The Sweetest Medicine

Wang Aizhen dragged Yu Gangan to sit at the front.

As usual, Yu Gangan planned to listen to the seminar without expressing any opinions.

But, as soon as Xiao Xiaoying started talking, she had a strange feeling that she would be pointed out to say something.

She was right.

“Chinese medicine has been around for thousands of years. Rather than saying that Western medicine has caused the downfall of Chinese medicine, we should say that Chinese medicine has been shrouded by its own mystery.”

“I may be a doctor of Chinese medicine, but I despise doctors that like to act mysterious. I hate it when they bring up Yin-Yang and the Five Elements and make things sound all mystical,” Xiao Xiaoying said.

At that moment, Xiao Xiaoying looked at Yu Gangan and continued, “Dr. Yu, you’re young but you must be very capable. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be sitting here. I have a question for you.”

“Dr. Xiao, you’re overpraising me. As a junior, I do not dare to accept such praise. My grandfather was a highly experienced doctor and I simply learned a little from him. I still need everyone’s guidance,” Yu Gangan replied politely.

Xiao Xiaoying’s tone turned a little strange, “Dr. Yu mentioned that Chinese medicine originated from metaphysics. Doesn’t that mean Chinese medicine can never be truly clarified like a black hole? All this mystery will only make Chinese medicine fall behind Western medicine.”

Yu Gangan smiled and replied, “Just like how Western medicine originates from chemistry and biology, traditional Chinese medicine originates from the theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements…”

At that moment, Xiao Xiaoying cut in domineeringly, “Our country’s oldest medical book, ‘Formularies for 52 disorders’, never mentioned anything about Yin-Yang nor the Five Elements. Chinese medicine turned to metaphysics during the Southern Song Dynasty when Confucian students became doctors and medicine became a means of making money. They thought they could provide consultations by reciting a few lines. But, hmph! These were the people that destroyed Chinese medicine.”

Her voice was cold and full of mockery as she mentioned the Confucian students.

She was indirectly saying that Yu Gangan was useless.

That she didn’t understand medicine and only used it as a tool to improve her reputation.

Yu Gangan never expected to be resented and discriminated against because of her age.

After all, she had started learning how to read pulses and prescribe medicine from her grandfather since she was 10 years old.

But, Xiao Xiaoying’s mockery did not upset Yu Gangan.

She did not argue back either.

She simply replied calmly and seriously, “Master Li Shizhen was also a Confucian student. You can’t generalize like that. Metaphysics wasn’t used to explain Chinese medicine as a whole in the beginning. It started off with acupuncture points and meridians. When Western medicine did not have the technology to determine whether these things actually existed, metaphysics was the only way to explain them. But, in recent years, Western medicine has already proven the existence of acupuncture points and meridians.”

A trace of ridicule appeared on Xiao Xiaoying’s face.

Acupuncture points and meridians may be real.

But, that didn’t mean that Yu Gangan was real.

“Western medicine uses laboratory tests and consultation to determine illnesses, whereas, Chinese medicine uses look, listen, question and pulse. Western medicine has a standard treatment plan for each illness, but Chinese medicine is different. 100 people can study Chinese medicine, but these 100 people can come up with 100 different theories for an illness. Chinese medicine does not have a standard system. It’s hard to learn and hard to apply. One cannot become a good doctor by simply following the textbooks. This is how Chinese medicine is mysterious,” Yu Gangan continued.