Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 407: The beginning of the competition between Chinese and Western medicine. Am I also a descendant of a Chinese medicine family? (Extra chapter for thanksgiving)
During the rest of the time, Fangyan chatted with Lao Deng about the time when Western medicine was introduced to Guangdong.

As expected of an educated man, Old Deng spoke clearly and logically.

He took a stool and sat beside the dialect diagnosis table, saying:

"I heard from my elders that when Western medicine entered Guangdong in 1835, it developed very well."

"During the period of the first Western medicine "ophthalmology clinic", its founder Dr. Peter Parker treated not only foreigners, but also people from all walks of life in China. He even treated Qiying, the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Qing government, and Lin Zexu, a famous minister who later fought against the British."

Fangyan nodded and took over the conversation:

"Indeed, in the eyes of the top leaders at that time, Western medicine represented advancement."

"From that time on, some families with the means sent their children to study in Western countries to learn Western medicine. After they came back, some books and articles about Western medicine were translated and published. The knowledge in them was refreshing, so Western medicine was gradually accepted by most people."

"Even some famous Chinese medicine experts began to study Western medicine and tried to apply its theories to Chinese medicine, believing that they should learn from each other's strengths and make up for their weaknesses. As a result, many Chinese medicine practitioners began to learn Western medicine on their own, including some famous doctors at the time."

Old Deng looked at Fang Yan in surprise and said:
"You've heard of this history?"

Fangyan smiled. This was the most enthusiastic class taught by the university professor at that time. The old man was almost getting high blood pressure from teaching so much.

Fang Yan said to Old Deng:
"I heard about it by chance."

Old Dengtou said:
"No, it was because no one was alert that the epidemic developed very quickly. By 1919, there were 39 Western medicine hospitals in Guangzhou alone."

“Then it blossomed all over the rest of the country.”

"At that time, there was a saying that there was Xiangya in the South and Union Medical College in the North. Have you heard of it?"

Fang Yan nodded and said:
"I heard that Edward Hume, a doctor of medicine sent by the Yale-China Association of Yale University in the United States, opened the Yale-China Hospital in Xipailou, CS City, the capital of HUN Province, in 1906."

"Later, because its medical level was recognized by the Hunan provincial authorities, the Yale-China Society of America cooperated with relevant groups in Hunan and founded a new medical university, the "Xiangya Medical College", on Chaozong Street in Changsha in 1914. The Yale-China Hospital was renamed the "Xiangya Hospital" affiliated to the school."

"Almost at the same time, in our area, Cochrane, a doctor from the London Missionary Society, a British church organization, won the favor of Empress Dowager Cixi and received a donation of 1906 taels of silver from her. As a result, in , he cooperated with five other churches to open the Union Medical College and its affiliated hospital."

"In 1915, the Rockefeller Foundation of the United States purchased all the properties of the former Union Medical College from the London Club, and also purchased all the real estate of the former Prince of Yu's Mansion in San Tiao Hutong, Dongdan, and then invested a huge amount of money in construction, thus the Union Hospital was born."

Hearing Fang Yan explain the details clearly, Deng Lao couldn't help but exclaim:
"Of course, young man, not only are you good at medicine, but you also know all these things so clearly. If you say you were trained in a medical family, I would believe it!"

"Oh, you compliment me." Fang Yan bowed to the old man.

Then Old Deng said with emotion:

"For thousands of years before that, apart from the imperial hospitals, Chinese medicine existed in the form of individual clinics and was far less influential than Western medicine."

"After various historical events, the trend of learning from the West began to prevail, which also led to fierce criticism of traditional Chinese medicine, which grew out of the old culture."

The dialect responded:

"At that time, people with culture and status were more likely to seek help from Western medicine when they fell ill."

"For example, when geologist Ding Wenjiang was investigating in the countryside of Guizhou, he fell seriously ill. He would rather endure the pain than let the local Chinese medicine doctor come to treat him. He had to call Guiyang to invite a Western doctor."

Old Deng nodded and said:

"Of course not! He was not the only one. All the intellectuals, politicians, and celebrities at that time were like this. Even if Western medicine made a mistake in their treatment or even made the wrong cut, they did not blame Western medicine. Instead, they wrote articles in newspapers to defend Western medicine."

Then he continued:

"After those people came to power, they began to target traditional Chinese medicine. The Beiyang government did not include any content on traditional Chinese medicine education in its legislation. It required that no traditional Chinese medicine courses be set up in universities, and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners were not allowed to open any educational institutions."

"The existing private TCM education institutions cannot be called schools, and cannot issue any education certificates. Students who graduate from these institutions cannot work in hospitals."

"The education of traditional Chinese medicine suffered another blow, and this policy was later adopted by the central government in Nanjing."

Fangyan nodded and said:

"At that time, only Chen Jitang, who was in charge of Guangdong, publicly expressed his dissent, saying that he had other measures in Guangdong. Not only did he not restrict TCM, he also allowed Guangzhou TCM to establish the Huaxia National Medical Research Association and even allocated funds to open schools in order to protect TCM education."

Hearing Fangyan's words, Old Deng's favorable impression of Fangyan suddenly burst out. He stroked his beard with a smile and said:

"Oh, I didn't expect you to know this. You're a good boy. You're right. I was studying in that school at that time."

Of course Fangyan knew about it. After Director Luo said it, Fangyan figured out that Old Deng should have read the book at that time.

At this time, Old Deng said with emotion:

"After 1949, the situation of traditional Chinese medicine improved."

"Teachers are still good. The first National Health Conference held in August 1950 set the tone and removed the tight ring that the old government had imposed on traditional Chinese medicine across the country."

Fangyan responded:
"In 1958, he gave a clear instruction: 'Chinese medicine is a treasure trove that should be explored and improved.' That's why Chinese medicine is recovering a little bit now."

Old Deng was in a trance for a moment, as if he was lost in his memories.

Then he said to the dialect:

"Hey, you have a wide range of knowledge. I really suspect that you are a young man trained by a medical family."

After that, he recalled again and said:

"The only medical family in Beijing with the surname Fang is Fang Boping, one of the top ten famous doctors in Beijing. I know his nephew Fang Heqian, and all his descendants know him too. Yours is definitely not from his family."

Fangyan nodded:
"Don't guess. I have nothing to do with their family."

Old Deng asked again:

"Your hometown is not Chongqing, right?"

"No." Fangyan responded.

Old Deng muttered:

"That doesn't belong to Fang Yaozhong's family either."

Then he asked:
"Is there no doctor in your family?"

The dialect said:

"Yes, my mother and my wife are gynecologists at Union Hospital."

Thinking of this, Fang Yan said:

"Oh, my grandfather's name is He Xiu, I wonder if you know him."

"He Xiu?!" Old Deng was stunned.

Then he showed a surprised expression and raised his voice by an octave.

"Are you He Xiu's grandson?"

Fangyan nodded:
"correct."

Old Dengtou said:
"I'm talking about the He Xiu who treats pediatrics in Beijing. He was the one who was responsible for receiving southern Chinese medicine practitioners when the Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences was established in 55."

Dialect nod:

"Yes, that's him."

When the old man heard this, he slapped his thigh:
"Oh, I was wondering why she looked more and more familiar, it turns out she is the descendant of an old friend!"

After that, he said to the dialect:
"Then you still say you are not from a family of traditional Chinese medicine!"

Fang Yan said in astonishment:
"No, my grandfather has been dead for many years, and there is no successor. How can I be considered a descendant of a traditional Chinese medicine family!?"

PS: No more today, please come early tomorrow
(End of this chapter)