Hu Shi: Chinese medicine is confusing, but it can cure diseases

Hu Shi, formerly known as Si Hui (嗣穈), scientific name Hong Qi (洪骍), character Xijiang, later changed his name to Hu Shi (胡适), zi shizhi (字適之), pen names Tianfeng (天風), Zanghui (藏晖), was born on December 17, 1891 in Shangzhuang Village, Jixi County, Anhui Province. At the age of 5, he received 9 years of private school education in his hometown of Jixi, laying a certain foundation in ancient Chinese. In 1904, he went to Shanghai to enter a new-style school, accepted new ideas such as "The Theory of Heavenly Speech", was admitted to a Chinese public school in 1906, and in 1910, he was admitted to the second period of "Gengzi Indemnity" to study in the United States, and first studied agricultural science at Cornell University, and then changed to liberal arts. In 1915, he entered the graduate school of Columbia University, studied under the philosopher Dewey, accepted Dewey's pragmatic philosophy, and devoted his life to it. After returning to China, he served as a professor at Peking University, joined the editorial department of New Youth, actively advocated "literary reform" and vernacular literature, and became one of the main leaders of the new cultural movement. From 1920 to 1933, he was mainly engaged in the research and research of classical Chinese novels, but also participated in some political activities, and once served as the president of Chinese public schools. At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he served as a senator of the Kuomintang "National Defense Council" and was appointed ambassador of the Republic of China to the United States in 1938. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he became president of Peking University in 1946. In 1949, he lived in the United States and devoted himself to the study of the "Notes on the Water Classics", and later went to Taiwan. In 1957, he became the "President of academia sinica" in Taiwan. On February 24, 1962, he died of a heart attack at a cocktail party in Taiwan.

The story of Hu Shi and Chinese medicine has to start with his "Study of the Scriptures of the Autumn Room of Lu Zhong'an" made on March 30, 1921. Hu Shi wrote: "I have been sick since last autumn, my friends studied Western medicine, or heart disease, or nephritis, the medicine they used, although it also has some efficacy, can not be completely cured. Later, I was fortunate that Mr. Ma Youyu introduced me to Mr. Lu Zhong'an for consultation. Mr. Lu has also used astragalus 12 and dang 62 sometimes, and many people have seen it, shaking their heads and spitting out their tongues, but my illness is now better. Last year's young fisherman's brother Yu Qing suffered from a water drum, swollen to the stomach and abdomen, and Western medicine could not tie his hands. Later, his head and face were swollen, and his eyes could not be opened, so he went to ask Mr. Lu to see at home, and Mr. Lu used ginseng and qi as the mainstay, and gradually increased to ten ginseng and qi, and the other flavors were not light. After a few days, the swelling gradually subsided, and the protein in the defecation was gone. In less than a hundred days, Yu Qing's illness was also better, and people were fat. Yu Qing and my illness has attracted the attention of Western medicine, and now some people want to test astragalus to see what its ingredients are? Why is it so effective? If the results of the laboratory test can enable the world's medical scientists to gradually understand the true value of Chinese medicine, is this not a great contribution of Mr. Lu? I looked at Mr. Lin's "Autumn Room Study Chart", and imagined in my heart that there would be countless "Laboratory Study Charts" in the future, depicting many medical practitioners in the chemical laboratory, wearing lacquered cloth aprons, holding glass tubes, doing chemical analysis there, boiling Chinese medicine in the pot, and opening on the table with ancient medicine such as "Materia Medica", "Qianjin Fang", and "Outer Stage Secrets", and I hope that Mr. Lu and I can see this day. ”

It can be clearly seen from the foreign and sincere text written by Hu Shi that Hu Shi gladly wrote it in order to thank Lu Zhong'an for curing his illness. Hu Shi's praise for Lu Zhong'an is well deserved. But what disease Lu Zhong'an cured for Hu Shi in the end has now become a "public case.".

According to the article "Hu Shi and Astragalus" in Lin Pinshi, Secretary of Chen Lifu, in the "History of Chinese Medicine": Because of excessive diligence and fatigue, Mr. Hu suffered from thirst-quenching (diabetes), and he was treated by the Union Hospital, and Western medicine said: "It is diabetes, do not do it, and prepare for the aftermath quickly." Because at that time, Western medicine did not have insulin to regulate diabetes, so Doctor Xiehe had this absurd diagnosis, Mr. Hu was very anxious, thinking that Western medicine was famous, believing that his words must be indeed reliable, and lamenting that the number of days was difficult to escape. A friend said that chinese medicine can be cured, and Hu said: "The study of Chinese medicine is not based on systematic research in science, and it is not enough to rely on it." Friend said: "Since Western medicine is helpless, why not try it instead of waiting to die?" (Some people say that Mr. Hu's famous saying "do not try success since ancient times", this is how it came) Hu reluctantly tried it. When the Chinese medicine arrived, the diagnosis was completed, that is, he said: "This easy thing, drinking astragalus soup, not healing, but I am asking." "After taking Chinese medicine, it suddenly healed. Hu Da was suspicious, but he visited Xiehe Western medicine, and the doctor re-diagnosed it, and he was also very strange and said: "If the fruit is healed, who is the king's plot?" What medicine to use? Hu Yishi told the doctor: "Is there any?" I will test it in detail for the astragalus used for the transfer of the gift. ”

Dr. Yu Fengbin's article "Remembering Astragalus Cure Diabetes Prescription" in the article Yun: Mr. Hu Shizhi, suffering from kidney disease, protein in the urine, swollen and painful legs, in Beijing Yan western medicine diagnosis and treatment is ineffective, a Western doctor told the same disease, once took Chinese medicine and healed. Naiyan Chinese medicine Lu Jun prescription, several months of healing. The prescription is as follows: Raw Mianqi Four Two, Lu Dang Ginseng Three Two, Fried Yu Shu Six Money, Hang Bai Peony Three Dollars, Mountain Crab Meat Six Dollars, Sichuan Beef Knee Three Dollars, Fa Ban Xia Three Dollars, Wine Stir-fried Qian Three Dollars, Yun Poria Three Dollars, Fu ze Diarrhea Three Dollars, Xuan Papaya Three Dollars, Ginger Two Pieces, Burning Licorice Two Dollars This is the first prescription of the Republic of China on November 18, 2019, and the treatment ends on February 21, 1000.

Who is the TCM practitioner invited by Mr. Hu Shi? He is lu Zhong'an, a famous doctor in Shanghai, whose prescription medicine is good for using astragalus, ginseng, especially astragalus, almost every party must, so everyone calls him "Lu Astragalus". Another characteristic of his medication is that the amount is heavy and the price of the drug is expensive. He prescribed a prescription for Chen Guofu's lung disease, using ten dang ginseng and eight two astragalus, and asking him to take a hundred doses in a row. Because Yu Fengbin wrote the title "Remembering the Prescription medicine for the cure of astragalus diabetes", it was later rumored that everyone thought that Hu Shi was suffering from diabetes, and even Guo Moruo said in 1945 that "Mr. Hu Shizhi's diabetes was cured by astragalus, which is about the truth." But Hu Shi flatly denied that he had diabetes, as evidenced by his letters and conversations in his later years. For example, in a letter from "FuYu Shu yang" on April 12, 1958, Hu Shi said: "Thank you for your letter. You saw a medical book that said, I once suffered from diabetes, and after Lu Zhong'an's medical treatment, its prescription was astragalus four two... I have seen this and received letters from friends asking me the same question. In fact, I have never had diabetes in my life, of course, there is no Lu Zhongan to cure my diabetes. Lu Zhong'an is a Chinese medicine practitioner who reads ancient medicine, and I know him well." On April 6, 1961, Hu Shi and his secretary Hu Songping said in a conversation with his secretary Hu Songping: "Today, the "National evening news" has another article about me who was cured of diabetes by Lu Zhong'an, and the title is "Lu Zhong'an Good Doctor Quenches Thirst.". It is also said that The Western physician Yu Hongbao once managed to copy the prescription to be published in Ding Fubao's "Medical Journal", which is also a nonsense - in the future, it is really necessary to write a little corrective text."

So what kind of disease did Mr. Hu Shi really have?

Shi Yuangao, who was also in Beijing at the time and had a relationship with Hu Shi, had a detailed account in his book "Gossip Hu Shi": "In the early years, Hu Shi suffered from nephritis, and at that time, there were neither antibiotics nor hormones. Western medicine was helpless against this disease, and he turned to Chinese medicine. At that time, the best Chinese medicine in Beijing, the first sign was Xiao Longyou, who was cixi's imperial physician; the second was Shi Jinmo, and the third was Lu Zhong'an. Lu medicinal drugs, like to use heavy drugs, opponents ridiculed as Mongolian medicine. Hu Shi asked Lu for medical treatment. Lu's prescription is mainly astragalus and ginseng, and the weight is particularly heavy. Ordinary medicine jars can not be filled, but use a casserole pot to boil medicine, temper diet, eat more fish belly, stew, do not put salt, completely light food, difficult to swallow. Hu Shi persisted, and after Lu Zhong'an's meticulous treatment, his nephritis was actually all right. Later, he suffered from hemorrhoids and did not seek Western medicine to operate, but went to Shanghai to find Old Mrs. Pan for treatment. Old Mrs. Pan lives in the French Concession, her family is an ancestral hemorrhoid, children and grandchildren will be, with Old Mrs. Pan being the best, Hu Shi's hemorrhoids have been completely cured at once. Hu Shi does not find Chinese medicine for any disease, Western medicine can diagnose and cure it, he still looks for Western medicine. Once, he had acute appendicitis, and he immediately went to the Union Hospital and was surgically removed. In 1920, Hu Shi suffered from acute nephritis and was cured by Lu Zhong'an. Since then, Hu Shi has also had several contacts with Lu Zhong'an, and in 1922, the old disease recurred, but was still cured by Lu Zhong'an. According to the Diary of Hu Shi:

May 24, 1921 wrote:

Out of town... He sent four more pieces of clothing to Mr. Xie Lu Zhong'an (this jun is the doctor who cured my disease).

On October 6, 1921, he wrote: "Went out of the city to visit Lu Zhong'an's doctor and asked For Jiang Zijun's aunt about the illness. ”

In the Diary of November 15, 1922 and a few days later, it was written: "Here comes the sickness! Fifteen nights I felt that my left foot was sore, and I couldn't stand for a long time when I was studying; if I looked closely, the pain was inside the left ankle bone, and my face was a little swollen. When I slept, I felt soreness in my hamstrings. My feet are swollen like I was sick since the previous year, so I'm a little scared.

November 16: One day off due to swollen feet.

November 17: I woke up last night with a dry mouth and a lot of urine, much like the previous year's illness. I went out of the city to visit Lu Zhong'an and asked him to give me a prescription.

November 18: Getting better, going to class, office.

November 22nd: Classes. Go out of the city to diagnose the disease, change the party, check the medicine, go home to eat, it is two o'clock.

On the 12th day of 1922, when Hu Shi's second illness was treated by Lu Zhong'an, Hu Shi "discovered diabetes, and from December 29, he came to live in the first hospital in Asia with the most complete equipment (Union Hospital, the author's note), and received thirty times of stool and urine tests, three blood tests, and seven days of strict food restrictions", proving that his diabetes was "physiological" and not diabetic. When he was discharged from the hospital on January 6, 1923, Hu Shi also wrote a "Notice" for this purpose, which was published in the 36th issue of the "Effort Weekly" on January 7, 1923: "I came out of the hospital and received many friends' New Year's greeting cards. Thank you and add new year greetings to all of you. The results of this examination have been determined not to be diabetes, which is very comforting to me. I am very grateful to my friends from all over the world. It can be seen that because Hu Shi was found to have diabetes this time, and said in his diary that "it is very similar to the disease situation of the previous year", everyone thinks that Hu Shi's illness in 1920 and 1922 was diabetes, and it turns out that Hu Shi was not suffering from diabetes, but acute nephritis, and was cured by Chinese medicine Lu Zhong'an.

Hu Shi once said: The study of Chinese medicine is not based on systematic research in science, and it is not enough to rely on it. He believed in "Mr. Sai", but in the world, there was something beyond the power of "Mr. Sai", and the Chinese medicine that had not been trained by "Mr. Sai" had the effect of reviving the dead, which was not what Hu Shi expected. He advocated "full cosmopolitanization" and advocated science. He believes that Chinese medicine is not scientific, he suffers from nephritis, Western medicine can not be tied, and Chinese medicine Lu Zhongan actually healed him, the society is popular, there is a tendency not to believe in Western medicine. Hu Shi was afraid that it would be harmful to the development of science, so later he said: "Chinese medicine is confused, but it can cure diseases; Western medicine science, but can not cure diseases."