Bian Que (407-310 B.C.) –an
ancient Chinese scientist, a skilled doctor, with high moral character. People called him the doctor miracle-worker. He founded four diagnostic methods (examination, listening, study of smells, questioning, and palpation), prepared the theoretical and practical basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment in TCM. He was engaged in internal diseases, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, ENT, in clinical practice he used stones and needles for pricking, massage, herbal decoction, hot water bottles, and other methods for treatment.Traveling across the country, he helped the suffering ordinary people. He also founded the first medical school in the history of TCM – “Bian Que” school.
In journal “Medicine and Philosophy” professor Lee Botson published an article entitled “Bian Que and “Bian Que” school, a few questions about the history of TCM”. The article says that in the Warring States Period and Qin Han Dynasty (300 BC – 220 AD) many written sources and archaeological finds prove: 1. In the period of Warring States and Qin Han Dynasty the proceedings of “Bian Que” school were the most popular in society. 2. During the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. – 220 A.D.) public opinion considered Bian Que as all-knowing doctor. 3. During the Han Dynasty the number of doctors in the ” Bian Que ” school was much more than in other schools. 4. In the period of Warring States and Qin Han Dynasty among people there were a great number of legends about Bian Que.
In the history of medicine there are so many famous and successful scientists, there are so many doctors from the people. In the history of Traditional Chinese medicine the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589) was the most prolific on number of doctors, on known generations of doctors and the number of written works.
From 7 generations of the family Xu came 12 famous doctors, among them Xu Daodu, Xu Venbo, Xu Chenbo, Xu Dzhitsay, Xu Dzhifan. They served in the Imperial palace and studied at the Imperial School of Medicine, highly respected by emperor.
The first doctor in the family Xu was Xu Xi, who loves the art of Lao Tzu and the Yellow Emperor, the retirement in the mountains. One day Taoist monk passed by him and asked him for water for drinking, leaving him with a pumpkin, he said, “Let your kids use this thing in a pumpkin to save other people, it will be a decent reward”. Xu Xi opened the pumpkin and found in it the “Mirror canon Bian Que”. Since then, he has devoted himself to the study of medicine and later in life became a famous doctor. Starting with the Tang Dynasty (618-907), representatives of “Bian Que” school becomes less. During the Jin Dynasty (960-1279) was another historic turning point in medicine, again, there was the development of the school. For example, a respected physician Xu Xi has specialized in the treatment of diseases with help of acupuncture and he cured the Emperor, for which he received large gifts from him and told him that went to pray and thank their teacher Bian Que. In the period of Song Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Shen Zones and Jae Sohn (1068 – 1100) a famous doctor Pan An said: “If compare the works of the Yellow Emperor and Bian Que, it can be said that over the world the most profound knowledge had Bian Que” (record “Song Stories, Biography of An Pan”).