04 A Story for Illustration
The famous doctor Bian Que once explained to King Wen of Wei that his eldest brother was the best doctor because he prevented illness through diet adjustments. His second brother treated early symptoms effectively, while Bian Que himself treated severe conditions, making him appear more skilled. This story highlights the importance of prevention and early treatment.
The original story runs:
King Wen of Wei: It is said that you three brothers all learned medicine from your father, so how come your medical skills are better than your two elder brothers?
Bian Que: Your Majesty, you are wrong! My eldest brother is the best doctor, my second brother is the second best, and my medical skills are the worst.
King Wen of Wei expressed doubts, and Bian Que explained: My eldest brother is good at improving the body by adjusting diet, so that people will not get sick, so no one who knows my eldest brother gets sick, his medical skills are amazing! My second brother has to wait until the patient has a little symptom before he can see what disease he has, and he can cure it all at once, so no one who knows my second brother gets seriously ill. My medical skills are the worst, so I can’t see the early symptoms, and I can only diagnose the functional condition when it is serious. So what about bloodletting meridians, cutting flesh and doing surgery, everyone thinks I have excellent medical skills.
We have no way to verify the authenticity of this conversation, but this statement also shows that we should not think that a good doctor is one who can bring the dead back to life, but one who can keep us healthy all the time.
05 Brief Summary: Take Care of Yourself
It’s essential to understand simple herbal medicine knowledge for self-diagnosis and not waste medical resources. Pay attention to lifestyle, diet, and mood. If you have chronic disease, you should remain calm and believe in the revitalizing power of herbal medicine. Of course, you can’t ignore it when you are sick and let it get worse.
You will slowly learn how to achieve health and longevity. If you have chronic diseases, you should not be anxious. The ice is not formed in a day. You must have a good attitude to try to revitalize your body, believe in herbal medicine, believe in your spleen and stomach, and then stick to it, so that the body will have a good development.
Therefore, as practitioners of life cultivation, you should pay attention to health preservation and conditioning on a daily basis. If you are really sick, then you can also simply analyze your condition. This is also what we have been doing, popularizing some simple traditional herbal medicine knowledge to everyone. If it is a life-threatening acute disease, then you should go to the hospital immediately, and follow the doctor’s instructions for infusion and surgery.
For chronic diseases, when you feel uncomfortable, you should use herbal medicine to revitalize your body and replenish your vital yuanqi, For serious chronic diseases such as high blood sugar or high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and rheumatic bone diseases, additional prescriptions are generally needed to treat the symptoms.
And symptoms such as insomnia, dizziness, constipation, sore waist and knees, and menopausal syndrome are all caused by long-term fatigue leading to low immunity. These symptoms are in the second stage. Generally, there will be no major problems with various physical indicators when checking the body, so doctors in hospitals do not have a good way to judge based on the indicators. The doctors may declare that there was nothing wrong with you.
However, you should not ignore the symptoms. You should seek professional advice from herbal doctors to make sure that you stay healthy.
06 What is Next?
In the next issue, we will explore the differences between ancient doctors, their practices, and the valuable knowledge they left behind.
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