Zhang Kun, a novelist in the Tang Dynasty, recorded a folk experience in treating leprosy: there are some strange legends about leprosy. Because most women suffer from this disease, according to folk customs, women will be radiant for a period of time after being infected with this disease, and if their faces are peach blossoms, it is advisable to lure men to surrender at this time, so that madness can be passed on to men, and they will be free from death, while the men who surrender will die; After passing on her madness to others, a woman can marry someone else and live an ordinary life, just like ordinary people. At that time, people called this kind of behavior "excessive", "excessive" or "open" and "selling madness" In this context, the life of leprosy patients can be imagined. However, the hero of our story is lucky. The first hero, Lu. Mr. Lu, who lives in Quanzhou, unfortunately contracted leprosy, which is very serious. His nose festered, leaving only the root of his nose. I tried my best to cure it, but there was nothing I could do. This year's Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth day of May, is probably due to exorcism and other reasons. I found the gallbladder of a pair of pythons and was about to swallow it. Suddenly I heard someone say, "This is a boa constrictor. Eating its meat can cure my madness!" " It would be nice if someone in our family ate it. "Mr. Lu, who was tortured to death, believes that although this method has never been heard of, at least it is a dead horse. Just try it. So I took a piece of snake meat and ate it. Three or five days passed, and I felt as if I had some effect, so I continued to eat. After three months, I actually got better.
The author quoted the novel in full in order to know more details. There are indeed many legends in ancient times. If leprosy is transmitted to men, men will die and they will be spared. This is obviously the feudal thought at work, but it can also explain the noble quality of Chu. When love and life are measured, she chooses both! But after all, her leprosy has been cured. What are the prescriptions used by rural doctors? Will there be snake gall in it? Could it have something to do with this novel by Zhang Kun?
Many strange and interesting things are recorded in Zhang Kun's One in One's Office. The emergence of this leper's folk prescription will certainly cause a shock in the Tang Dynasty at that time, and will certainly help lepers. Liu Zongyuan, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a famous book "Snake Catcher", which described the scene of the royal army going to Yongzhou to catch snakes, and said that the people participated in snake catching and presented it to the court. It shows that snake gall is of great value, but isn't it used to treat leprosy? We might as well look back at history.
In ancient times, leprosy was really anticlimactic. The Analects of Confucius said, "Bo Niu has a disease. When the son asked him, he held his hand and said, "If you die, you die!"! "Is shaking hands through the window, afraid of infection. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the law of Qin State found lepers guilty and put them to death. It can be said that countless leprosy patients were killed and burned to death. Although there are feudal thoughts at work, we are really helpless about leprosy. The Eastern Han Dynasty's Shennong Herbal Classic had a preliminary understanding of leprosy. " Snake meat has the functions of promoting blood circulation, expelling pathogenic wind, resolving phlegm and eliminating dampness, and invigorating middle energizer and qi. "This is obviously a new view of leprosy treatment.
A little more detailed is Zhang Zhongjing's synopsis of the golden chamber, which says, "At first, I felt my skin was heartless, or I felt like a bug, or I saw something hanging in front of my eyes, or I had a dark rash." "If you don't treat for a long time, you are stubborn, or you can't sweat, your hands and feet are sore, moxibustion doesn't hurt, or you are in a good mood on your face; Or in the chest and neck, it looks like a bug ... or in a painful place, the flow is different ... or it is like a rope, it is difficult to throw a ball in a hurry, and both hands and feet can't shake. My eyes are swollen, my internal and external aches, my urine is reddish yellow, my urine is watery, my face is colorless, and I forgot. " This proves that Zhang Zhongjing in the Eastern Han Dynasty added snake gall to the prescription for expelling wind and removing dampness, which doubled the effect of expelling wind and detoxifying! Snake gall can be used as medicine, but its efficacy will vary according to the kind of snake. It is not difficult to understand the meaning of "alien snake" captured in the snake catcher's theory, and it also proves that it is true to treat leprosy by eating snake meat in Zhang Kun's Official People's Daily.
On the discussion of infectious diseases, there are special articles in the Tang Dynasty's "Tips Outside Taiwan" by Wang Tao and "Prepare for a Thousand Daughters" by Sun Simiao. According to Taiping Guangji, "Hospital, as a charity, began in the Tang Dynasty, and its name has been changed several times, or it is called Hospital, Sad Field Hospital, or General Rescue Hospital, or Sanatorium, and so on. Later, for convenience, it was collectively called the ward. " This shows that the pharmaceutical industry achieved unprecedented development in the Tang Dynasty, with the emergence of charities for poor and sick civilians and beggars, and hospitals began to serve the public. The New Tang Book also records that the daily necessities needed in the hospital are distributed by the government, such as medicine, money, grain, utensils and so on. In fact, this is a huge change, from private or monasteries to state institutions. According to historical records, the ward was established and popularized during the reign of Wu Zetian.
Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, conducted in-depth research and clinical practice on leprosy. Because the notes in Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica were unclear, Sun Simiao treated more than 600 leprosy patients in isolation and took good care of them regardless of their personal safety. Finally, Sun Simiao made a detailed discussion on the pathology and pathogenesis of leprosy, and also came up with a dialectical prescription. "There are 444 kinds of strong winds. In short, there are no five kinds, that is, five kinds of winds, one is yellow wind, the other is green wind, the third is Whitestorm, the fourth is red wind and the fifth is black wind." He believes that "the causes are all caused by alternating cold and heat, flowing into the five internal organs, entering the bone marrow, overexertion, abnormal diet, irregular atrioventricular node, overexertion, sweating all over, accumulation of heat, wind and heat entering the five internal organs, miscellaneous diet, eating the bones of the five internal organs for a long time." Sun Simiao's prescription for leprosy was originally "a kind of Wei Lei pill powder prescription"; In the middle and late stage, use "Naive Baiwei Pill"; External use includes Dabai ointment and Dahui ointment; Disinfecting drugs such as realgar and cinnabar can be used.
"Evil wind" is an exogenous pathogenic factor of leprosy. What a long journey it has been from Huangdi Neijing to Sun Simiao's Qianjinfang. Later, the Complete Book of Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment in the Song Dynasty, Compendium of Materia Medica in the Ming Dynasty and a series of elegant books in the Qing Dynasty all indicated the representative prescriptions for the treatment of leprosy.