The second chapter of “The Strange Tale of the Needle” is about a woman, Tilha, saving her father in Chang’an. The order of Taicang was guilty and was delivered to Chang’an City. I hate myself for not having a son, and I am all alone in distress. The youngest daughter was pained by her father’s words that the dead could not be born. I wrote a letter to the queue, thinking about the ancient song of the rooster. My heart was broken, and the morning breeze raised the sound of excitement. Emperor Xiaowen of the Holy Han Dynasty felt compassionate. A hundred men are not as troubled as a Tiliao! This is a poem in five lines written by Ban Gu, the author of “The Book of Han”, for the story of Tilu, a weak woman, who saved her father. The poem says that the Duke of Cang was accused of a crime and sent to the capital, but there was no boy at home. Who was Cang Gong? And what was the reason for his conviction? He was the governor of the granary in the capital city of Qi – the chief of Taicang, so people called him Cang Gong. When Chun Yu Yi was young, he was very fond of medicine and prescriptions, and when he heard that Gongsun Guang of Tangli in Zichuan was good at preaching ancient prescriptions, he took him as his teacher and learned the method of “formulaizing yin and yang” and “transmission of words”, and recorded what he learned one by one. Not only that, he also asked his teacher many times to pass on more knowledge to him. After a while, Gongsun Guang told him, “I have passed on all the knowledge and skills to you without reservation, and I have no more specialties. My health is failing and I will not begrudge this anymore.” Knowing that it was no longer possible to learn more skills from Gongsun Guang, Chun Yu Yi spent his free time studying Fang Yi in depth with his teacher, and every time he discussed it, he was able to speak with some unique insights. One day, when Gongsun Guang saw Chun Yu Yi, he said to him happily, “Yi, someone as dedicated and thoughtful as you will surely become a great national doctor. Among the people I like, there is Gong Cheng Yang Qing of Linzi, whom I admire for his strange prescription techniques, which most outsiders do not know. When I was middle-aged, I wanted to learn from him, but I couldn’t learn from him because Yang Zhongqian stopped me at that time, thinking that I was not this material. Now, I’m going to take you along to pay homage to him, because I think you’d be perfect to be his student.” Coincidentally, at this very moment, male Yin, son of Gong Cheng Yang Qing, came to offer his horse, because Gong Sun Guang needed to reintroduce the horse to the royal family, so Chun Yu Yi had the opportunity to get close to male Yin. Gongsun Guang introduced Chun Yu Yi to Male Yin, saying, “Chun Yu Yi likes the art of recitation, I hope you will get along well in the future.” Later, he also wrote a special letter to Gongsun Yangqing, recommending Chun Yu Yi to him. In the eighth year of Gao Hou (180 BC), Gongsheng Yangqing accepted Chun Yu Yi, who was then 26 years old and over 70 years old. Because of his family’s wealth, he refused to treat people’s diseases. Chun Yu Yi accompanied Gongsheng Yangqing and served him diligently for many years. One day, he called Chun Yu Yi to the table and said to him, “Don’t read those prescription books you used to have, they are not good. My family is rich and I like you very much, so I want to give you all my secret recipe books.” Hearing this, Chun Yu Yi was very touched and said, “That is very kind of you, teacher, which I dare not hope for.” He was so happy that he couldn’t stop thanking Gong Cheng Yang Qing for what he had longed for. After that, Chun Yu Yi was like a fish out of water, studying the prescription books and testing the effects of treatment in practice at all times, and after a year he had some success. After three years, he often consulted people and made few mistakes in the prognosis of life and death of diseases. At this time, Chun Yu Yi was 39 years old. Gongsheng Yangqing said to him privately, “You have completed your studies, but do not let my descendants know that you have learned my medical skills.” After completing his studies, Chun Yu Yi treated people and often got rid of their illnesses. After his training, he traveled a lot and made friends with the lords, but he did not want to be bound by those powerful people, so he offended many people who begged him for medical treatment but could not get it, including the king of Zhao, the king of Jiaoxi, and the king of Jinan. At that time, King Wen of Qi was suffering from obesity, shortness of breath, headache, blurred vision, and laziness. When Chun Yu Yi heard about it, he thought that the king should regulate his diet, exercise his muscles and bones, open up his emotions, and unblock his blood vessels in order to diarrhea the surplus. However, a quack doctor mistakenly administered moxibustion, making King Wen’s condition worse to the point of death. So, these princes and nobles took the opportunity to blame Chunyu Yi for not treating people’s illnesses, and the sick families complained about it. In the fourth year of Emperor Wen’s reign (176 B.C.), a petition was filed against him and he was sent to Chang’an in a special chariot to receive flesh punishment according to the criminal law. During the Han Dynasty, the main punishments were branding on the face, cutting off the nose, and chopping off the left and right toes. Chun Yu Yi’s family had five daughters and no sons. When his daughters saw that he was going to have a lawsuit, they all cried. When Chun Yu Yi saw that his family was full of weak women, he could not help but sigh: “All of them are daughters, none of them are men, and in case of emergency, they are all useless. That’s all!” Hearing her father’s words, the young girl Tilha was so sad that she decided to follow her father westward. When she arrived at Chang’an, in order to save her father, she wrote to Emperor Wen, “My father was an official of the court, and the people of Qi praised his integrity and fairness, but now he has broken the law. I am very sad that a person who is executed cannot be reborn, and a person who is disabled by torture cannot be rehabilitated, so even if I want to reform myself, there is no way to do so. I would rather work as a servant myself to atone for my father’s sin, so that my father could have a chance to reform himself. In addition, Emperor Wen also asked the prime minister Zhang Cang and the imperial historian Feng Jing to discuss the reform of the criminal law, changing the original punishment of branding, wakeskating and beheading the left and right toes to flogging and capital punishment. In the 13th year of Emperor Wen’s reign (167 BC), Emperor Wen officially decreed the abolition of meat punishment and started the reform of the penal system. This is the famous reform of Emperor Wen’s penal system in Chinese history. After Chun Yu Yi returned home, the emperor issued an imperial edict asking him some things about his medical consultations, which asked, “What is the reason that some of the diseases you treat are the same and you treat them differently; that some people die while others live from the same disease?” Chunyu Yi answered one by one, with reasoning. The edict also asked, “You hope that all patients can save their lives and recover their health, but some of them do not meet your expectation, what is the reason for that?” Chunyu Yi replied, “It is because the patients do not eat well, their emotions are out of order, some are improperly medicated, some are improperly acupuncturated, so there are also patients who do not meet their expectations and die.” The edict also asked, “How many years have you studied medicine? What were the healing effects ever? Of the patients treated, how many were spiritual? What were their names? Which county and township was the patient from? What kind of diseases did they suffer from? What were the symptoms at the onset of the disease? Chun Yu Yi was able to give specific answers to all of them. Why can Chun Yu Yi still remember the patients he saw many years ago? Take a look at the following two stories and you will understand. One day, the king of Zichuan was suffering from a headache and summoned Chun Yu Yi to consult him. “Lord Taicang, look at this headache of mine, accompanied by body heat and boredom, which has not been able to subside.” King Zichuan said. After consulting him, Chun Yu Yi said, “This is a prostration disease caused by heat evil invading the upper part of the body with severe symptoms, resulting in a headache with body heat that makes one bored.” Then, he asked, “Recently, has anything happened in life and living that might cause the onset of the disease?” King Zichuan thought about it and said, “The day before the onset of the disease, I washed my hair once, and after that I lay down to sleep.” “You went to sleep before your hair dried?” “Yes! And fell asleep very quickly.” “It is this that gives you a headache. This is an internal invasion of dampness, which turns into heat, and the heat blocks the qi, so that the qi reverses upward.” “Then what should I do?” “Your illness is in the Yang Ming division, and should be treated from the Yang Ming meridian. This is different from the heat prostration of Ji Bei Wang’s mamma, which was caused by drunkenness, and I cured her by stabbing three points on the heart of her feet.” “You won’t stab my feet too, will you?” “No, her illness is at the bottom, while yours is at the top. However, before the needling, you should prepare some cold water and put cold water on your head to temporarily cool down first.” “Good!” King Zichuan said, and let the servant bring a basin of cold water, and coldly compressed the forehead. After the compress, Chun Yu Yi needled his foot Yang Ming, selecting three points on each side on the left and right foot Yang Ming meridians, a total of six, and soon after the prick, the fever subsided. “Lord Taicang is really a divine needle, why did it work so fast?” King Zichuan asked. “Needling the foot Yangming can drain the heat outside and guide the Qi down, the headache will heal itself.” “Duke Cang has worked hard. Come! Sit down and drink some water.” King Zichuan instructed his servant to pour tea. “Wait a minute, may I ask King Zichuan, is there a blank piece of silk?” “What do I need it for?” “I want to record the process of treating you, which will be beneficial for future treatment.” “Lord Cang is really a man with a heart! There is one on the desk, you can use it.” Chun Yu Yi took out a piece of silk and recorded the whole process of diagnosis and treatment. On another occasion, a doctor in the state of Qi named Zhuan suddenly fell ill and asked Chun Yu Yi to go and treat him. In between treatments, Chun Yu Yi put the thin bamboo slip he had brought with him and spread it out on the case, using a pen to briefly write down the personal condition of Zhuan, as well as the development and treatment of the disease. He wrote: “Qi Langzhong Lingzhuan, who suddenly fainted and fluttered, had been examined by several doctors, all of whom considered the disease to be a prostration, a syncope of rebellious qi rising from the bottom upward and going upward and into the abdomen and chest, and they had previously treated him with acupuncture. So far, no significant effect has been achieved through the needling of medium acupuncture points.” After noting this, Chun Yu Yi cut the pulse for Zhuan, and after the diagnosis, said to him, “You have a Chung hernia, a disease that affects one’s urination and defecation.” “Yes! I haven’t had a bowel movement for three days.” Zhuan said. “You should be careful, your disease is caused by room strain, so you should avoid room strain and cooperate with the treatment.” “You know this, too, I am so sorry, I will do as you say.” “Well then, I will prescribe you Fire Qi Soup, and you will take it for three days in a row.” “Good!” After the first dose, he relieved his urine, and after the second dose, he relieved his bowels. After he recovered from his illness, he asked Chun Yu Yi; “How do you know my condition so well?” Chun Yu Yi said, “I can know the disease you are suffering from because when I cut your pulse, your pulse was urgent, but I could not see from it that the five organs were suffering from diseases. A fast pulse is a surge of heat and evil in the middle and lower jiao. Your left hand pulse is a fast flow of heat and evil downward, and your right hand pulse is a fast flow of heat and evil upward, but there is no reaction of the disease qi of the five organs, so it is said to be a “Chung Hernia”. Heat accumulates in the middle jiao, so the urine is red.” This is Chun Yu Yi’s mastery of using needles when he can, and attacking inside when he can’t, so that he can diagnose the disease differently from other doctors. As to what exactly is the formula of Huoqi Tang, some people say it is Diarrhea Heart Soup, while others say it is Huanglian Detoxification Soup, but there is no definite conclusion so far. Since Chun Yu Yi had detailed records of his consultations and typical medical records every time he consulted a patient, he was able to keep in his mind, and therefore, he was able to answer all the questions asked by the imperial court. Chun Yu Yi was the first person ever known to record medical cases, as he was required by imperial decree to describe cases and establish a medical record. In his medical record, he recorded 25 typical medical records, with as many as 10 deaths. This is a rare scientific spirit to be so frank and unapologetic in the early Western Han Dynasty. This is related to the fact that there was no unified name for the meridian points at that time, as can be seen from the documentary record of “Palaeology – Meridians” excavated from the Western Han tomb at Mawangdui. References Chapter 2 Han – Sima Qian: “Historical Records – The 45th Biography of Cang Gong”, Han – Ban Gu: “Winging the History”, “Hanshu – The Third Book of Criminal Law