Most Famous Chinese Physicians of all Time

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Masters of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Bian Que, also named Tai Yueren, of Renqiu in Hebei province. - The most ancient of the physicians from the historical period (ca. 500 B.C.). He was reputed to be an excellent diagnostician, excelling in pulse taking and acupuncture therapy. He is ascribed the authorship of "Bian Que Neijing" (Internal Classic of Bian Que). Han Dynasty physicians claimed to have studied his works, which have since been lost.

One day Bian Que heard the queen of Hu state (in today's Shaanxi province) had died. He felt very sad and decided to go to the palace. He found the queen's inner thighs were not yet very cold and diagnosed her as "fake death". Under his care the queen recovered fully. Thus Bian Que received the title "The doctor who brings back from the dead". From that day on Bian Que became a doctor at a level of a god. At the same time the jealous imperial doctor dispatched agents to kill Bian Que (at that time still named Tai Yueren) for fear of Bian Que's high level of medical treatment. After his death and because of his incredible skill in medicine, people have named him as the spiritual doctor Bian Que.

Cang lived about 200 B.C., at the beginning of the early Han Dynasty period. He is famous for keeping clinical records and case histories, thus being able to develop the concept of prognosis based on prior experience. This art was largely lost and restored only during the 20th century.

Hua Tuo, also named Yuan Hua of Hao county in Anwei province. was the first famous Chinese surgeon. He is the first in the world to developed the use of anesthesia, and furthered the limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy.  When using acupuncture and herbs, he preferred simple methods, using a small number of acupuncture points and formulas comprised of only a few herbs. He practiced Chi-kung [Qi Gong] and taught the "frolics of the five animals," a practice still used today. The five animals are Tiger, Deer, Bear, Ape and Crane.

One day a patient came to see Hua Tuo. Hua Tuo diagnosed the patient with Ulcerative Colitis (bleeding ulcer in the large intestine). He thus decided that surgery was needed. He gave the patient "Anesthetic powder", as the patient lost feeling he performed the operation. He cut the abdomen open and located the ulcer in the intestines. Clearing the infected area he sewed it back and applied "Spirits Lotion". In one month the patient recovered completely. Later on a famous general named Zao Cao contracted illness called "Tou Feng". The general came to see Hua Tuo and was advised to have an operation. The general suspected Hua Tuo wanted to harm him and thus ordered the death of Hua Tuo. A very loved and revered physician was lost to the world.

Zhang Zhongjing, also named Zhang Ji, is the most famous of China's ancient herbal doctors. He is known for his book "Shang Han Za Bing Lun".  Not only did it contain over 100 effective formulas (many of them still used today), but the text implied a theoretical framework that led to hundreds of books analyzing, explaining, and reforming it.

Another section is best known for some of the formulas, such as the gynecological remedy Tang-kuei and Peony Formula [Danggui Shaoyao San] which is today applied to infertility, disorders during pregnancy, prevention of miscarriage, and post-partum weakness. His work might have been lost had it not been for the efforts of Wang ShuHe .

When Zhang Zhongjing was 50 years old there was a grave plague in China where two thirds of the population were infected. Zhongjing, very saddened by this, decided whole heartedly to research and find a solution to the problem. After several decades Zhongjing finished his work "Shang Han Za Bing Lun" which became a corner stone in Chinese medicine history.

Wang Shuhe lived during the western Jin dynasty. His research and knowledge of the pulse diagnosis was especially prominent. His outstanding work "Mai Jing"(The Pulse Classics) contains much of his knowledge and understanding of pulse secrets. "Mai Jing" has 10 scrolls and describes the pulse positions, methods, and established 24 different kinds of pulse. This work allowed future generations to grasp the essence of pulse in an instant, as well as understand the different pulse phenomena with every illness. Wang Shuhe is called the "greatness of pulse", and is revered around the world as the pioneer in this field. Wang Shuhe also took the Zhang Zhongjing classic "Shang Han Za Bing Lun" and divided it to "Shang Han Lun" and "Jing Kui Yao Lue".

Huang-fu [Huangfu Mi; 214-282 A.D.] Huangfu lived to see the end of the latter Han Dynasty. He is famous for his skills in acupuncture therapy; Huangfu, also named Huang Shian, composed many literary works during his life time and was very influential during his time. At his middle age while contracting a severe disease he decided that the study of medicine is of utmost importance. He assiduously studied Chinese medicine and by his life end he compiled one of the prominent acupuncture works in history: "Huang Di Zhenjiu Jia Yi Jing". The classic "Jia Yi Jing" has a total of 12 scrolls with 128 chapters. This work summarized the entire knowledge of acupuncture at the time, and in addition added a sizeable amount of new information. Later generations of acupuncturist needed only to learn this book to understand the secrets of the art. This classic not only influenced the acupuncture art in China but around the world, in countries like Japan, Korea and France.

Ko Hung [Ge Hong] was the most famous alchemist of China. He strongly believed in the ability to transform anything and everything, given the proper procedure.

Ge Hong, was also named Wei Chuan but most recognized as Bao Pu Zi.  Ge Hong's research into Chinese medicine was very profound. Among Ge Hong's many works the most famous are "Jin Kui Yao Fang" and "Zhou Hou Jiu Zu Fang", the first had 100 scrolls and the latter 3 scrolls. Unfortunately Many scrolls of "Jin Kui Yao Fang" are lost. "Zhou Hou Fang" carries truly precious information about the knowledge of transmission of disease (especially febrile disease).

Ge Hong is the first to describe Tian Hua and Huo Luan illnesses and their origins in food and drinks. Ge Hong's life long search for knowledge brought across the country to teachers such as Zheng Yin who taught him about alchemy, as well as to Bao Jian who taught him medicine and even gave him his daughter Bao Gu for a wife.

Tao Hongjing, also known as Tao Tongming. His foremost contribution was the reorganization of the "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing"(earliest Chinese herbal materia medica). From his own knowledge and experience he added to the materia medica 365 new herbs, which brought the total number of herbs to 730. He then divided the herbs to categories and qualities, creating his compilation: "Ben Cao Jing Ji Zhu". This classic influence on later generations was immense. The earliest Tang dynasty herbal dictionary "Xin Xiu Ben Cao" is entirely based on it.

One day Tao Hongjing heard a rumor of birds that develop from worms. He suspected that this story is fabricated. He went into a courtyard to research the event. After numerous observations he realized that the worms were brought into the nest by the birds and were left there to have their own offspring. Later it would serve the birds as a food supply. He thus concluded that the birds were  not created from the worms, the worms were planted in the nest. Tao Hongjing set a new standard for Chinese medicine of future generations "One must research every idea carefully, and not jump to a conclusion just because other people say so".

Chao Yuanfang; of the Sui dynasty 550-630 A.D.  Chao was a physician to the Emperor. In 609 A.D. an important officer, Ma Shumou, contracted a damp wind illness. He consulted Chao Yuanfang and was told: "Wind entered your waist, the illness is in your chest, you must eat tender lamb meat with medicine, and you will be fine". Miraculously so, the old illness of damp wind was quickly gone. In 610 A.D. Chao Yuanfang was in charge of compiling the "Zhubing Yuanhou Zonglun" (General Treatise on the Etiology an Symptoms of Diseases) which was valued for centuries afterward as a means of categorizing and describing diseases. His work contained 50 scrolls.

Sun Ssu-mo [Su Simiao] was a child prodigy. He had mastered the Chinese classics by age 20 and then became a well-known medical practitioner. 

Sun Simiao of Yao county in Shaanxi province, was a famous doctor of the Tang dynasty. He gave much ado to the virtue of medicine and said:" Human life is worth a thousand gold bars, with a virtue of one prescription you can fix it". In 652 he compiled the famous "Qian Jin Yao Fang" with 30 scrolls and later composed "Qian Jin Yi Fang" with another 30 scrolls.

In his theory the virtue of medicine came into play as well as a thorough understanding of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He contributed greatly to malnutrition illnesses, such as recommending seaweed to people living in the mountain regions who suffered from goiter, and recommending liver of ox and sheep for person suffering from night blindness. He was also a Taoist alchemist, seeking demon-dispelling remedies, including spells, herbal formulas, and toxic alchemical preparations. By later generations he was nicknamed the "Herbal King".

Chien Chen [Jian Zhen; 683-763 A.D.] - Jian was an outstanding Buddhist monk who studied medicine. He was invited to Japan and brought Traditional Chinese Medicine there where it soon flourished. He was well known for his generosity and hard work.

Wang Tao [Wang Tao; ca 702-772 A.D.] - He is famous for writing the book "Waitai Miyao" (Medical Secrets of an Official), published in 752 A.D. He provided a comprehensive description of medical problems, covering more than 1,000 categories, and discussed over 6,000 herbal prescriptions.

Chien-yi [Qian Yi; ca 1032-1113 A.D.] - Qian specialized in treatment of children and wrote the famous book "Xiaoer Yaozheng Zhijue" (Key to Therapeutics of Children's Diseases). This book presented the prescription Rehmannia Six Formula (Liuwei Dihuang Wan), which has become the most widely used yin-nourishing prescription, especially given to the elderly despite its origins as a pediatric formulation.

Liu Wan-su [Liu Wansu] observed the high frequency of fever and inflammation in serious diseases and promoted the idea of using herbs of a cooling nature to treat these conditions. This was a step in the opposite direction of many of his predecessors, who focused on using warming herbs. This work had much influence on the later concept of "wen bing" or epidemic febrile diseases, which corresponded to (and preceded) the Western concept of contagious disease. He also undertook a detailed study of the "Nei Ching Su Wen" [Nei Jing Su Wen], describing the etiology of disease in relation to the teachings of that famous text.

Chang Tzu-ho [Zhang Zihe; 1156-1228 A.D.] - Zhang is known as the developer of the "attacking school" of Chinese medicine, emphasizing the use of diaphoretics, emetics, and purgatives to attack the pathogen and drive it out of the body. This was actually a revival of the early Han Dynasty techniques that were based on driving out demons.

Li Tung-yun [Li Dongyuan, also known as Li Gao; 1180-1252 A.D.] - Li is best known for his thesis that most diseases were due to injury to the stomach/spleen system, which occurred as the result of intemperance in eating and drinking, overwork, and the seven emotions. His well-known book "Pi Wei Lun" (Treatise on the Stomach and Spleen) presented one of the most widely used traditional formulas: Ginseng and Astragalus Combination (Buzhong Yiqi Tang).

Chu Tan-chi [Zhu Danxi, also known as Zhu Zhenheng; 1280-1358 A.D.] - Zhu believed that people suffered from chronic disease mainly due to overindulgence in pleasurable things and activities, resulting in debility of the yin essence. He therefore recommended temperance and use of tonic formulas, especially those that nourished the kidney and liver.

Li Shizhen of Chai Zhou in Hubei province, is considered to have been China's greatest naturalist. He was very interested in the proper classification of the components of nature. His major contribution to medicine was the forty year project of sifting through the vast array of herbal lore and writing down the information that was, in his view, a reliable reflection of reality.

His book, the "Bencao Gang Mu; 1596", has been used as a pharmacopoeia, but it was also treatise on botany, zoology, mineralogy and metallurgy. The book was reprinted frequently and five of the original edition still exist. A rough translation of the herb entries was published in English by two British doctors (Porter and Smith) who were working in China at the end of the 19th century, though extracts of it had been published in Europe since 1656. "Ben Cao Gang Mu" contains 1892 different herbs, and is divided into 6 sections, 52 scrolls and 60 different categories.

Li Shizhen, a great scientist risked his life numerous times as he researched the life and habitat of Chai snakes, who at the time were considered a precious medicine. He then also published the "Chai Snake Compilation". 

Wang K'en T'ang [Wang Kentang; 1549-1613 A.D.] - Wang was a court official who later became a physician. He collected information about medicine and produced the "Liuke Zhengzhi Zhunsheng" (Standards of Diagnosis and Treatment of Six Branches of Medicine) published in 1602 A.D.; it became the most widely used medical book of the 17th century.

Wu Yu-hsing [Wu Youxing; 1582-1652 A.D.] - Wu developed the concept that some diseases were caused by transmissible agents, which he called liqi (pestilential factors). His book "Wenyi Lun" (Treatise on Acute Epidemic Febrile Diseases) can be regarded as the main etiological work that brought forward the concept, ultimately attributed to Westerners, of germs as a cause of epidemic diseases.

Chang Chin-yueh [Zhang Jingyue; 1583-1640 A.D.] - Zhang was a prolific writer and produced works on pulse diagnosis, gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, and an analysis of the Huangdi Neijing, called the "Lei Jing", which won him great fame.

Yeh Tien-shih [Ye Tianshi; ca 1690-1760 A.D.] - Ye is famous for his thesis on febrile diseases, in which he postulated transmission of the disease through four stages: wei, qi, ying, and blood. His book "Wenre Lun" (Treatise on Epidemic Fevers) published in 1746, was followed up by an even more famous book "Wenbing Tiaobian" (Detailed Analysis of Febrile Diseases) in 1798, using this four stage system as its basis.

Wang Chin ren [Wang Qingren] is famous in two areas of medicine. First, he promoted the importance of accurately understanding anatomy in order to diagnose and Treat disease, dissection and surgery had been all but ignored since the time of Hua Tuo, or Hua To, and traditional Chinese doctors had relied on a projected idea of the internal organs. Wang said that "attempting healing without knowing the internal organs is like a blind man walking in the dark." He also strongly promoted the idea that many diseases were due to blood stasis and by activating blood circulation and clearing away the static blood, one could resolve even the very serious diseases. His blood-vitalizing formulas are still used extensively.

Wu Shang-sian [Wu Shangxian; 1806-1886 A.D.] - Wu specialized in the development of low cost treatments so that poor people could get medical care at a time when medical costs were rising rapidly. The focus of his efforts were on inexpensive topical therapies, including ointments, plasters, and moxibustion.

Pope Francis Continues his assault on Global Capitalism - the Many Sides to the People's Pope

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The People's Pope has stayed true to his message of social justice and continued to say capitalism as it is practiced today is a manipulation by the rich to control the lives of everyone else.  It is a message that undermines the flamboyant living of a number of Bishops of the Church, a number of whom have already sold off million dollar estates.

More important, it is a direct challenge to the political leaders of America to stop protecting the rich and start caring for the middle class and poor.  It seems odd that all those defenders of the people running for and holding political office are pretty much silent when it comes taking on capitalism.

Capitalism is not protected by our Constitution and did not even exist when our nation was founded in this country.  It evolved over time and as it became more and more of a force in the evolution of America those practitioners of capitalism seemed to create their own creed, their own constitution and their own priorities far disparate from those of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Where our nation was founded on equal opportunity and individual freedom, capitalism was based on greed, power, accumulation and control.  Once upon a time our nation was the model for the world in terms of social justice and the good of the people was the goal of the nation and it led us into combining charity and government assistance into housing, medical practices, transportation, education and agriculture practices that transformed our country and was a beacon to the world.

But somewhere along the line serving the public good fell victim to the greed driven obsession of wealth, power and control.  It wasn't enough to have more money than everyone else, it became fashionable to protect your own wealth by denying it to others.

Our institutions of commerce became more and more exclusive until financial vehicles like the stock markets were thoroughly corrupted with the blind complicity of our very own government.  Corruption has seeped into nearly every aspect of capitalism from financing to banks, to markets, to manufacturing, distribution, sales, quality control and you name it.

The government, federal, state and local, became the way to legitimize corruption and all it took was the rich setting aside a small percentage of the trillions of dollars in our economy to lobby politicians, set up kickbacks, insider trading deals, political campaign contributions, arms deals and you name it as long as tax dollars were used and there were no restrictions on bonuses whether corporate executives or government employees.

When the dark side takes hold the talons run deep, straight to the heart, and both those people who were participating in corruption and those who were ignoring corruption became the normal, not the exception to the rule.

Total it takes a Pope from South America to point out the obvious to Americans because those here in America responsible for what goes on are caught up in the game and long ago lost their moral compass.

Long ago Jesus Christ went ballistic when he found the merchants peddling their wares in the Temple and he drove them away.  There is no Jesus today and instead of a Temple we have a nation that is full of corrupt and unethical practices.  Maybe instead of trying to fix economic problems caused by greed we should eliminate the instruments of evil used to cheat the people through capitalism and restore individual rights, freedom and equality.

As for the Pope, well he practices what he preaches.  Just check out the next article about how he has cleaned house in the Vatican Bank, a corrupt partner to the American banking system.  If only our elected representatives had the same guts for protecting the people.  Maybe the multi-million dollar bonuses earned by defrauding the American people and triggering a worldwide recession won't happen again.

Pope Francis Fires His Bankers…Again

By Rob Garver

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Pope Francis Fires His Bankers…Again

When he took over as head of the Roman Catholic Church last year, Pope Francis made it clear that he meant to be the leader of a “poor church” – meaning that the Vatican would focus less on its own splendor and more on finding ways to use its vast financial resources to benefit the world’s poor.

It’s turning out to be more of a struggle than Francis may have expected; last week he found it necessary to fire all five directors of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority – essentially the primary financial watchdog over the Papal State’s considerable financial operations.

The announcement on Thursday was only the most recent in a series of firings, replacements, and arrests that have rocked the Vatican’s financial hierarchy. It turns out that for Francis, casting the moneychangers out of the Temple has proven to be a time-consuming task.

Last summer, a number of senior officials with the Vatican Bank resigned around the time that one of its senior accountants, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, was arrested and charged with conspiring to smuggle more than $20 million from Italy to Switzerland. Scarano, reportedly known in Rome as “Monsignor 500” for his habit of displaying a wallet full of €500 notes, has since been charged with multiple other offenses, including money laundering.

In January, Francis fired four out of the five cardinals on the commission overseeing the bank, known as the Institute for Works of Religion, or IOR in its Italian acronym. Supposed to serve only priests, nuns, and religious orders, the Vatican Bank has been implicated in money laundering schemes and other illegal activity. Francis made it clear that he was open to closing down the bank completely.

In February, by Papal edict, he laid out multiple new transparency requirements for the Vatican’s financial arm, and created a new Secretariat for the Economy, meant to act as an auditor general for the Vatican. The following month, he indicated that the Vatican Bank would survive, though in a vastly different form, as a large number of accounts not related to its central mission were shut down.

The edict, though, has not cleaned out all of the old guard who have made the Vatican’s financial system a laughingstock among law enforcement professionals and a haven for criminals.

Last week’s announcement came after Swiss money laundering expert René Brülhart, who was named to head the Financial Information Authority, complained that he was being obstructed by the board – made up of five Italians with connections to the Vatican’s old guard.

In years past, it might have been Brülhart, at one point the head of Liechtenstein’s respected Financial Intelligence Unit, who found himself out on the street.

To Francis’s credit, there is a new board on its way in oversee the Vatican’s financial watchdog Its makeup is remarkable only because of its international nature: it’s made up of four international experts, including former financial regulators – one from the U.S., one from Switzerland, one from Singapore and a fourth from Italy. It is also notable that the Italian member is a woman, insurance executive Maria Bianca Farina, making her one of the few women with significant authority in the Vatican.

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Morning Joe Show or Mika & Scarborough Nepotism Book Club (MSNBC)?

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Mika Brzezinski, the 47 year old teenager whose legs dominate the MSNBC Morning Joe Show, seems to be moving the show into a family sitcom non-reality show with the ever-increasing list of family members featured as guests, authors, specialists at about anything and everything, sort of the Egghead Version of Leave it to Beaver.

There is Mika, her father Zbignhiew Brzezinski, her mother Emile Benes Brzezinski, her brother Mark Brzezinski and another brother Ian Brzezinski.  Her chain saw wielding mother, a sculptor, was grand-niece of the second Czechoslovak president Edvard Bereš.  Her father was national security advisor to President Carter.

Every day another member of Mika's family has a book being promoted on the Morning Joe Show if they are not making regular featured guest appearances.  Both Mika and co-host Joe Scarborough have already promoted many of their own books so why not the family as well since it is free TV time that would add up to tens of thousands of dollars if they paid for the time like most people would have to in order to promote books.

Of course anyone and everyone on MSNBC has books to promote including the regular contributors to Morning Joe and often the self promotion gets more enthusiasm than the news and views.  I mean even Mika's mother with a chain saw gets a amazing amount of promotions and appearances on the show.

Since Morning Joe and MSNBC continue to tank in the ratings, with a total daily viewing audience of less than 300,000 people, maybe they can't afford real reporters and news but if they are going to spend all their time self-promoting why not just tell the truth and rename the show the

Morning Joe Show or Mika & Scarborough Nepotism Book Club (MSNBC)?

It used to be that television shows were not allowed to self-promote book sales by staff members because it was an unfair business practice and abuse of government licensed airways.   It fell into the category of corrupt and unethical practices.  Guess those laws don't apply anymore.

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