Persevere for the Long Haul: Deep Accumulation Before Effortless Expression, with No Wish for Quick Success
During the three-day National Day holiday, I taught my students three lessons—one each day. Besides teaching, I kept to my usual daily routine of reading, studying, and writing.
I have now kept up teaching for four years, and the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) alone has taken me three years to lecture on. In teaching the Shanghan Lun, I broaden my students' horizons widely: every small section is accompanied by extensive knowledge and case records drawn from both Chinese and Western medicine, and I also pass on the skills and principles of studying and practicing medicine. I believe few teachers can expound the Shanghan Lun in this way. I feel my own knowledge of Chinese and Western medicine is not yet complete; one day, when I am more satisfied with what I have learned, I will record video courses to leave behind for later generations.
I have also kept up daily writing for a long time. My persistence in writing every day was influenced by the great master of Japanese Kampo medicine, Asada Sōhaku. For decades this elderly man was as steady as clockwork, rain or shine, writing down his reflections on medical study each day; in his later years he became a towering patriarch of Japanese Kampo medicine. If Japan can produce someone so resolute in studying Kampo, would it not be a disgrace if we descendants of the Yan and Huang had no one like him?
My own talent is not outstanding, and the power of ancient Chinese medicine is limited too; yet steadfast perseverance is, in one way or another, of some benefit to the world and to oneself. Though as human beings our final end inevitably returns to the void of the four elements, it would still be a regret to leave not a single word, to achieve not a single merit, and to rot away like dead wood.
Medicine requires deep accumulation before it can give forth. To achieve anything on this road, one can rely only on sustained accumulation; no one can take shortcuts. Slow-witted as I am, I well know that scheming and opportunism win only fleeting, empty fame, whereas devoted scholarship may build an immortal achievement. If a person seeks fame, he should not seek the false, fleeting fame of a moment, but the true, enduring fame that lasts a hundred generations. In my native land lived the former sage Li Shizhen, who spent decades compiling the Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica). I should learn from him, pouring out my heart and soul to write a medical work that can truly be handed down to later ages. If this ideal is realized, my life will have no regrets!
My son, too, is interested only in academic research. At a young age he has already grown indifferent to many things of this fleeting world, and has resolved to devote his life to mathematics and physics. He has also studied medicine with me for many years. Father and son are quite alike in temperament, and I feel at ease about his future. I believe character and habit determine his destiny, so toward his growth I take a natural, go-with-the-flow attitude, quietly waiting for him to bloom like a flower.
My father named me Zhiyuan, hoping I would have lofty aspirations. I named my son Siyu, hoping he would have a vision and breadth of mind as vast as the universe. If father and son can both set our ambitions high and keep our horizons broad on the road of learning, then even if we remain obscure all our lives, provided what we think and learn has even one or two points of worth, we shall have lived without regret!
Yesterday my son said to me, "Dad, if I can become a mathematician in the future, wouldn't that be enough to make us happy?" I laughed and answered, "Become a mathematician first, then we'll talk!" Though it was a jest, I also hope that when he grows up he will not forget his original intention and will press on with perseverance along the road of his ideal. The fame, gain, and rank of this fleeting world need not concern us; if we immerse ourselves in the joy of scholarly research, that is enough!
As for making a living, there is really no need to worry. Dwelling too much on earning a living wastes this precious life; and on the contrary, being too utilitarian and short-sighted actually makes a living harder to earn. In my life experience, while pursuing one's dream, the problem of livelihood is effortlessly solved along the way. For a person who tenaciously pursues a dream will inevitably become someone useful to society; give of yourself and you will surely be repaid—why fear going without food and clothing?
For my life's scholarship, I also hope there will be someone to carry it on. So I am willing to patiently train some students; once the first batch has achieved something, I will teach another one or two batches. Each batch will study with me for seven to ten years; I will teach all I have, and they will study diligently. In time, it may well be hoped that they will bring honor to the family name!
One should not be too short-sighted, always expecting one's work to succeed quickly. Any undertaking, if devoted a lifetime of effort, will surely be done well. If a person acts with the mindset of persevering for the long haul and drawing on deep accumulation, his heart will also be as calm as still water, taking joy in the work, unmoved by outside temptations into restlessness and anxiety.