The ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder has many magical records in the Natural History.
Pliny the Elder
For example, cyclops and sphinxes, such as the dog-headed man living in India. Pliny Sr. also specifically referred to the situation of "female to male", saying:
"The transformation of a woman into a man is not a fictional story, we find in the annals of history ... A Cassinum daughter turned into a boy under the noses of her parents... In Africa, I saw a bride turn into a man on her wedding day. ”
The understanding of nature in the time of Pliny the Elder was full of legends and conjectures, and of course the credibility was extremely low. However, in some historical materials of ancient China, there are also such records, do you believe it?
In the Qing Dynasty Wu Chichang's "Continuation Window Gossip", there are two stories of "female to male", let's take a look at it first.
"Window Gossip"
Pregnant is not necessarily a boy, so Mr. Shi invited a master who understands medical skills, which is considered to be a man or a woman. After reading the pulse, the tall man said, "To tell the truth, it should be a girl." However, old man, you are a good man, and I have a way to turn the girl in my belly into a boy! ”
When Mr. Shi heard this, he was very excited and quickly asked how to change. The high man replied, "Your unborn grandson, isn't he missing the root of his life, I can cast a spell and make up for the other limbs on his body." You see, where are you willing to give up? ”
When Mr. Shi Lao listened, does this not mean that he was born with a disability? However, the disability is also a grandson, so he tentatively asked, "Or, you can use the child's little toes to cast the spell, and put on your shoes later, and you can't see it." ”
As soon as the high people listened, they were happy at the time, and they would be greedy and cheap! No, the worst is to use two little thumbs in exchange.
Mr. Shi Lao thought, whether it is reading and writing, or riding a horse to fight, the little thumb really can't be used, change it!
So, the master cast the spell, and a few months later, he gave birth to a baby boy with only eight fingers. However, Mr. Shi's grandson grew up to be very introverted and shy, just like a girl. Especially when others wanted to see his hands, he was even more ashamed to blush and hide in the corner.
In this story, we must first understand that in Wu Chichang's era, the idea of son preference was very serious. For Mr. Shi Lao, holding his grandson is more important than everything. So even if you miss two fingers, it's worth it. But being able to rely on spells to "turn women into men" is definitely false.
If you want to find a reasonable explanation, it can only be that the boy was born with two fingers missing. In order to explain to outsiders, his family made up the story of the "female to male" of the high-ranking person - you know, in ancient times, the birth of a child with physical disabilities will most likely be considered a divine punishment, such as the country curse always says "there is no XX to have a child", which is the meaning.
However, it is very different to say that two fingers are replaced by boys. As for the boy who grew up to be shy, it was most likely due to the lack of two fingers caused by his introverted personality.
The second story, on the other hand, is even more magical, the real "female to male".
Ancient suspension thread diagnosis pulse
There is a rich man in Suzhou, only one daughter under his knees, fifteen years old, suddenly seriously ill, the doctors in the city are helpless.
The rich man then hired a famous doctor Ye Tianshi with heavy money, hoping to cure his daughter. Ye Tianshi came over to take a look and knew that the problem was not simple. So he smiled and said, "It is indeed a serious illness, but there is still a way to cure it." If you are at ease, I will take her as my own daughter, take her out to the mountains, treat the sick and save people, and after a hundred days, I will definitely give you a healthy and healthy child. ”
When the rich man listens, there is no way, people are famous doctors, then believe it.
As a result, the rich man's daughter was brought home by Ye Tianshi. Ye Tianshi did not take her out to see a doctor, but prepared a room for her to live in and not go out. In addition, Ye Tianshi also chose a beautiful maid of his own, who specialized in serving the rich man's daughter.
Ye Tianshi also instructed the maid that whatever the rich man's daughter asked, she must comply.
In this way, the rich man's daughter and the maid lived together day and night, the illness became lighter and lighter, and finally fully recovered. One day, Ye Tianshi entered the room and said to the rich man's daughter, "I actually know about the two of you, so admit it yourself." ”
The maid cried and cried next to her, "Master, you didn't frame me!" You asked me to serve this girl well, saying that I had to obey her request, and as a result, he was a man..."
Ye Tianshi laughed after listening to it, "It's all right, you two are now a pair of pairs, how good." "So the rich man's daughter became the rich man's son, and he also brought back a daughter-in-law...
Ye Tianshi, a famous physician during the Kangxi Dynasty, wrote "On Warm Fever", which played a very huge role in the development of the theory of Wen Disease in the mainland. Therefore, in this story, at least the famous doctor Ye Tianshi is real.
Famous doctor Ye Tianshi
Wu Chichang quoted the explanation in the "Medical Classic" that there are five kinds of situations in the world where male characteristics are not obvious (five no males),
"But Ren Chong's second vein is insufficient, like a man instead of a man, and those who are parents mistakenly recognize them as women."
The rich man's daughter in this story is like this. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, he was full of qi and blood, and depression became a disease. So the famous doctor Ye Tianshi realized that this was a rare disease, so he assigned him a maid and was cured like this...
Of course, the author does not understand medical skills, and I feel that it should not be so simple. The notes of the literati in the Ming and Qing dynasties are many fictions and exaggerations, and even if this story is true, Wu Chichang must have processed it.
This kind of "female to male" situation should have existed in ancient times. It was only at that time that people's understanding was limited, and there was no way to explain, so they attached a lot of fairy spells or curses and other things.