemic.
Second, Su Dongpo is a hero of the times in the fight against the plague
When Su Dongpo was demoted to Huangzhou, he caught up with the plague epidemic in Huangzhou and neighboring prefectures and counties, and countless people died. Huangzhou is today's Huanggang City, Hubei Province, and its neighboring prefectures and counties are Wuchang, Jingzhou and other places, that is, the area around today's Wuhan. Seeing the plague epidemic and the destruction of life, Su Dongpo was worried and anxious, but he had no good solution.
It was at this time that he learned that his hometown Chaogu family had a secret recipe for curing the plague. Su Dongpo then begged Chaogu to come up with a secret recipe to save the people of Li. Su Dongpo grasped the medicine according to the prescription, gave generously, provided drugs for patients free of charge, saved many patients, and "lived innumerable". (See Su Shi's "Narrative of the Holy Scattered Sons").
ChaoGu was working as a tutor at Su Dongpo's home at the time, and the secret recipe he gave was called "Saint Sanzi". How did his secret cure for the plague come about? Su Dongpo did not explain it in the "Narrative of Saint Sanzi". As for its efficacy? How many patients on the brink of death have been cured? Su Dongpo is also vague.
According to the "Biography of Chaogu" written by Su Rui, Chaogu was a reader in Meishan, teaching for a living, and the Dongpo brothers knew him since childhood and were friends with each other. Later, Chaogu committed a crime with a man named Han Cunbao in the army, so he hid in anonymity and fled in Jianghuai, until the imperial court granted amnesty to the world, and he did not dare to appear.
When Su Dongpo encountered the storm of the "Wutai Poetry Case", Chaogu was thousands of miles away, rushed to Huangzhou to accompany him, and served as a tutor for the Su family. Later, the Dongpo brothers were demoted to Lingnan, and Chaogu, despite being seventy-three years old, walked thousands of miles from his hometown of Meishan to Lingnan to visit the Dongpo brothers. After seeing Su Rui, he also said that he would rush to Hainan Island to visit Su Dongpo. Su Rui was very touched by his true feelings and urged him not to go, but Chaogu insisted on moving forward, and unfortunately died of illness on the road.
"Saint Sanzi" is a secret recipe of Traditional Chinese medicine collected by Chaogu in the past, and even his own son is reluctant to pass it on. When Chaogu passed on the secret recipe to Su Dongpo, he asked him to swear an oath to Jiangshui and not to pass it on. Su Dongpo did not keep his oath, in order to save the world, he passed on the prescription of Shengshan to Pang Junan, a famous doctor in Hubei at that time, hoping that he could use this formula to save more patients.
In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1090), when Su Dongpo was serving as the Governor of Hangzhou, the "Holy Scattered Son" played a magical role again. In the spring of that year, when there was an epidemic of plague in Suzhou and Hangzhou, Su Dongpo took out the prescription of Shengshanzi and ordered his subordinates to distribute the medicine to the people of Hangcheng free of charge according to the prescription, "All those who have obtained this medicine are innumerable." (See Su Shi's "Aftermath of Saint Sanzi").
In order to prevent the plague, Su Dongpo also launched non-governmental donations to support the fight against the disaster. He himself set an example by donating fifty taels of gold, plus the masses to raise funds, and founded a hospital called "Anle Fang", which was specially used to treat poor patients. According to research, this is the first public infectious disease hospital in China's history. Su Dongpo sent monks from the monastery to manage the wards, and hired professional doctors to sit in the clinic every day. Su Dongpo also formulated rules to separate treatment according to the severity of the patient's condition and prevent cross-infection. These practices were quickly replicated throughout the country, effectively preventing the spread of the epidemic.
Su Dongpo is not a professional doctor, but he is an official, concerned about the people's suffering, and regards the people's lives as more important than Taishan's spirit of responsibility, which is always worthy of our future generations to learn and respect. It can be said that Su Dongpo is a pioneer in the ancient medical cause of our country and a well-deserved hero of the times in the fight against the plague.
Third, talk about the efficacy of the mysterious medicine "Holy Sanzi"
Perhaps it was the great influence of Su Dongpo, and the name of the prescription "Shengshanzi" also became known to the world, becoming a famous prescription for the prevention and control of the plague. The "Su Shen Liang Fang" compiled by a famous author at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty recorded the "Holy Scattered Son" prescription. This medical book is compiled from Shen Kuo's "Good Recipe" and Su Shi's "Su Xueshi Fang", with a content of fifteen volumes, is a famous medical book, circulated for a long time, and the prescriptions in it are still concerned and quoted by people to this day. In the current extraordinary period of the epidemic in Wuhan, there are even people who seek scriptures and bring out the "Holy Scattered Son" prescription, hoping that a miracle can happen to it. So, is this "Holy Son" really that magical?
"Su Shen Liang Fang" is a famous work that later generations attached to Su Dongpo's good name, and these prescriptions were not from his invention. We can see from the two articles written by Su Dongpo in the "Narrative of Saint Sanzi" that Su Dongpo's initial understanding of Chinese medicine is only the level of a Chinese medicine enthusiast. Su Dongpo was probably convinced of the elixir and the like, so he praised the prescription of the holy scatter, which obviously had an element of boasting.
Su Dongpo said that when taking Shengshanzi, "everything does not ask about the two senses of yin and yang" and "this medicine cannot be questioned by common sense." He told everyone that the true efficacy of the epidemic should not be questioned, "If the epidemic is epidemic, do not ask the old and the young, do not ask the old and the young, boil a pot, drink a lamp, then the time will not enter." If you live in peace and take it on an empty stomach, you will eat fast and beautifully, and you will not be born with all diseases, and the treasure of the True Ji Shiwei family will also be. According to his evaluation, this holy son can cure all diseases and is worthy of being a good remedy for the world.
As for the Saint Sanzi Soup Medicine that Su Dongpo drank at that time, it is not known whether it is exactly the same as the Saint Sanzi Medicine Prescription recorded by posterity. However, there are still people who worship Su Dongpo as gods. According to Ye Mengde's "Summer Escape Record", "After the declaration of peace, this medicine (Saint Sanzi) prevailed in the Beijing Division, and the Taixue students believed in it and killed countless people. "This is a bad record of the harm caused to the holy sanzi soup medicine. Poor those students are too obsessed, superstitious books, try medicines, and lose their lives in vain.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were still people who believed in su Dongpo's celebrity effect and continued to take Shengshanzi. According to the Ming Dynasty scholar Yu Ben's "Theory of Continuing Medicine", "Hongzhi Decoction Ugly Year (1493), Wuzhong (Suzhou) epidemic furuncle masterpiece.
Wu Yi ordered Sun Pan to order the healers to cultivate the Holy Scattered Son and spread all over the streets. And published in its formula, the sick take it, there is no life, the rate is manic and faint. These tragic lessons completely shattered the mysterious aura that hung over Saint Sanko. In fact, the most fundamental method of Chinese medicine is to pay attention to the treatment of symptoms. Not arguing and using drugs indiscriminately is tantamount to letting patients take poison, which is tantamount to seeking wealth and killing people.
Hundreds of years later, also in the face of the plague, why did the Holy Scattered Medicine recipe fail? Yu Yi further analyzed in the book "The Theory of Continued Medicine": "In the Shengshanzi Fang, there are appendages, galangal, evodia, cardamom, ephedra, herbs and other agents, all of which are hot and dry, anti-fire evil, (if used in other wrong places) what is not to die? If you do not distinguish between yin and yang, you will treat them all, and killing people will be beneficial to the sword. Different places, different symptoms, the method of treatment should naturally be different. If you blindly stick to it, it will inevitably cause very serious consequences. Although Yu Yi is not a medical scientist, his analysis is still pertinent.
Through the experience of the transmission of the Holy Scattered Medicine Recipe, we should see the bodhisattva heart of Su Dongpo to save people in the world, which is worth learning and emulating. On the contrary, the pedantic practice of copying books and ignoring the actual situation can only harm others and harm themselves, and become a scornful joke.
For the excellent traditional culture of Traditional Chinese medicine, we must be good at inheriting and developing. Tu Youyou, the great contemporary scientist, was inspired by traditional Chinese medicine to invent artemisinin, save countless lives, and create miracles on earth. This is also what we need to deeply reflect on today when we learn from the valuable experience left by Su Dongpo in the process of fighting the plague.
【About the Author】 Liu Yong, a native of Mianyang, Sichuan, is now a civil servant who loves to write literature and history, and sometimes publishes poems in newspapers and periodicals, and books such as "Wen Tong Commentary" are published.
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