What were the new developments in the practice and theory of Chinese medicine during the Ming and Qing dynasties?

During the Ming Dynasty, officials honored Confucianism and advocated filial piety and fraternal duty, and medicine was regarded as an important means of fulfilling filial piety and fraternal duty. "If you are not a good minister, then you are a good doctor". In such an environment, a large number of intellectuals who had failed in the imperial examinations flocked into the medical field, improving the cultural quality and knowledge structure of doctors, and making their social status rise accordingly. For example, the famous medical doctor Zhang Jingyue is a learned intellectual, he authored the "Jingyue Encyclopedia", "Class Classic" and other high academic value. During this period, many famous medical books appeared, such as Wang Kendang compiled the "evidence of quasi", Xu Chunfu compiled the "ancient and modern medical compendium" and so on in the history of medicine have a very great influence.

The epoch-making masterpiece "Compendium of Materia Medica" compiled by Li Shizhen, a famous medicinal scientist of the Ming Dynasty, is a masterpiece of medicine recognized for its rich content and far-reaching influence, and it has become a jewel in the treasury of China's ancient science and culture.

In terms of infectious diseases, the Ming Dynasty, Wu Youxue witnessed the epidemic, the death of the tragic situation, and the world's doctors to typhoid fever law is ineffective, and deep sense of the ancient law is not today's disease, in 1642, compiled the history of China's medical development of the first treatments of acute infectious diseases monographs - "plague theory," the development of the doctrine of the warm to the later generation with a great impact. It gave a great influence to the development of the theory of warm diseases in the later generations. Based on his long-term clinical observation and practical experience, Wu put forward a new view of pathogenicity - the theory of miscellaneous qi. Wu Youxue called this foreign qi, which was different from the six qi, as miscellaneous qi. Although it was impossible for Wu to observe these pathogenic microorganisms through a microscope under the historical conditions at that time, he affirmed that miscellaneous qi was a kind of substance with "no image and visibility" and "no sound and no odor". This was a major contribution to the development of infectious disease etiology.

In order to find ways to prevent and treat virulent infectious diseases, in the process of fighting the more serious infectious diseases that harmed human beings at that time, around the Ming Dynasty, China already had the human pox inoculation method. About the specific method of human pox inoculation, Zhang Lu in "Zhang's medical passages" of the "planting pox" said: "the original seedling of the pox, there is no other medicine, but is to steal the pox child marking the grain of the pulp, into the cotton, into the nostrils. ...... such as pimple pulp can not be funded, pimple scabs can also be hair seedling; pimple scabs can not be stolen, then the new pimple children served by the clothes, and other children to serve, can also be out of the pox". Here, it has been mentioned that the pox-slurry method, the pox-scab method and the pox-clothing method became more mature and perfect after the middle of the Qing Dynasty. In any case, the invention of human pox inoculation opened a new era of smallpox prevention for mankind.

With the progress of pharmacology, there was also a great progress of prescription science in Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, a large number of prescription books were published, especially giant prescription works, and on the other hand, more attention was paid to the study of rationale, method, prescription and medicine. Puji Fang is the largest surviving book of prescriptions in China, and also the largest book of prescriptions in the Ming Dynasty. It is very extensive and large, and contains almost all the preserved contents of the prescription books before the fifteenth century. Wu Kun's "medical prescription examination" is clearly organized, due to the evidence, thorough reasoning, after the publication of a wide range of influences.

The development of medicine in the first and middle of the Qing Dynasty, showing a more intricate and complex situation, the traditional theory and practice of Chinese medicine after a long period of historical testing and precipitation, has been perfected and mature, whether it is the overall theoretical elaboration, or the actual diagnosis and treatment of the clinical sub-specialties, there has been a complete system, and the effectiveness of the conditions at that time is outstanding, compared with the state of the world's medicine, our country is still slightly better. The medical condition of our country was slightly better than that of other countries in the world. In particular, the formation of the school of warm disease, in the treatment of infectious fevers, to reduce mortality, prevention of infection, played a positive role.

The Ming and Qing period of warm disease scientists, mostly produced in Suzhou as the center of Jiangsu, Zhejiang region, mainly with the region at the time of the economy, culture, science is more developed, as well as the river is dense, convenient transportation, population mobility, the frequent prevalence of warm diseases and other factors have a close relationship. Known as the "four great masters of warm disease" Ye Tianshi, Xue Shengbai, Wu Jutong, Wang Mengying are from this region's famous doctors.

It is because of this period of warm disease scientists and other medical practitioners in warm disease medical practice and theoretical development, so that the warm disease in the rationale, method, formula, medicine, forming a self-contained system, the formation of a more systematic and complete doctrine of warm disease. Ye Tianshi established the diagnosis of Wei Qi and Ying Blood; Wu Jutong established the diagnosis of San Jiao, which established the system of diagnosis of warm diseases. In the diagnosis of warm diseases, many unique methods were put forward, such as tongue inspection, i.e., observing the changes of tongue texture and tongue moss, and tooth examination, i.e., distinguishing yin and yang according to the color of the blood around the gums, which were not only valuable for the identification of warm diseases, but also for internal injuries and miscellaneous diseases, and enriched and developed the diagnostic science of traditional Chinese medicine. The treatment of warm diseases has also established the principle of clearing heat and nourishing yin, greatly enriching the treatment of Chinese medicine, many of which have been proved to be effective in clinical practice.

The traditional theories and practices of Chinese medicine have been tested and accumulated over a long period of time, and have been perfected and matured in the Qing Dynasty, both in terms of the overall theoretical elaboration and the actual diagnosis and treatment methods of the various clinical subspecialties, which have been completed, and the therapeutic effects were remarkable under the conditions at that time. During this period, many famous physicians and medical works appeared, such as Xu Dachun (1693-1771), Chen Xiuyuan (about 1753-1823), Gong Tingxian, etc. Among them, the more innovative was Wang Qingyuan. One of the more innovative was Wang Qingren (1768-1831), who had a unique understanding of the importance of anatomy in his long-term practice of medicine and physically explored anatomical knowledge, personally observed corpses in righteous mounds and torture chambers, drew diagrams of the human internal organs, and wrote a book entitled "Correcting Errors in the Forest of Medicine" in 1830, which corrected some of the errors of understanding of the predecessors in terms of anatomy.

After the Opium War, with the invasion of the imperialist powers, western medicine began to enter China with the eastward gradient of western culture, some people in the learning and acceptance of western culture, at the same time, a kind of "national nihilism" trend, it is also under the influence of this trend, they began to exclude traditional Chinese medicine, making the development of Chinese medicine enter into a new phase of the development of Chinese medicine. The development of Chinese medicine has entered a trough and is struggling. There are also some aspiring people began to seek the road of Chinese and Western convergence, and the emergence of a number of Chinese and Western convergence of bold explorers and practitioners.

Tang Zonghai, who advocated the convergence of Chinese and Western medicines in the hope of preserving and promoting Chinese medicine, mainly used Western medicine to prove Chinese medicine; and Yun Tieqiao, who conducted a relatively systematic and comprehensive research on Chinese and Western medicines and advocated that the convergence of Chinese and Western medicines should be based on Chinese medicine, and at the same time focus on the actual results. In modern times, there is a representative Zhang Xichun, he is rigorous in his study, has a source of learning, the teacher of the ancient not mud, diligent in practice, the collection of the best, the heart of the Chinese and Western, dare to innovate, is a breakthrough in the Chinese and Western medical convergence of the representative figures.

In short, Chinese medicine after thousands of years of long history, but also a cultural history of the Chinese nation, Chinese medicine has played an extremely important role in the prosperity of the Chinese nation.