Name: Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan, nickname Baopuzi
Birth and death: 284-364
Description: Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan, nickname Baopuzi, known as "Gexianweng", was from Jurong County, Danyang (now Jurong County, Jiangsu Province).
Birthplace: Jurong County, Jiangsu Province
Ge Hong’s Personal Overview Edit this paragraph “Pursuing knowledge without studying is like a fish without a net; although one is diligent, one will not gain anything.” . This is a famous saying by Ge Hong, a scientist in the Jin Dynasty.
Ge Hong, whose courtesy name was Zhichuan, also known as Baopuzi, was known as "Ge Xianweng" and was a native of Jurong County, Danyang (now Jurong County, Jiangsu Province). He was born in about the fourth year of Taikang in the Jin Dynasty (AD 283) and died in the first year of Xingning in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 363). In his later years, he lived in seclusion in Luofu Mountain, Guangdong, refining elixirs, collecting medicines, and writing until his death. Chen Jiamo of the Ming Dynasty quoted a poem from "Ode to the Portraits of Famous Doctors in the Past" in his "Materia Medica" to summarize his life: "I was trapped in Luofu, traveled leisurely and raised my guide, and he was known as the Immortal, and he will be passed down to his descendants." But this only speaks of his side of refining elixirs, collecting medicines, and seeking immortality in seclusion. But the other side of him has been ignored. In fact, he was a famous scientist in ancient times. He made many important discoveries and creations in medicine and pharmaceutical chemistry, and also had many outstanding insights in literature. His works consist of approximately five hundred and thirty volumes. However, most of them have been lost, and the ones that have been handed down to this day mainly include "Baopuzi" and "Rescuing Soldiers from Behind the Elbow". "Baopuzi" is a comprehensive work, divided into twenty internal volumes and fifty external volumes. The inner chapter talks about magical prescriptions, transformation of ghosts and monsters, health preservation and longevity, eliminating evil and curing diseases, etc. It is a Taoist work. However, some of them, such as "Golden Pill", "Elixir" and "Huangbai", are famous articles summarizing ancient Chinese alchemy; the outer chapters talk about gains and losses in the world, the good and bad of the world, etc. Among them, "Junshi", "Shangbo" and "Ciyi" are famous literary theory works. "The Prescription for Saving the Soldiers from the Back of the Cube" is referred to as "The Prescription from the Back of the Cube", which is a simple and practical prescription book compiled by him in Guangdong. Most of the prescriptions included are effective, easy to collect, and cheap. Moreover, it is not a big book and can be hung on the back of the elbow (what is today called a pocket book). It can be used for emergency relief at any time even in mountain villages or when traveling where there is a lack of medical treatment. Therefore, it has been welcomed by the people of all ages. Ge Hong's medical works, according to historical records, include one hundred volumes of "Jin Gui Prescriptions", ten volumes of "Food Prescriptions for Immortals", four volumes of "Prescriptions for Prescriptions", and five volumes of "Yuhan Jian Prescriptions".
Ge Hong's Career Edit this paragraph Ge Hong is rigorous in his studies and has been doing so for decades. He has read nearly 10,000 volumes from classics on hundreds of historians to short miscellaneous articles. For example, when he compiled "Yu Han Fang" (later shortened and summarized as "Yu Han Fang"), he read nearly a thousand volumes of medical books such as Zhang Zhongjing's and Hua Tuo's and hundreds of miscellaneous prescriptions. "(Preface to "Behind the Elbow"). He often showed pride in studying hard. He said: "Working diligently and diligently, working hard day and night, working hard until the end of the day and not letting go, not giving up when hungry, cold and dangerous, how can you have anything to ask for in the world? Sincerity and happiness are natural." ("Bao Pu Zi Wai Chapter" ·Xu Xue").
Ge Hong not only paid attention to learning book knowledge, but also paid attention to learning the practical experience of the masses. He is happy to have knowledgeable people as teachers. His ancestor Ge Xuan, during the time of Wu, practiced alchemy and Taoism. He had a set of skills, which he taught to his disciple Zheng Yin. After Ge Hong knew about it, he went to worship Zheng Yin as his teacher and learned the skills. Later, when he arrived, he became his disciple Bao Liang, the prefect of Nanhai. Bao Liang was proficient in medicine and alchemy skills. Seeing that Ge Hong was open-minded, eager to learn, and young and promising, he not only taught him his skills without reservation, but also married his daughter Bao Gu, who was good at moxibustion.
While learning from books and the masses, Ge Hong also paid special attention to making in-depth and detailed observations of objective things. His powers of observation are very keen. This was one of the important conditions for his academic discovery. "Behind the Elbow" records the results of his long-term observations of various diseases, many of which are the earliest records in medical literature. You can find vivid examples of his careful observation during the examination. For example, the record of sand lice disease: "There are many sand lice in the mountains and rivers. They are very thin and slightly invisible. When people bathe in the water or take a bath in the water, the insects infect the human body in the water. They also infect the grass on cloudy days and rain." The diagnosis method is: the skin is red at first, like beans, millet, millet, etc., and the pain is like thorns when rubbed on the skin for three days, with pain, coldness, and heat. Sores. The insect gradually penetrates into the bones and kills people. "This disease is an acute infectious disease spread by the larvae of a chigger that looks like a small red spider. It is prevalent in Southeast Asia. Taiwan Province and the southeastern coastal provinces of my country. It was not until the 1920s that foreign countries gradually discovered that the pathogen of scrub typhus was a "rickettsia" that was much smaller than bacteria, and the life history of the little red spider carrying the pathogen was clarified. As early as 1,600 years ago, without a microscope, he had clearly understood its etiology, symptoms, location of onset, infection route, prognosis and prevention. He also pointed out that this disease was found in Lingnan. It is no different from what is seen clinically today, which cannot but be said to be a remarkable thing.
The book also records a disease caused by dog ??bites. The patient is very painful. As long as he is stimulated or hears a sound, he will twitch and convulse, and even hear the sound of pouring water. It can cause convulsions, so some people call this disease "water phobia". Ge Hong pioneered the application of rabies brain compresses on bite wounds to treat rabies. Anti-rabies substances were found in the brains of rabies, and it was not until the 19th century that Pasteur in France proved it.
The records in the book about the symptoms of smallpox (Tianxingmao), tuberculosis (Xi Zhu, Gui Zhu), etc. are the earliest records in medical literature. Not only did he clearly document the symptoms and progression of the disease, but he also unmistakably pointed out their contagiousness. Therefore, calling him an "infectious disease expert" is not an exaggeration at all.
In addition to attaching great importance to reading, asking, and watching, Ge Hong also attached great importance to experimentation in his scholarship. This is fully reflected in his research on alchemy. In this regard, Ge Hong inherited and developed the achievements of his predecessors and made alchemy concrete and systematized. He stayed in Luofu Mountain, guarding the alchemy furnace day and night, and conducted many experiments. Reflecting his tireless spirit of experimentation.
In "Baopuzi·Neipian", we can find that Ge Hong once conducted experiments on the reduction changes of mercury and cinnabar. He said in the book: "When cinnabar is burned, it becomes mercury, and when it accumulates, it becomes cinnabar again." Cinnabar, also called cinnabar, is red sulfide. When it is heated, it decomposes into mercury (mercury); the mercury then combines with sulfur to form red mercuric sulfide. This may be one of the earliest products made by human beings using chemical synthesis, and it is a major achievement of alchemy in chemistry. Ge Hong also discovered a variety of compounds or mineral medicines with medical value in his experiments. So far, the "Shengdan" and "Jiangdan" commonly used in TCM surgeries are exactly the medicines obtained by Ge Hong in his chemical experiments. Ge Hong's alchemy technique later spread to Western Europe and became the cornerstone of the development of pharmaceutical chemistry.
Ge Hong edits this paragraph with personal honors. Every famous doctor must have a difficult academic journey and use his superhuman perseverance to explore and learn. Ge Hong's life was wonderful and legendary. His intelligence and wisdom helped him open up new fields in medicine and made outstanding contributions in clinical emergency medicine.
Ge Hong's Personal Influence Edit this paragraph Ge Hong wrote a lot of works in his life. He said that he had twenty volumes of "Inner Chapters", fifty volumes of "Outer Chapters", one hundred volumes of "Ode to Steles and Poems", and "Military Chapters". Thirty volumes of "Books and Notes", ten volumes of "Biography of Immortals", ten volumes of "Biography of Hermits"; and 310 volumes of "Five Classics, Seven History and Hundreds of Schools", and short and miscellaneous essentials of military methods. There are also one hundred volumes of "Jingui Prescriptions" and four volumes of "Emergency Prescriptions". However, many of them have been lost, and "Zhengtong Dao Zang" and "Wanli Sutra Zang Dao Zang" contain only thirteen of his works. Most of them were mistitled or falsely entrusted by later generations.
The title of his medical book "Emergency Prescriptions for Elbows" means an emergency book that can always be kept at the back of the elbow (carry with you). It is a practical book that should be kept at all times. The book collects a large number of first-aid prescriptions, which he collected and screened during his medical practice and travels. He specially selected some medicines that are relatively easy to obtain. Even if they have to spend money to buy them, they are very cheap. Change It has overcome the shortcomings of the previous emergency prescriptions that were difficult to understand, difficult to find, and expensive. He particularly emphasized the use of moxibustion. He clearly and clearly named the various methods of moxibustion in plain and easy-to-understand language. As long as the proportion of moxibustion is understood, people who do not know acupuncture can also use it.
"Emergency Prescriptions" contains a variety of diseases, many of which are precious medical materials. The symptoms of smallpox described in this book, as well as the description of the dangers and contagiousness of smallpox, are the earliest records in the world, and the descriptions are very accurate. The book also mentions the main symptoms of tuberculosis, and puts forward the characteristic of tuberculosis "recurring to others after death". It also touches on intestinal tuberculosis, bone and joint tuberculosis and other diseases. It can be said that its discussion is as complete as Modern medicine. The book also records a method of applying the mad dog's brain to the wound after being bitten by a mad dog. This method is faster and more effective than the use of rabies vaccine. In principle, it is also surprisingly similar. In addition, regarding epidemics and infectious diseases, the book also puts forward the concept of "disease", believing that this is by no means the work of ghosts and gods. This scientific method of understanding is also very insightful today. The description of parasitic diseases such as scrub typhus and scabies in the book is also the earliest and most accurate in the history of world medicine.
When Ge Hong was in his middle age, Emperor Yuan of Jin and Emperor Xian of Jin both offered him high-ranking officials and noble titles, but he rejected them both. Later, he was tired of being urged to become an official at home. He also heard that there were raw materials for alchemy in Jiaozhi (now northern Vietnam), so he volunteered to be a county magistrate there. The emperor thought this was an insult to his talents, but he did not do it for the sake of high official status and salary, but for the convenience of obtaining the raw materials for alchemy. When he took office, when he passed through Guangzhou, the governor Deng Bing retained him and provided him with the raw materials for alchemy, so he lived in seclusion in Luofu Mountain and engaged in alchemy.
Ge Hong Character Evaluation Edit this paragraph Ge Hong pays great attention to the study of acute diseases. Most of the acute diseases he refers to are what we now call acute infectious diseases. In ancient times, people called them "heavenly punishments" and believed them to be disasters from heaven and the work of ghosts and gods. Ge Hong said in the book: Acute illness is not caused by ghosts and gods, but by the evil spirit from the outside world. We all know that acute infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms (including protozoa, bacteria, rickettsial bodies, viruses, etc.). These microorganisms need to be magnified at least several hundred times to see them. The microscope had not been invented more than 1,600 years ago, so of course we did not know that there were such things as bacteria. Ge Hong was able to rule out superstition and point out that acute illness was caused by external material factors. This insight was already remarkable.
In "Emergency Prescriptions", Ge Hong described a disease called "Xi Zhu", saying that this disease can be transmitted to each other and is ever-changing.
People who contract this disease can't figure out what's wrong with them. They just feel cold and feverish, tired, and in a daze. Their bodies are getting thinner day by day, and over time, they may die. The disease described by Ge Hong is what we now call tuberculosis. Tuberculosis bacteria can cause disease in many organs in the human body. Pulmonary tuberculosis, bone and joint tuberculosis, meningeal tuberculosis, intestinal and peritoneal tuberculosis, etc. are all caused by tuberculosis bacteria. Ge Hong is the earliest scientist in my country to observe and record tuberculosis.
Ge Hong's "Elbow Preparation for Emergency Prescriptions" also records a disease caused by barking dogs biting people. Dogs are mad dogs. When a person is bitten by a mad dog, it is very painful. The patient cannot bear any stimulation. As long as he hears the slightest sound, he will twitch and convulse. He will even convulse when he hears the sound of pouring water. Therefore, some people call mad dog disease "hydrophobia". In ancient times, there was no treatment for this disease.
Ge Hong thought of the ancient method of fighting poison with poison. For example, my country's oldest medical book "The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" says that "poisonous" medicines must be used to treat diseases. Diseases cannot be cured without "poisonous" properties. Ge Hong thought that if a mad dog bites a person, it must be poison in the dog's mouth that invades the human body through the wound and poisons the person. Can the poison from a mad dog be used to treat this disease? He caught the mad dog, killed it, took out the brain, and applied it to the wound of the dog patient. Sure enough, some people did not get sick again, and although some people did get sick, it was relatively mild.
The method used by Ge Hong is scientifically justified and contains the germination of immune thought. As we all know, vaccination with cowpox can prevent smallpox, injecting encephalitis vaccine can prevent encephalitis, and injecting the toxin of tetanus bacteria can treat tetanus. These methods are the results of modern immunology research. "Immunity" means protection from infectious diseases. Bacteria and viruses invade our bodies. Our bodies have the ability to reject and eliminate them, so they may not necessarily cause disease. Bacteria and viruses can only cause disease when the body's resistance is weak. The method of immunity is to try to improve the body's disease resistance and prevent people from getting sick. Vaccination is a method of immunity (the content of modern immunology is becoming more and more abundant, and vaccination is only one aspect of it). Ge Hong was able to take preventive measures against rabies and could be regarded as a pioneer in immunology. European immunology began with Pasteur in France. He used artificial methods to cause rabies in rabbits, and took out the brains of sick rabbits to make injections to prevent and treat rabies. The principle was basically similar to Ge Hong's. Pasteur's working methods are certainly more scientific, but they are more than 1,000 years later than Ge Hong.
In the history of world medicine, Ge Hong also recorded two infectious diseases for the first time, one was smallpox and the other was scrub typhus. Ge Hong wrote in "Emergency Prescriptions": One year, a strange epidemic occurred. The patients had blisters all over their bodies. They were small red spots at first, but soon turned into white pustules, which were easy to cause. Broken. If not treated properly, blisters will grow and fester at the same time, and the person will also have a high fever. Nine out of ten cases cannot be cured. Even if they are cured by luck, small scars will be left on the skin. The small scar turns black at first, and it takes a year to become the same color as the skin. The strange epidemic described by Ge Hong was what was later called smallpox. Western medical scientists believe that the first person to record smallpox was the Arab doctor Rezas. In fact, Ge Hong lived more than 500 years earlier than Rezas.
Ge Hong called scrub typhus "sand louse poison". It is now clear that the causative agent of sand louse venom is a microorganism smaller than bacteria called "Rickettsia". There is a small insect called a sand louse. When it stings a person and sucks blood, it injects the pathogen into the human body, causing the person to become sick and have fever. Sand lice grow in the south. According to surveys, scrub typhus is endemic only in Guangdong and Fujian in my country, and is extremely rare in other places. Ge Hong gained knowledge about this disease through arduous practice. It turned out that he loved alchemy and lived in Luofu Mountain in Guangdong for a long time. There are sand lice in the deep mountain grasslands in this area. Sand lice are smaller than millet grains and cannot be spotted without careful observation. Ge Hong not only discovered the sand louse, but also knew that it was a vector of infectious diseases. His records are more than 1,500 years earlier than those recorded by American doctor Pam in 1878.
Early chemist
Why does Ge Hong like to make alchemy? In feudal society, aristocrats and bureaucrats dreamed of immortality in order to enjoy a luxurious and luxurious life forever. Some people wanted to refine an "elixir" to satisfy their extravagant desires, so a kind of alchemy was formed. Alchemists put some minerals in a sealed cauldron and burned them with fire. Minerals undergo chemical changes under high temperature and pressure, producing new substances. The elixir of immortality is a fantasy of the exploiting class, and of course it cannot be refined. But in the process of refining alchemy, people discovered some laws of material change, which became the forerunner of modern chemistry. Alchemy developed relatively early in our country, and Ge Hong was also an alchemist.
At that time, the medicines refined by Ge Hong included Mi Tuoseng (lead oxide), Sanxian Dan (mercury oxide), etc., which were all raw materials for external medicines.
Ge Hong discovered the reversibility of chemical reactions during the process of refining mercury. He pointed out that by heating cinnabar
(mercuric sulfide), mercury can be refined, and mercury Combined with sulfur, it can become cinnabar. He also pointed out that lead can be smelted from lead tetroxide, and lead can also be smelted into lead tetroxide. In Ge Hong's works, it is also recorded that orpiment (arsenic trisulfide) and realgar (arsenic pentasulfide) sublimate after heating and directly become crystals.
In addition, Ge Hong also proposed many simple drugs and prescriptions for treating diseases, some of which have been proven to be effective drugs. For example, turpentine can treat arthritis, copper carbonate (copper carbonate) can treat skin diseases, realgar and mugwort can be used for disinfection, Mitra can be antiseptic, etc. These records have certain effects on the treatment of arthritis. The arsenic contained in realgar has a strong bactericidal effect. Mugwort leaves contain volatile aromatic oils that poisonous insects are afraid of, so Chinese people burn mugwort leaves around the May Festival to repel insects. Bronze can inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria, so it can treat skin diseases. Mitra has disinfecting and sterilizing effects, so it is used as a preservative. Ge Hong discovered the effectiveness of these drugs more than 1,500 years ago and made great contributions to medicine.