Research On The Lecture Notes On The Diagnosis Of Traditional Chinese Medicine And Medical Cases Of Liang Han-Fen,a Famous Lingnan Physician

PurposeIt is a prosperous period from Qing dynasty to Min Guo period for the development of Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region.It notes that the medical theories have been much enriched,the practice of Chinese Medicine is widely adopted,the number of famous physicians grows big,and their achievements are prominent.Atthis time,the Lingnan medical and health activities accumulated and developed from Qin,Han,Tang,Song,Yuan to Ming dynasties has the opportunity to meet with the new knowledge of Western Medicine.This opportunity adds fuel for the development of the Chinese Medicine in Guangdong.It is therefore an important period for research in the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region.Apparently,it becomes a hardcore in the research of the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region.Yet,the research on the medical history and literature of the traditional Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region appears a bit scattered.There are repeated researches of physicians with readily available data.The study of those physicians,with less available literatures or the data difficult to be found,would not be conducted,like Liang Han-fen,Lu An-qing,Lu Chu-bai,Chen Ying-qi,Li Guang-hai,Xie Ze-lin,and Liang Zi-ju.In the history of the development of the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region,there are a great number of famous physicians arising in the Region.Their medical thought,would,to some extent,represent the distinctive characteristics of the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region.Their work would be a major composition of the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region.The research into them would therefore be one of the focus in the study of the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region.This research would be an in-depth study of the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" and medical cases of Liang Han-fen,a famous Lingnan physician.There are no systematic and in-depth study of the medical literatures of Liang Han-fen,due to different reasons.The thesis of "Research on The Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Cases of Liang Han-fen,a famous Lingnan physician" would take into account of his distinctive medical thought,medical experience and medical practices.-It is also an opportunity to collect,to collate and to document his medical cases finding from various magazines into one piece.This is not only a contribution to the Medical History and Literature of the Traditional Chinese Faculty of the University,and is also beneficial to the academic communion in the history of research of the Chinese Medicine in Lingnan Region in Guangdong.MethodThe basic foundation work of the research consists of three parts,viz.,data collection,data compilation,and field survey.(1)Data collectionThe "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine"and its related literatures are mainly kept in Zhong Shan Library of the Guangdong Province and the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine Library.Through the net-work searching,the relevant books have been identified.The books are being read with notes taken.They have also been filmed and photo-copied.(2)Data compilationThere are two versions of the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" being kept in the Zheng Shan Library of the Guangdong Province.The one consisting of three parts was published by the Guangdong Chinese Medicine Specialist School.The other one consisting of two parts was issued by the Guangdong Guang Han Chinese Medicine Specialist School.The content of both versions is nearly the same,with differences in emphasis of certain topics.For example,there is no mention of the explanation on headache diagnosis deliberated by KO Shi-cheng in the Guangdong Chinese Medicine Specialist School version,while the other version has.Further,the former version has missed the whole part of pulse examination.Professor Liang Chung-ming,the grandson of Liang Han-fen,has kept a copy of the Guangdong Chinese Medicine Specialist School version,consisting of two parts.The content is basically intact on the whole.This version would be adopted for the research.The texts of the Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" are then type-written into computer.The column format is changed to a row one.The traditional Chinese is converted into Simplified Chinese.The punctuation and numbering is also put into the texts.So far,there has been no systematic compilation of medical cases of Liang Han-fen.A total of twelve detail medical cases were published in various Guangdong Chinese Medicine Magazines,viz.,Volume 12,1958;Volume 2,1963;Volume 3,1969;Volume 5,1969;and Volume 11,1969.The cases are namely,Uremia with complication of jaundice,Spasm(1),Spasm(2),Headache and Swing of Head due to lever problem,The treatment of Night Thirsty with Bolus of six drugs with xixin,The treatment of Heat invading Uterus with Zixuedan,The treatment of Constipation with pipaye,The treatment of Urinary gravel with jinqiancao,Stomach ache,Stiffness due to lever heat,Stiffness due to stomach heat,and Flaccid paralysis.Further,a total of 18 brief medical cases were published in various Chinese Medicine Magazine,viz.,Volume 3,Volume 4,and Volume 5.(3)Field SurveyIt is difficult to find the literatures,articles,and medical cases of Liang Han-fen in district local organizations.The situation is aggravated due to the Cultural Revolution.A lot of traditional Chinese Medicine documents had been destroyed at that time.It is so happened that Professor Liang Chung-ming,the grandson of Liang Han-fen,is teaching in the faculty of the Chinese Medicine School of the Chinese University in Hong Kong.And,I am his student.He let me have his copy of "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" for research.Besides,a survey will be conducted with him,with a view to learn more on the medical thought,medical experience,and distinctive practices of his grandfather.Result1.Undergo a systematic study on the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" published in 1929 and to make its content completeProfessor Liang Chung-ming,the grandson of Liang Han-fen,has kept a copy of the Guangdong Chinese Medicine Specialist School version,consisting of two parts.The content is intact on the whole.As such,this version is adopted for the research.After scrutinizing the "Lecture Notes" in detail,it is found that there are three sections missing under the part on "Pulse Examination" in this version.The sections are "The difference between the first touch pulse examination and the lengthy touch pulse examination","The differentiation on floating and sinking pulse",and "The differentiation of true and false pulse".It is fortunate that these sections can be found in the Guangdong Guang Han Chinese Medicine Specialist School version.They are extracted and inserted into the adopted version to make it complete.The texts of the Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" are then type-written into computer.The column format is changed to a row one.The traditional Chinese is converted into Simplified Chinese.The punctuation and numbering is also introduced.2.Digging out and collating the headnotes dropped down by Liang Han-fen at the Inspection section of the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine"Having gone Professor Liang Chung-ming’ s(Grandson of Liang Han-fen)copy of the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine",it is discovered that Liang Han-fen dropped down quite a lot of headnotes at the inspection section,which have not been seen in the other versions.Liang Han-fen is a scholar in Chinese Medicine theories as well as an expert Chinese Medicine practitioner.He made comments on the doctrines he quoted from "Huangdi’ s Internal Classic","Essentials from the Golden Cabinet","Yibian",and other classic booksin Chinese Medicine in the form of headnotes.The valuable comments are very concise and precise in deliberation of the physiology and pathology of diseases.As Liang Han-fen is expert in clinical practice,he would also drop down thoseeffective medicine prescriptions adopted during his medical practiceat the headnotes.3.The deliberation of the four examinations,namely,Inspection,Listening and smelling,Inquiry,and Palpation by Liang Han-fen and his expertise in diagnosis of Traditional Chinese MedicineThe content of the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" is very rich.The diagnosis course is delivered through an in-depth deliberation of the four examinations,namely,Inspection,Listening and smelling,Inquiry,and Palpation by Liang Han-fen.The whole book has a total of 444 main treaties,and there are several fold of explanation treaties from distinct physicians in history quoted.There are a total of 121,090 words in the whole "Lecture Notes".InspectionLiang emphasizes the importance of the inspection of "Shen(神)" by putting this in the very first section of the Part on Inspection.The deliberation begins with "Life is being maintained with "Shen(神)";Death comes with the loss of "Shen(神)"" quoted from "Huangdi’s Internal Classic".In this part,Liang further explained the abstract"Shen(神)" by quotations cited from a number of distinctive physicians in history.He states that "Shen(神)" can be felt by observation of body form,pulse,and appetite.Listening and smellingIt is through listening the patient’s speaking,sneezing,and respiration to determine the type of evils,the place of the illness,and the property of the illness in the part of Listening and smelling.These points of views mainly comefrom "Huangdi’s Internal Classic","Essentials from the Golden Cabinet",and "Yibian".InquiryThis part of Inquiry consists of ten sections,namely Inquiry of Body Temperature,Inquiry of Sweat,Inquiry of Head and Body,Inquiry of Mouth,Inquiry of Heart,Inquiry of Chest,Inquiry of Hip、Inquiry of Stomach,Inquiry of Bowel Movement,and Inquiry of Menstrual Cycle Problem.Liang has cited abundant points of views from distinctive physicians in history to illustrate his view points.The deliberation in the section on Inquiry of Menstrual Cycle Problem,consisting of 8 divisions,is so thorough that it covers gynecology to a certain extent.Further the causes of menstrual cycle problems were explained in detail.If this section is extracted out,it would become a monograph of gynecology of Chinese medicine.PalpationThe part on palpation consists mainly two sections,namely the basic theory of pulse examination,and the indication of illness by the 27 individual forms of pulse.The section of the basic theory of pulse examination includes deliberation on the origin of pulse,the three sections and nine touches,the attribution of "Viscera" to the three sections,the time for pulse examination,the body position for pulse examination,the methods of pulse examination,the proper pulse,etc.Liang puts the deliberation on the origin of pulse in the beginning of this section.He takes the view on the origin of pulse from Western Medicine to complement the shortage on this part under the traditional Chinese Medicine.He accepts that the pulse arising from the pumping action of the heart.In the second section,he continues to deliberate in great detail the illustration of illness by the 27 individual forms of pulse.If this part on palpation is extracted out,it would also become a monograph of sphygmology.4.Compilation of Liang Han-fen’ s medical cases and study of his medical thought,Clinical Experience and Distinctive Medical PracticeA total of twelve detail medical cases were extracted from various Guangdong Chinese Medicine Magazines,viz.,Volume 12,1958;Volume 2,1963;Volume 3,1969;Volume 5,1969;and Volume 11,1969.The cases are namely,Uremia with complication of jaundice,Spasm(1),Spasm(2),Headache and Swing of Head due to lever problem,The treatment of Night Thirsty with Bolus of six drugs with Xixin,The treatment of Heat invading Uterus with Zixuedan,The treatment of Constipation with Pipaye,The treatment of Urinary gravel with Jinqiancao,Stomach ache,Stiffness due to lever heat,Stiffness due stomach heat,and Flaccid paralysis.They are type-written into computer and complied in the thesis.A total of 18 brief medical cases were also extracted in various Chinese Medicine Magazine,viz.,Volume 3,Volume 4,and Volume 5.It would be furtherstudied to analyze Liang’ s medical thought and distinctive medical practice.In the study of the medical cases of Liang Han-fen,it is proved that he is the distinctive one in dealing with emergency cases.His medical thought,medical experience and distinctive medical practice can be summarized as(1)Expert in Diagnosis and Emphasis on Tongue and Pulse Examination,(2)Emphasis on commonly-adopted prescription and Expert usage of Herbs,and(3)Complement of Chinese Medicine with Western Medicine in saving patients under emergency.ConclusionLiang Han-fen,a contemporary famous Lingnan physician,is an expert clinical practitioner and a well-known educationalist in traditional Chinese Medicine.He was the chief editor of the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine",the "Lecture Notes on ophthalmology in Traditional Chinese Medicine",and the "Lecture Notes on pharmacotherapeutice in Traditional Chinese Medicine".These text books were at the very high standard in the academic field in those days.Liang Han-fen is rich in clinical experience and very knowledgeable in traditional Chinese Medicine theories.These established his pronoun position in modern Lingnan Chinese Medicine academic field.His achievements are reflected as follows:(1)Expert in Diagnosis and Emphasis on Tongue and Pulse ExaminationLiang Han-fen is an expert in diagnosis.He emphasizes the importance of tongue and pulse examination during diagnosis.He mentions that the patient in emergency state usually cannot speak well or even in comma.Physicians are required to determine the illness and prescribe medicine according to tongue and pulse examination.At that time,a number of hospitals of western medicine would invite Liang to join saving those emergency patients in tackling uremia,comma,and acute stomach ache.In general,the patients have impressive effects,in response to treatments.(2)Emphasis on commonly-adopted prescriptions and Expert usage of HerbsDuring his medical practice in Guangzhou,Liang has discovered that the prescriptions commonly in use in local districts are very effective in tackling diseases.For example,it is popular to use "Five Seeds Soup" to deal with hernia,to take "Seven Star Tea" to tackle common fever,to make use of Momordica dried piece(kuguagan),Buchnera cruciata(guiyujian),Ficus microcarpa air roots(rongshuxu),and Scheffiera octophylla skin(yajiaomupi)to handle cold,to tale Bamboo seaweed,Algae,Rehmannia glutinosa,and Rhino skin(xiniupi)to handle acne.(3)Complement of Chinese Medicine with Western Medicine in saving patients under emergencyLiang Han-fen is a contemporary open-minded Chinese Medicine practitioner.He promulgates to learn from Western Medicine,to urge for a closer exchange in experience with Chinese Medicine practitioners and Western doctors,and to promote contact with each other,and to study the knowledge of both sides.In handling medical cases,he respects the views of the Western doctors on diagnosis and treatment.In 1956,he was at the age of 80.Being a consultant of Guangzhou City Number 2 Hospital,he was invited to tackle Uremia with complication of jaundice case.He took into consideration of the diagnosis of the Western doctors and prescribed Chinese medicine to the patients accordingly.The result was very impressive.The patient was turned into a healthy condition after treatments.This reflects Liang is an opened-minded Chinese Medicine practitioner.He will not be stuck up by the thinking of Western medicine.He is humble to absorb different views.He is a life-long learning scholar.As a result,he becomes a famous physician in Lingnan Region eventually.Creativeness:Undergoing a systematic study on the "Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine" published in 1929 and to make its content complete.The first time to collate and to research on the.headnotes dropped down by Liang Han-fen at the Inspection section of the"Lecture Notes on the Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine".The first time to have a thorough deliberation of the four examinations,namely,Inspection,Listening and smelling,Inquiry,and Palpation by Liang Han-fen and to study his expertise in diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine.To survey on Liang Han-fen’s medical cases and to document them as well asto summarize his medical thought,clinical Experience and distinctive medical practicethrough an in-depth examination of those cases.