Every Master Who Mastered Both Chinese and Western Medicine Put In Effort Ordinary People Can't Imagine

Medicine is the most difficult discipline to study; harder than studying Chinese medicine alone or Western medicine alone is mastering both. Although many medical universities now offer a clinical program in integrated Chinese-Western medicine, teaching both, this program is not yet mature. Most hospitals do not set up integrated Chinese-Western departments either, so employment for graduates of this program has become a long-standing problem.

China's present integrated Chinese-Western medicine program amounts to little more than a junior-college diploma in Chinese medicine stacked on top of one in Western medicine; it neither masters Chinese medicine nor masters Western medicine. The overwhelming majority of graduates of integrated programs are not sufficiently grounded in either, so when seeking employment they are actually less welcome than graduates of pure Chinese-medicine or pure Western-medicine programs.

But historically there have been some truly outstanding masters who mastered both Chinese and Western medicine, whose academic level in each was extremely high. I have a teacher who received a complete five-year education in Chinese medicine and a complete five-year education in Western medicine, finishing the entire undergraduate curriculum of both; his level far exceeded that of ordinary Chinese-medicine and Western-medicine doctors.

Spending ten years receiving a basic undergraduate education in both Chinese and Western medicine, then spending at least another ten years in deep exploration, is what it takes to become a professional physician who masters both. To become a great master of both, one must spend at least another ten or twenty years refining oneself.

The Japanese doctor Tsumura Kunihisa was one such master who united Chinese and Western medicine. Tsumura Kunihisa (1867–1941) was a famous Japanese practitioner of kampo medicine; his representative works were Koto Igaku (Imperial Han Medicine) and An Interpretation of Kampo Applied by Japanese Physicians.

In his early years, following his parents' wishes, Tsumura Kunihisa studied Western medicine at Kanazawa Medical College in Japan, graduating in the 34th year of Meiji. After working for a time in a hospital, he opened his own clinic. In the 43rd year of Meiji, Tsumura's eldest daughter contracted intestinal typhoid; every Western method was used to rescue her, but she died.

The grief of losing his daughter broke Tsumura's spirit for several years. Later he read The Iron Drill of the Medical World, written by his teacher Wada Keijuro, was inspired by it, and began to study Chinese medicine with determination. Thereafter he wandered for eighteen years in dire poverty, yet never changed his resolve to learn Chinese medicine.

After years of hard study, this former Western doctor finally became a master who united Chinese and Western medicine, writing Koto Igaku—a masterpiece of integrated Chinese-Western medicine whose influence has endured. Tsumura Kunihisa was also respected by later generations for his academic achievements and outstanding medical skill.

During the Republican era, Tsumura's Koto Igaku had a great influence on Chinese TCM physicians; it was also one of the essential reference books on the desks of famous Chinese-medicine scholars such as Yun Tieqiao, Hu Xishu, and Liu Shaowu, directly inspiring their paths of scholarship.

The renowned Chinese classical-formula physician Mr. Hu Xishu once said: "Having read so many books, I had instead become confused and bewildered. Later I obtained Koto Igaku; on reading Tsumura Kunihisa's arguments, I greatly admired them and felt I had met him too late. I studied it morning and evening, and suddenly my understanding cleared; my clinical results improved greatly from then on."

The great Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan also highly praised Tsumura's Koto Igaku. After reading it, Zhang Taiyan said: "If Zhongjing were alive, he would surely say: my Way has indeed gone east!"

The pain of losing his daughter and the hardships of displacement tempered Tsumura Kunihisa's deep, mature character; the profound grounding in both Chinese and Western medicine, and decades of accumulated study and clinical experience, have kept this work of his shining brightly even until now.

The Chinese medical scholar Lu Yuanei was another great physician who united Chinese and Western medicine. Mr. Lu Yuanei, named Pengnian and courtesy-named Yuanei, was a native of Chuansha, Pudong, Shanghai. He was born in the Jiawu year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1894) and died in 1955 at the age of 61, sixteen years younger than the other master of integrated medicine, Mr. Yun Tieqiao.

Lu Yuanei was broadly learned and wrote with a trenchant brush; contemporaries called him "profound as thunder." In his youth Lu Yuanei loved science. Before age ten he studied with a private tutor, learning the various philosophers and masters; at ten he entered a modern school and studied science. In 1906 he studied at Songjiang Middle School; in 1912 he was admitted to Jiangsu Provincial First Normal School, where he studied under the master of evidential scholarship Yao Mengxun and studied Chinese classics under Zhang Taiyan. He not only studied history, geography, physics, astronomy, and mathematics broadly, but also was conversant in English, French, German, Japanese, and other languages.

After graduating from normal school, Lu Yuanei taught at several schools, including Wuchang Higher Normal College, Nanyang Commercial Specialized School, and Jinan University. At the same time, because he was passionate about medicine, he studied Chinese and Western medicine deeply, and later his medical reputation soared.

Beginning in 1928, Lu taught at the Shanghai Specialized School of Chinese Medicine founded by Zhang Cigong, and later at the Shanghai National Medical College, where Zhang Taiyan was the first dean; Lu Yuanei served as its director of studies.

The founding purpose of the Shanghai National Medical College was "to elucidate the ancient meanings and integrate new knowledge." At the college, Mr. Lu Yuanei was the first to advocate studying physics, chemistry, anatomy, and other Western courses alongside Chinese medicine; he vowed to reform national medicine and integrate Chinese and Western medicine.

In 1925, Yun Tieqiao founded a TCM correspondence school. Seeing Yun Tieqiao's extraordinary learning, Lu Yuanei enrolled to study medicine under him; seeing Lu Yuanei's deep grounding in both Chinese and Western medicine, Yun Tieqiao invited him to help run the correspondence school. From the Republican era to the early years of New China, these two masters of integrated Chinese-Western medicine had many talented disciples, forming a strong new force in Chinese TCM circles.

Professor Jiang Chunhua came from a TCM family and studied Chinese medicine with his father from childhood.

Later he studied both Chinese and Western medicine under Lu Yuanei.

The treatment method he created, after decades of clinical practice, has been proven very effective, breaking through the limits of the traditional warm-disease school.

Academician Shen Ziyi began studying Western medicine before liberation; after graduating from medical school in 1955, he worked at Shanghai Huashan Hospital as a Western physician. Later, the hospital's party branch secretary found him and said that Western medicine generally discriminated against Chinese medicine, and that they were sending him to study Chinese medicine to carry forward its essence.

He studied devotedly.

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His office was a simple wooden room. On hot summer days he would cool himself with water before resuming the lesson.

Studying Chinese medicine requires a foundation in classical Chinese. To build that foundation, Mr. Shen memorized classic prose on his own, and studied with Professor Jiang Chunhua the Shanghan Lun, Jinkui Yaolue, Huangdi Neijing, Qianjin Fang, and Waitai Miyao.

With his solid TCM foundation, Professor Jiang Chunhua guided Academician Shen Ziyi through the gate of Chinese medicine. Master and disciple studied intensively together; in 1959 they both received gold medals awarded by the Ministry of Health.

After studying Chinese medicine under Professor Jiang Chunhua, Academician Shen Ziyi embarked on the scientific research of Chinese medicine, ultimately becoming the great contemporary master of research on the visceral-manifestation (zangxiang) theory. For his outstanding achievements he was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1997. On March 7, 2019, Academician Shen Ziyi passed away at the age of 91.

Mr. Shi Jinmo, one of the four famous doctors of the capital, also strongly urged that Chinese medicine take the road of scientific research; during his lifetime he repeatedly urged the government to establish an academy of Chinese medical science, so as to study Chinese medicine scientifically and uncover the principles behind its efficacy. His disciples likewise produced two masters who united Chinese and Western medicine: his son-in-law and disciple Professor Zhu Chenyu, and Professor Zhang Renji.

Professor Zhu Chenyu began studying Chinese medicine under Mr. Shi Jinmo at age nineteen, and six years later had received the true transmission. Mr. Shi encouraged him to study in Japan to learn Western medicine and fuse the two into one. So Professor Zhu went east to Japan and systematically studied Western medicine for four years. After returning home he opened a practice, using both Chinese and Western medicine to treat disease.

In 1957, Professor Zhu Chenyu became director of studies at the Beijing College of Chinese Medicine, working long-term in classroom education and clinical teaching. He participated in formulating the national TCM-college syllabus and proposed that TCM teaching should begin clinical training early, do much clinical work, and integrate theory with practice.

In the 1970s he also led ten in-service Western-medicine TCM-study classes at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, training a large contingent of integrated-Chinese-Western talent. In 1975 he became director of the TCM department at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, devoting himself to research on the Chinese-medicine treatment of diabetes, with notable achievements.

Professor Zhang Renji was a fellow disciple of Professor Zhu Chenyu, but the road he took was exactly the reverse. Professor Zhang graduated early from the medical department of Peking University, then went east to Japan for advanced study in Western medicine, determined to make his mark there.

In 1941, Professor Zhang himself contracted nonspecific enteritis, with unremitting daily diarrhea that left him exhausted and in extreme misery. He could not cure himself, and sought treatment from famous doctors at major Beijing hospitals, to no avail.

Later, someone introduced Mr. Zhang Renji, a student of Western medicine, to Mr. Shi Jinmo, one of the four famous doctors of old Beijing. Professor Zhang half-believingly went to seek treatment from Shi Jinmo. After taking three doses of the Chinese medicine Elder Shi prescribed, Zhang Renji's nonspecific enteritis was cured.

This astonished the top Western-medicine student, who had previously been very prejudiced against Chinese medicine. After reflecting, he realized that to innovate and achieve something in medical skill, one must be conversant with Chinese medicine and herbs and take the road of integrated Chinese-Western medicine. After many twists, he entered Mr. Shi Jinmo's door and stepped into the hall of Chinese medicine.

Professor Zhang Renji later became a great master in China of treating cancer with integrated Chinese-Western medicine. Because he was conversant in both, his medical skill was outstanding, and many patients sought his care. He also contributed without reservation the fruits of a lifetime of research to the world; his book A New Path in Treating Cancer with Chinese Medicine once exerted great influence.

The Biography of Bian Que says: "The physician's affliction is that the ways of medicine are few." This means that a doctor's greatest failing is limited medical skill. Because skill is limited, he cannot relieve the suffering of more patients. The ideal realm for one who studies medicine is to cling to no sectarian bias, to master both modern medicine and traditional medicine, drawing on each's strengths to better serve patients. If a doctor can achieve this, it is a blessing for the patients.

From ancient times to the present, there have indeed been many outstanding doctors who achieved this. A fine horse gallops without being whipped; a person who truly loves medicine is willing to overcome countless obstacles to study Chinese and Western medicine deeply. We who study medicine should truly learn from these predecessors, rather than clinging to the sectarian bias of Chinese or Western medicine, parading our own strengths and attacking others' weaknesses.