As a Japanese writer on the same level as Natsume Soseki, Mori has a lofty position in the history of Japanese literature, and his aesthetic theories and literary criticism have had a significant impact on modern Japanese literature.
However, this talented writer did not put all his mind on literature, but once abandoned literature to practice medicine, embarked on the opposite path to Mr. Lu Xun, and became the most feared military doctor in history.
More than 30,000 Japanese soldiers were killed by him, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army plummeted, and even Emperor Meiji was indirectly killed by him......
Mori 鸥外
Medical students who want to be writers
Since childhood, Mori Ouwai has been regarded as a genius by everyone.
No matter what the criteria for genius are, being able to read the Four Books and Five Classics at the age of 7 and being admitted to the pre-university class at the age of 11 is worthy of being called a genius.
Like many contemporary Chinese children, Mori Ouwai's childhood was very "fulfilling", thanks to his parents who wanted their son to become a Chan.
The Mori family lived in the small town of Tsuwano for generations, and was a well-known family of local doctors, and Mori's father was the personal physician of the local feudal lord (equivalent to the mayor).
In such an atmosphere, the future of Mori Ouwai seems to be very clear, the son inherits the father's business, why not do it?
But the mother felt that being a country doctor was nothing, and she was bent on training her son to be an all-round talent.
Chinese Studies, Medicine, Sinology, Arithmetic...... Whatever he thought was useful, he taught his son all in one go.
Unexpectedly, this child can really learn, and even reach the age of 7 to be able to read the Four Books and Five Classics, memorize medical books, and master the knowledge that many adults will not know.
Later, Mori's family moved to Tokyo. Mori Ouwai's talent has not been wasted as he grows older, but has become more and more eye-catching.
At the age of 11, he was admitted to the preparatory course for the medical undergraduate program at Tokyo Medical College, and the following year he successfully enrolled in the undergraduate program (less than half of the students in the preparatory class succeeded).
The undergraduate classmates are at least 5 years older than Mori Ouwai, but his performance has not been lagging behind, and he can compete head-on with these elites from all over the country.
Mori 鸥外
By the time he graduated at the age of 19, Mori was ranked 8th in the department. His family wanted him to study in Germany in the future, so Mori learned to speak German fluently. Not only that, but in order to understand Chinese medicine, Mori Ouwai's Chinese proficiency is also excellent.
In 1981, just after graduating, Mori entered the Tokyo Army Hospital and became an honorable military doctor.
In the eyes of everyone, his future is bright, and sooner or later he will be a big man in the future.
But Mori Ouwai is not interested in this, he actually does not like the military, and he does not even love medicine very much. His greatest interest is writing, haiku and rakugo are his favorites, and he loves those deep and charming words more than boring medicine.
It's a pity that Sen Ouwai's learning talent is too good, and he accidentally became a genius military doctor. In less than half a year, he was promoted and raised, and was promoted from deputy military doctor to headquarters, which exceeded all the same periods.
At that time, Mori Ouwai was given the task of studying the German health system and asking him to write a report at that time. Unexpectedly, Mori Ouwai has a super research ability, and it took nearly a year to carefully study the relevant materials, and he actually wrote a thick 12 volumes of materials, writing in great detail about the German health system from its origins to its restructuring and then to the comparison with the Japanese health system.
The government thought that this kid was a talent and decided to send him to study in Germany, of course, he must have studied medicine.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Mori Ouwai left Japan, he left the matter of studying medicine behind.
He traveled around visiting museums and galleries, watching plays with friends, studying European literature and aesthetics, and spent his days happily.
In Mori Ouwai's heart, he already has a firm plan, that is, to be a writer no matter what.
As for medicine, he has almost no interest anymore. But then something happened that gave him back some of his passion for medicine.
While studying in Berlin, he and his classmates visited the famous bacteriologist Koch for a vivid introductory class in bacteriology.
Since then, Mori Ouwai has begun to feel the power of bacteria, these little things that are invisible to the eyes are everywhere, and humans are so vulnerable, no wonder I get sick so easily!
Mori Ouwai firmly attributed all diseases to bacteria, and since then he has suffered from a serious cleanliness habit.
Washing his hands constantly, wearing gloves when he goes out, not eating any raw and cold food (fruits should also be eaten hot), and his fear of germs later made him make a big mistake that led to him becoming a joke in the medical community......
Strange beriberi
While studying in Germany, Mori did not write many research works, but he accidentally became a celebrity in the Japanese medical field.
The reason for this is his identity and ability, as a government-funded international student and fluent German, Mori often represents Japan at various international health conferences and gives speeches.
Foreigners praised Mori for his youth and promisingness, praising him as the hope of the Japanese medical community, which made many Japanese people shine on their faces, and Mori Ouwai's fame grew.
Even a foreign girl is attracted to Mori Ouwai - a German girl falls in love with Mori Ouwai, has a relationship with him, and even follows Mori Ouwai by boat after returning to China, wanting to marry him.
But Mori Ouwai not only did not agree, but also tried every means to escape the girl, and finally the girl left Japan sadly. This incident later gave Mori Ouwai infinite inspiration, so that he adapted the book "Dancing Girl" (also translated as "Dancing Girl"), and finally became famous in the literary and artistic world.
Even though he became an instructor at the Army Medical College shortly after returning to Japan, Mori Ouwai always had literature in mind, and he was busy translating Western literary works, introducing European aesthetic theories, and thinking about consuming new novels.
But a few years later, the arrival of the war changed Moriguai's life drastically.
In 1894, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the Japanese army was in dire need of professionals on the front line, especially medical personnel.
In this case, Mori Ouwai was selected with his excellent identity and excellent "ability" to become the director of the Ministry of Military Medical Affairs and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
Seeing that he was so valued by the country, Mori Ouwai naturally couldn't care about his literary creation, and decided to do his job well and benefit tens of millions of Japanese soldiers.
It just so happened that the Japanese army now has a big problem that has been bothering them for many years, and that is the damn beriberi.
The so-called beriberi is different from beriberi in that it is a more widespread disease. Patients often feel frivolous and weak, and their spirits gradually become sluggish, and their appetite is lost.
In the later stages, the patient's feet begin to swell, the nervous system is disordered, and finally he dies in pain with vomiting, paralysis, and difficulty breathing.
For a long time, beriberi was not common among Japanese people, and it was only a disease of wealth and nobility that only nobles could get. But since the 19th century, beriberi has gradually spread, not only for the aristocracy, but also for many people, and the army has become a hard-hit area.
During the First Sino-Japanese War, almost 40,000 Japanese soldiers contracted beriberi, and 4,000 died of beriberi.
It is precisely because of the terrible beriberi that how to control beriberi and overcome the problem of the century has become the task of Mori Ouwai.
In anticipation, Mori Ouwai, who had studied in Germany for many years and was praised by foreigners, began to study beriberi.
Soon, Mori Ouwai came to the conclusion that everything was caused by bacteria!
Mori found that beriberi seemed to be prevalent only in Asian countries, and he had never seen much in Europe. Why is this so? Obviously, because of the advanced medical technology and hygienic environment in Europe, there is no way for bacteria to spread this disease.
Just like myself, I wash my hands frequently and try to avoid direct contact with outsiders, and I have never had beriberi. Therefore, the culprit behind beriberi must be bacteria!
After finding the culprit, Mori began to develop an antidote. Through his unremitting efforts, the nemesis of beriberi - wood grenade oil pills were officially launched.
Mori touted his new drug, claiming that if he took it consistently, it would kill the bacteria that cause beriberi. This new medicine was first distributed to army soldiers who participated in the Russo-Japanese War, and in order to ensure the effect, 600 million pills were prepared in logistics, which was enough for food.
Because Russia was called Lucia by the Japanese at that time, the wood grenade oil pill was also called "Loyal and Brave Expedition Dew Pill" by the Japanese army, and followed batch after batch of Japanese troops to the battlefield.
This war really started the reputation of "Loyal and Brave Expedition to Dewamaru", and after the battle, everyone found that it was useless.
During the Russo-Japanese War, 47,000 soldiers died in the army, and more than 27,000 died of beriberi, more than half.
Mori Ouwai was also questioned because of this, and some people even proposed:
"If the Russians win this battle, then Mori Ouwai will be the biggest hero."
In the face of doubts, Mori Ouwai dismissed, although his medical skills were not good, but his mouth was hard enough. At that time, the mainstream view of the entire Japanese medical community was the same as that of Mori Ouwai, that beriberi was caused by bacteria, and there was an endorsement from an expert (Mori Ouwai), so not many people questioned it.
In addition to the development of the "Loyal and Brave Expedition Dew Pill", Mori Ouwai also vigorously advocated disinfection therapy, and the clothing, food, housing and transportation of the Japanese army had to go through disinfection procedures over and over again.
It stands to reason that with such a rigorous and scientific treatment, beriberi should be self-defeating. But why, instead of disappearing, beriberi is becoming more rampant?
In fact, many people in Japan have already thought of the reason, that is, beriberi has nothing to do with bacteria!
A stain on a lifetime
Among the many skeptics in Japan, Kanehiro Takagi, a naval doctor who studied in the United Kingdom, is the most well-documented.
Kanehiro Takagi was also tasked with solving the problem of beriberi, but the subject of his research was the Japanese Navy. At that time, there were many people suffering from beriberi in the Japanese Navy, and nearly one-third of the soldiers were troubled.
Takagi Kanehiro's investigation found that the proportion of soldiers suffering from beriberi in all fleets that sailed to the ocean was much higher than that of the inshore fleet.
As a result, Kanehiro Takagi speculated that dietary problems might have caused the onset of beriberi, so he applied for a controlled trial.
Two warships of the same number set off for an ocean voyage at the same time, with one serving daily meals of barley, fish, beans, etc., and the other serving traditional Japanese food (mainly rice).
Tall wood and wide
As a result, after several months of ocean voyages, only 14 people suffered from beriberi on the first warship, and the number on the second exceeded 160.
Kanehiro Takagi concluded that the root cause of beriberi is food and a lack of protein.
As a result, Kanehiro Takagi suggested adding high-protein foods such as barley, milk, and meat to the navy's recipe.
Kanehiro Takagi's idea was supported by the Navy, and the number of people suffering from beriberi in the Navy has been declining year by year.
Some people wanted to transfer the Navy's practices to the Army, but Mori strongly refused.
Mori himself believed in the "supremacy of Japanese food" and believed that there was no problem with the bacterial theory he had learned from Germany, so he rejected Kanehiro Takagi's food therapy.
In Mori's view, Takagi's approach has no full scientific basis, which is inconsistent with the medical theories he learned in Germany.
Therefore, whoever suggested changing the recipe was unmoved.
Until the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, Mori Ouwai was transferred to the head of the military medical department of the Taiwan Army Bureau, and he still insisted on not changing the recipe. As a result, within three months, more than 90 percent of the Japanese troops stationed in Taiwan suffered from beriberi, and more than 2,000 people died.
Seeing that such a serious problem had arisen under his rule, Mori Ouwai's face changed, and he hurriedly found an excuse to resign from his military post and rushed back to Japan overnight.
His successor wanted to change the recipe, but Mori sent a telegram from Tokyo saying that it was not allowed to be mixed with wheat and rice.
Throughout Mori's career as a military doctor, the Japanese Army can be said to have suffered greatly, and more than 30,000 people "died" at his hands.
What's even more terrifying is that the Meiji Emperor at that time also suffered from beriberi, and the medical doctor who treated him also highly respected Mori Ouwai, believing that it was caused by bacteria, which seriously delayed the best time for treatment, and indirectly led to the death of Emperor Meiji.
Years later, the truth about beriberi was finally discovered, which was neither a problem with bacteria nor a lack of protein, but a lack of vitamin B1.
In the past, the rice eaten by Japanese people was barley brown rice, which was not delicious but nutritious, and the human body was not deficient in vitamin B1. Due to the advancement of science and technology, more and more families in Japan can eat polished rice, and eating polished rice for a long time without consuming sufficient amounts of vitamin B1 from other sources can lead to beriberi.
At that time, the Japanese army ate polished rice every day, and the supply of other ingredients itself was small, so it was not surprising that they were prone to beriberi.
However, because Mori Ouwai did not carefully study the causes of beriberi, coupled with his own prejudice and stubbornness, as well as poor medical skills, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers died of beriberi.
Purely in terms of literary achievements, Mori Ouwai is one of the top leaders in the Japanese literary world. But he is not a qualified medical scientist, if he gives up medicine and follows literature like Lu Xun, then his achievements may be even better.
Nowadays, whenever beriberi is mentioned, the Japanese will think of Mori Ouwai, who has become an "anti-Japanese hero" in another sense.