What is the essence of medicine?

  Medicine is the science of preventing and treating diseases and maintaining the physiological functions of the human body. In layman’s terms, it is a profession that allows living people to live well. Modern medicine is mainly composed of two systems: Western medicine, which focuses on microscopy, and Chinese medicine, which focuses on macroscopy. Its highest goal and realm is to integrate the ancient and the modern, and to realize the perfect unification of Eastern and Western medicine, which is the ultimate care for human beings. It is not only the care for the fate of individuals, but also the care for the fate of human beings. The holistic medicine, whole-person medicine and Jin Shui medicine under exploration are all steps towards human medicine.  In contrast to the science that explores external objective things and pursues universal knowledge, anthroposophy is a discipline that focuses on man himself to improve his personal spirituality and wisdom ability. The ancient times when mankind explored in darkness were the stage when anthropology was superior to science as a theological display. Along with the continuous development and progress of science and technology, mankind entered the stage of materialistic display in which science was superior to anthropology. This stage can be called the first leap of human civilization. When more and more people realize that science is also a double-edged sword, the second leap of human civilization can come when science and anthropology reflect together to the stage of mutual promotion and harmonious development of broad anthropology.  In the history of the development of Chinese medicine, there was a division between doctors and witches, and since then, yin and yang, the five elements, and evidence-based treatment have become the core strategy of Chinese medicine. In June this year, I was in Linzhi, Tibet, next to the sacred tree of the Lhoba people (yin and yang community) and the five plants it hosts, and vaguely perceived the cosmic model of heaven and earth with yin and yang as the vertical axis and gold, wood, water, fire and earth running around it. in early August in the Qilian Mountains, I had an epiphany that the trajectory of the electrocardiogram is exactly the horizontal running diagram of yin and yang going up and down, east (wood P wave) west (gold Q wave) south (fire R wave) north (water S wave) middle (earth T wave). Once the yin and yang no longer alternate, the five elements no longer run, the electrocardiogram is pulled into a straight line, the spirit and flesh are no longer unified, and life then ends.  The history of the development of Western medicine has also seen the parting of the ways between science and theology. Along with the development of human technology, medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds, hospitals are growing in size, and medical-related industries (pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and devices, etc.) are doing a booming business. The medical humanities are receding under the impact of the medical technology chariot, and one scientific miracle after another has inflated people’s expectations of contemporary medicine. Hospitals have been corporatized, medical care has been commercialized, doctors have been commercialized, and incidents of injury and harm to doctors have occurred, and contemporary medicine is facing an unprecedented humanistic crisis.  In order to learn from the painful experience, the only way to complete the second leap of human medical civilization is to correct the root of the problem, trace the essence of medicine, return to the original function of medicine, and absorb the reasonable humanistic elements of the past witchcraft and theology in line with the spirit of contemporary science into contemporary medicine. From this, we can see that medicine is the epitome of anthropology.  When it comes to anthropology, it is necessary to understand human nature. In his book “On Human Nature”, Chinese philosopher Professor Li Ming divides human nature into nine elements, rather than a simple dualism (good nature and evil nature). Each person is born with three levels, namely the lower three original evils (capriciousness, laziness, and envy), the middle three original desires (desire for food, lust, and knowledge), and the upper three spiritual levels (faith, knowledge, and love). If we put everyone into the original point of human nature, every social person has these nine elements, the difference is that their composition ratio is different. In the face of different circumstances and temptations, it depends on which of our human nature is released and whether it is good or bad elements! A socially recognized good people, good people, the transmission of positive energy is often the spirit of the three dominant people. Conversely, an evil person, a criminal is often ternary evil dominant. But as long as their lives continue, good and evil are in flux. Thus, it is easy to understand those “people” who are different before and after.  Take faith as an example, I have often seen in my nearly 30 years of clinical practice in surgery that patients who are able to survive have a strong faith, and not only live longer and with better quality, but also highlight the tenacity of life. Patients without faith often show the fragility of life. For this reason, we often lament that a person can be uneducated, but not without faith!  Life, old age, sickness and death are eternal human problems, but in contemporary medical practice, which is overly evidence-based and neglects humanism, more and more patients and families are overwhelmed by scientific miracles and mistakenly believe that once they enter the hospital, they must stand out, which can only be a misunderstanding of the concept of life and death. In fact, Zhuangzi’s story of “singing from a basin” is a good illustration of the meaning of life and death. When he saw the trees outside his window, he realized that everything in the world is different from the trees that grow and wither every year. The next day he stopped crying and sang a song with a basin, others thought he was crazy, but in fact he was singing for his wife’s return to nature, which is a kind of interpretation of life and death beyond the ordinary.  The author in nearly 30 years of surgical life in a deep understanding of the hospital is not only a small concentrated society, but also a large field of life, illness and death, the stage of sadness and happiness, surgeons are in the light of blood in the sense of life of a group of people. At home and abroad are advocating “patient-centered”, but in concrete practice who to implement? Medical staff who work hard on the front line to practice this concept, in the absence of reasonable reward for their labor, dignity and safety is not effectively guaranteed how to put it into practice? How can they reward patients and families who desire safety and dignity? If the medical staff is patient-centered, who should be patient-centered? While everyone knows that society is supposed to be an “all for one, one for all” service chain, and that social harmony and happiness depend more on the people upstream of each service chain.  In the limited journey of life, we are fortunate to experience the century-long changes of our country. In the 30 years from 1949 to 1979, we had the motherland in mind and the world in view; in the 30 years from 1979 to 2009, we had the world in mind and the universe in view; in the 40 years after 2009, we have the universe in mind, but where should we look? Should we look at our heart? Lu Jiuyuan, the founder of the School of Mind in the Song Dynasty, once said, “The universe is my mind, and my mind is the universe.  Ask the sky, ask the earth, where is my heart? Twenty-nine years of medical practice, the pursuit of dreams to ask the way of medicine. Medicine is a profession, a discipline, but also a career, a career. To treat a profession or occupation, as Confucius said: learning is better than enjoying, enjoying is better than being good. Only to the extent that it is good can it be called a career. The I Ching interprets career as “to lift up and take care of the people of the world”. Looking back on nearly 30 years of surgical life, surgery is like a stage, the surgeon as the main character, in the anesthesiologist, operating room nurses, with the full cooperation of the “singing” is invasive means of treatment of somatic diseases of a “martial arts”, rather than The “cultural drama”. The highest level of surgery is the art of human body repair, the essence of the surgeon is the body and soul of the double engineer. As we all know, Prometheus “stole the fire for mankind, willing to be punished for committing the gods”; teachers “the silkworms to the end of the silk, the wax torch into ashes before it dries. We doctors are no different. We use our own health and even life to exchange for the health and life of the patient, in addition, surgeons have to have a lion-like love, eagle-like eyes, embroidered girl-like hands. Therefore, the surgeon is a noble profession with the heart and hands and the heart of craftsmanship. The heart can not, how can the hands should? The chest has its own traffic lights, the heart has the road from the clear is a mature surgeon’s boundary stone.  As the saying goes: practice makes true knowledge. In more than 22 years of minimally invasive surgery practice, the author has designed 12 kinds of lumpectomy Chinese knot tying method (currently there are about 30 kinds in the world), six generations of nine types of non-pneumoperitoneum devices (their own single-hole non-pneumoperitoneum devices made with more than 30 dollars can replace more than 300,000 similar imported devices), more than 200 kinds of interdisciplinary joint surgery involving general surgery, gynecology, urology, cardiothoracic surgery. In addition to technological innovation three theories have been refined to guide further minimally invasive surgical practice. Such as Minimally Invasive Relativity, Trilogy of Laparoscopic Surgical Development, Ten Basic Principles of Laparoscopic Surgery and Ten Basic Skills. I have been honored to be one of the 60 young post-performers in the national health system awarded by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the Ministry of Health in 1996, and received the Endoscopy Award in 2005 and 2006, and the Endoscopy Leadership Award in 2010 and 2011. If these are considered successes, then “diligent thinking, courageous practice and good summary” are the paving stones.  The four principles I uphold as a doctor are to do my duty, to be kind, to have a clear conscience, and to do what I am told. Only when we are brave enough to take up our responsibilities and open our hearts to the realities beyond our reach can we face the mission given to us by society.  Science seeks truth, humanism seeks goodness, and the unity of truth and goodness is the great beauty. There are only three steps in the long road of life. Look up to the stars and set your goal in mind; watch the road in front of you and take every step; always look back and move forward with determination.