The Research On Ding Ganren’s Clinical Experience And Academic Thinking

Ding Ganren (1865-1926), whose courtesy name is Ze zhou,a native of Menghe Town of Wujin County in Jiangsu Province is a famous physician in the south of Yangze River in the Late-Qing-Early-ROC Period. Ding Ganren, Fei Boxiong, Ma Peizi and Chao Chongshan were acclaimed as "Four Outstanding Physicians of Menghe Medicine" at that time. Four Menghe families are the representatives of the Menghe medical school. Different from Fei and Ma who epitomize Menghe medicine in Menghe Town, Ding Ganren stands for its development in Shanghai. He is the latest famous physician of the four and one of the most influential physicians to the development of Chinese medicine. Ding Ganren was committed to development and innovation, but at the same time maintained the ideal of the traditional scholar physician. His great contribution is creating "the Ding’s medical school", a unique one which is specialized in treating acute febrile diseases and erosive-throat with rash (scarlet fever). He also made great contributions to Chinese medicine education, changing its single way of the apprentice system of family education, which initiates a new education system of modern Chinese medicine. However, there has not been any complete and systematic study and research on the individual life, academic thinking and abundant clinical experience of Ding Ganren, an outstanding physician and educator. Although there have been at least 50 theses about Ding family’s research since 1960s, some of these were in memory of Ding Ganren’s whole life to struggle for Chinese medicine, which only introduced the Ding’s life biographical sketch without any study about his important medicinal activities so that learners could not understand the Ding’s comprehensive growing experiences and the basic requirements to become a Chinese medicine clinical great master. While others focused on the limited part of academic thinking of Ding Ganren, such as Huang Wendong’s the Formation and Development of Ding Ganren’s Medical School, making a conclusion of the Ding’s academic thoughts, contributions and experience of exogenous diseases as well as severe diseases, the Zheng’s Fourteen Treatments of Splenico-gastric Diseases from Ding Ganren’s medical records, the Zhi’s the Study on Ding Ganren’s Treatment of Apoplexy, the Fang’s the Analysis on Treatment of Tumefaction from Ding Ganren’s medical records, the Guan’s Ding Ganren’s Five Treatments of Dysentery and so on. These articles couldn’t reflect the Ding’s deep influence to the development of Chinese medicine. The age the Ding lived in is not far away from ours, so his academic thinking and practical experience especially in treating acute febrile diseases have great help to today’s clinical work. With the increasing of all kinds of epidemic diseases lack of effective methods, traditional Chinese medicine has more advantages in therapeutic effects than the western medicine. That demonstrates that Chinese medicine has a unique predominance in prevention and treating of epidemic diseases. Therefore, the writer makes this research in order to inherit and integrate the Ding’s medical school and academic thinking.Experiencing the upsurge of the study of the Menghe medical school, the writer is so fortunate to become a student of Ding Yi’e, reading up lots of the Ding’s medical cases and his disciples’ articles. Emotionally moved by Ding Ganren’s spirit of devoting all life to Chinese medicine, the writer is inspired to arrange and research the Ding’s clinical experience and academic thinking completely and systematically. Thanks for my teacher, Ding Yi’e’s vigorous support and great help of data collecting, historical materials providing and evidence verifying, as well as his father, Ding Jiming, the grandson of Ding Ganren, a Chinese medicine expert, book collector and historian’ abundant medical information, the research goes on smoothly. The writer firstly took advantage of computers to make statistic analysis on the medicine the Ding’s was best use of and the diseases he experienced in treating which are all from Ding Ganren’ combination of diverse, Case records in Ding’s elder age and Ding Ganren’ case records. The writer then tries to find out the similarity and difference with modern research by analysis of idiographic case records. Our clinical work will be inspired and directed by the Ding’s academic thinking and practical experience.This thesis focuses on the medical activities and academic thinking as well as practical experience of Ding Ganren. It is a complete and systematic summary on Ding Ganren, a core representative figure of Menghe Medicine, an outstanding physician and educator well known throughout the northern and southern regions of China in late imperial China.In the part of Ding Ganren’s medical activities, this thesis reviews his origins and his transformation from a humble scholar to a great physician, describing a growth process of his deep studies on Chinese Medicine classics and becoming an educator teaching medical practical skills. Ding Ganren tried to unite diverse schools of medical learning into one integrated tradition centered on ancient principles of practice. He was at the forefront of medical modernization, becoming the model for others to follow, establishing schools of 869 graduates, of which Ding Jiwan, Chen Mengxue and Huang Wendong are the best. They make innovation and good use of different strong points, acclaimed as "the Ding’s medical school". Apart from that, the thesis makes a conclusion of the Ding’s disciple system, transforming the structure map of it, from which readers can clearly see most of modern Chinese medicine experts are descendants of the Ding’s medical school.The second portion of this thesis is a systemic collection, organization, analysis of Ding Ganren’s case records and his writings. 1.Ding Ganren’ research on pulse, the importance of pulse diagnosis and the techniques of taking pulse. He formed his unique pulse diagnosis techniques by taking advantage of Chinese Medicine classics and Fei family’s pulse diagnosis theory. 2.seven characteristics that defined Ding Ganren use of drugs such as focusing on the quality of drugs, using drugs with even nature, using small amount of drugs, using fresh herbs, using the essence of drugs and using food therapy. 3.Using statistical analysis to find out ten most commonly used herbs of the total 458 drugs used by Ding Ganren in the whole medical life are Fu Ling, bei Mu, Ban Xia, Chen Pi, Fu Shen, Zhu Ru, Xin Ren, Bai Shu, Lian Qiao and Chi Shao.These are all the drugs of even nature which belong to kinds of invigorating spleen, cleaning heat and resolving phlegm. We learned how to use these herbs through the special cases and at the same their use reflected the special way of balanced and lightly using of the Ding. 4. Collecting from the total 205 formulas the eight most commonly used classic formulas are Ma Xin Shi Gan Tang, Xiao Chai Hu Tang, Wu Lin San, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, Gui Pi Tang, Zhu Ye Shi Gao Tang, Gui Zhi Bai Hu Tang and Huang Qi Jian Zhong Tang. Except Gui Pi Tang and Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, all of those are Zhong Jing prescriptions. Integrating those formulas with the case records, we can discover the different using way in treating different illness to guide our clinical work.5. The Ding had a deep study in discussion of damage cold and recommends the Zhong Jing formulas. He also experienced in integrating Zhong Jing prescriptions with current prescriptions in clinical practice. Zhong Jing prescriptions take 24.4% in total 205 formulas; meanwhile they take 22.3% in total 138 using frequency. We found out that Mr. Ding was good at using Zhong Jing prescriptions to treat acute and severe illness while using current prescriptions to regulate human body. 6. From the analysis of diseases identification, we can see that Ding Ganren had breadth in his cases from internal medicine, external medicine to gynecology. His specialties for internal medicine were epidemic febrile disease with dampness, cough and wind-warm syndrome. His specialties for external medicine are abscess, cellulites, throat disease and scrofula. In gynecology area, he specialized in irregular menstruation, pregnant disease and puerperal disease. His biggest break in medicine practice is the approach in treating epidemic febrile disease, which is one of great contribution in development of Chinese medicine. He combined the doctrines of cold damage and warm pathogen therapeutics in syndrome differentiation of acute febrile disease. A new cold-warm pathogen differentiation system was established by integration of syndrome differentiation according to six meridians and defensive Qi, nutritive and boold. In the field of external disease, Ding Ganren focused on the combination of internal medicine and surgical operations according to the concept of integrity. In the principals of severe syndrome treatment, Mr. Ding suggested to use therapeutic method of invigorating Qi, spleen and Yang, toxin elimination to ensure sufficient vital Qi after festering, while using creams and plasters to improve curative effect. Mr. Ding had abundant experience in treating putrefying throat sand. He said, "I cured more than 10,000 patients suffering putrefying throat sand in past twenty years, and obtained few experience. Syndrome differentiation according to defensive Qi, nutritive and blood was applied to the treatment process of three stages. And keep sweating is most important thing in the treatment principals. It is a hint to us as a TCM physician that we can’t simply imitate western medicine doctor in becoming too narrowly focused. And this trend would obstruct the growth of our Chinese medicine as a whole. Mr. Ding was an outstanding physician who referred to all the fields of Chinese medicine. Above six points summarize the ding’s academic thinking and characteristics including the formation and development of Mr. Ding’s learning and current, and inheriting to experience of ancient physicians. Exploiting Mr. Ding’s experience of how to become to a master also directs most of TCM physicians in today’s society. Distinguished Ding Ganren became famous in the late Qing Dynasty, whose academic thinking, experience and great contribution have a deep influence on traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, the study plays a positive and realistic use in the field of disease prevention and health care to enlighten Chinese medicine of today, improve the curative effect, and enhance the confidence of it.