Sun Simiao, a famous medical scientist of the Sui and Tang dynasties, was named the “King of Medicine” by emperors of successive dynasties. During his 102-year life, he spent 63 of them in Hongdong alone. In the land of Huaixiang, there are not only extremely precious cultural relics and historical sites such as the Temple of the King of Medicine and the King of Medicine's tombstone, but also many moving stories and legends.
Sun Simiao, a native of Huayuan County, Jingzhao Prefecture (now Mengjiayuan Village, southeast of Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province), was born on the 20th day of the fourth lunar month in the first year of Emperor Wen's reign (581 AD). He was intelligent and wise from an early age. He started reading at the age of seven and was a genius who could recite a thousand words a day. As a young boy, he fell seriously ill. Due to a lack of doctors and medicine in his hometown, he was plagued by illness and could not recover for a long time. Suffering greatly from this illness, he felt deeply about it and was determined to change his studies to medicine and save people from illness. At that time, it was the heyday of the Sui Dynasty, when Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty unified the country. The situation of social stability and economic prosperity provided extremely favorable conditions for Sun Simiao to concentrate on the study of medicine, the classics and the academic studies of the Hundred Schools. By the first year of Emperor Wen's reign, Sun Simiao was 20 years old and in the prime of his life, having completed his studies in medicine.
Sun Simiao was highly skilled in medicine and had a worldwide reputation. The Sui Emperor Wen summoned him to serve as a “Guozijian Doctor”. Sun Simiao did not crave high office and great wealth, and he declined the offer by feigning illness. Thereafter, he continued to study medicine anonymously, travelling all over the world to relieve the suffering of the people. In 618 AD, Li Yuan declared himself emperor and established the Tang Dynasty, with its capital in Chang'an. In the second year of the Wude reign period of the Tang Gaozu (619), Sun Simiao crossed the Yellow River from Jingzhao Prefecture and arrived in Hongdong. He retired to Nanbanli Village, south of Hongdong City, and continued to use his superb medical skills to treat the people². For patients who came to see him but had no money, he not only did not charge a consultation fee or medicine fee, but also let them stay in his house and personally prepared the medicine for them to drink. No matter if it was the middle of the night or bad weather, as long as someone asked him to see them, he never refused and would rush to save them.
In the third year of the Tang Emperor Gaozu's Wude period (620 AD), the Sui army suffered a defeat and retreated to Jiexiu. Under the command of Sui general Song Jingang was a general named Yuchi Gong, who was extraordinarily brave in battle. During one battle, Yuchi Gong chased Li Shimin for one day and night, non-stop running for more than 300 miles. Li Shimin was rescued on the way and managed to defeat Yuchi Gong. Li Shimin led his troops to rest in the area around Nanban, Hongdong. Due to the fatigue from the past few days, Li Shimin suddenly coughed up blood. Many of his generals were also seriously injured. The Tang army was in a state of panic. Sun Simiao heard the news and went to Li Shimin's tent to seek an audience, claiming that he could cure Li Shimin's illness. After taking a dose of medicine, Li Shimin suddenly felt better after two hours. Many of the soldiers also recovered quickly under Sun's careful treatment. Li Shimin regained his former glory and led his troops north, annihilating the remnants of the Sui army in one fell swoop.
Li Shimin was extremely grateful to Sun Simao and wanted to appoint him as the Grand Counselor. Sun Simao politely declined, saying, “You are a natural saint, saving the people from the fire and water. My medical skills are only a way to save the lives of the people and fulfil their hopes. They are not my own doing.” Li Shimin had no choice but to confer on Sun the title of ‘Anle Zhenren’ before leading his army north. Since then, Nanshan Village has been renamed Nanshan Anle Village.
Sun Simao continued to treat the people in the Anle Village area of Hongdong. His medical skills had reached a pinnacle, and he continued to innovate in his medical practice and develop new treatments. Sun Simiao was the discoverer of night blindness, the world's first ophthalmic disease, and he was also the one who found a cure. At that time, some people in the east and west mountains of Hongdong had normal vision during the day, but when night fell, they could no longer see anything. They were puzzled and went to Sun Simiao for treatment. Sun Simiao studied the disease intensively and found that the people suffering from this disease were all poor. The poor people could not even get enough to eat and lacked nutritious food. He thought of the saying in medical books that “the liver is open to the eyes,” and also thought of the many birds and animals in the mountains of Hongdong. He then told the night blindness patients to eat the livers of the captured animals. After the patients ate them for a period of time, their night blindness slowly improved. At the same time, there were also several rich people in the area who sought his medical advice. He saw that the patients were swollen, their muscles ached, and they were weak. Sun Simiao diagnosed them with beriberi. He wondered why the poor people had night blindness while the rich people had beriberi. It was probably also related to diet. He compared the diets of the rich and the poor. The rich people ate more refined rice and white flour, fish, shrimp, eggs and meat, while the poor people ate grains and cereals. He carefully analyzed the situation and found that coarse grains were mixed with a lot of rice bran and wheat bran, while refined rice and white flour had removed all of these things. He estimated that beriberi was most likely caused by a lack of these substances. So he tried treating beriberi with rice bran and wheat bran, and it worked. Within half a year, the beriberi of several wealthy people in the area had been cured.
Sun Simiao not only studied medicine, but also braved the dangers to collect herbs in the mountains and across the rivers, climbing steep cliffs and entering the mountains with a pickaxe in one hand and a medicine basket on his back. He travelled all over the nearby famous mountains and rivers, and also went north to Mount Wutai to collect herbs. Every time he returned from collecting herbs, he would personally dry and process the herbs, and sometimes try them out himself. While collecting herbs in the mountains, Sun Simiao treated the local people whenever he could, relieving them of their suffering. People living in the mountainous areas of Jiu County were prone to a disease called big neck, in which a large lump would grow on the front of the neck. Sun Simiao thought: it is often said that eating the heart can nourish the heart, and eating the liver can nourish the liver. Could sheep's trotters be used to treat big neck? He tried treating a few patients and sure enough, it worked.
One time, a patient with leg pain came to see him, so Sun Simiao gave him acupuncture. He followed the traditional treatment method and inserted a few needles, but the pain did not stop. He thought, are there no more acupuncture points than the 365 points discovered by the ancients? He carefully searched for new acupuncture points, pressing gently with his thumb while asking the patient if the pressed area hurt. The patient kept shaking his head. Whenever Sun Simiao pressed his finger on a new point, the patient immediately felt the pain in his leg ease considerably. Sun Simiao then inserted a needle at this point, and the patient's leg immediately stopped hurting. This kind of point that is determined according to the pain is called the “ah shi point”, also known as the “tian ying point” or “indefinite point”. This was Sun Simiao's major contribution to acupuncture.
After arriving in the Hongdong area, Sun Simiao continuously improved his medical skills over the course of 30 years of treating diseases. He also summarized medical theories and clinical experience from before the Tang Dynasty; analyzed the properties of medicine, collected prescriptions, and at the age of 70 (in 652 AD), wrote the book “Biji Qianjin Yao Fang”. The book is divided into 30 volumes, 232 chapters, and more than 5,300 prescriptions, and records the properties and effects of more than 800 types of medicine. The book advocated the classification of visceral and exocrine diseases, which was new and systematic, and it also had many original ideas in gynecology and pediatrics.
Sun Simiao was also an outstanding example in terms of the moral qualities of medical practitioners. He often taught his apprentices who followed him in learning medicine that to be a doctor, one must have a noble character, a spirit of assiduous research, and a strong sense of responsibility. In his book “Biji Qianjin Yao Fang” (A Thousand Gold Pieces for Emergency Preparedness), he summarized the “ten essentials” of being a doctor. First, one must love the traditional medicine of one's country; second, one must study medicine diligently and strive for perfection; third, when treating patients, one must treat them as one's own family, diagnose carefully, and treat attentively, never carelessly or indifferently; fourth, in the course of practicing medicine, one must not seek fame or profit; fifth, when treating patients, one must not consider personal gain or loss, not be afraid to take risks, and treat the patient responsibly to the best of one's ability ; 6. Strengthen the sense of responsibility and make no mistakes in diagnosis and treatment; 7. Ask doctors not to talk to patients about things unrelated to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, so as not to affect the treatment and physical and mental health of the patient; 8. Treat all patients equally; 9. Never be proud and arrogant, and don't look down on people just because you happen to cure a disease; 10. Be upright, honest, sincere and united with like-minded people.
This medical book, “Biji Qianjin Yao Fang” (A Thousand Gold Pieces for Emergency), written by Sun Simiao in Hongdong, broke through the long-standing conventions that medical treatment must be based on Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) and medicine must be based on Shennong Ben Cao (Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica). This work, which was later hailed as an encyclopedia of clinical medicine, is incisive and rich in content, and includes all the theoretical knowledge, practical experience, codes of conduct and moral qualities that a doctor must possess.
4
From the age of 71 (652 AD) until the age of 100 (681 AD), Sun Simiao compiled the prescriptions he had accumulated over the past 30 years of treating patients in Hongdong into a second medical book, “Qian Jin Yi Fang”, which supplemented “Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang”. In addition to these two medical monographs, he also wrote books such as “Treatise on Health Preservation”, “Treatise on Longevity and Happiness”, “Inscriptions on Preserving Life”, “Inscriptions on Cultivating Qi by Keeping the Mind Focused” and “Prescriptions for Nurturing Health”. Sun Simiao died of illness at his home in Daxiang Village, Hongdong County (now Sunzhang Village, Yandi Township, Hongdong County) in the first year of the Yongchun reign period of the Tang Dynasty (682 AD). According to legend, most of the Sun family in this village are descendants of Sun Simiao. According to the Hongdong County Gazetteer, “Sunzhang Village is located in the northwest of Yandi Township. Legend has it that Sun Simiao, the famous Tang Dynasty doctor, was from this village. After being wounded, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was cured by Sun Simiao, and he was later honored as the King of Medicine. A temple to the King of Medicine was built in the west of the village, and the stone tablet still exists. The village was originally called Daxiang, but because there were many Zhangs, it was renamed Sunzhang Village after Sun Simiao and the Zhangs.
Although the Medicine King Sun Simiao has passed away, his merits will live forever. 400 years later, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (1100–1125) posthumously conferred the title “Miao Ying Zhen Ren” on Sun Simiao. During the Zhizheng period of the Yuan Dynasty (1341–1367), Taoist priest Jia Qi presided over the construction of the grand Medicine King Temple, also known as the Sun Zhenren Temple, in the original location of Nananleban Village, Hongdong County, where Sun Simiao had treated Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. The Hongdong County Records state: “The Sun Zhenren Temple is located in Nan'anleban, in the south of the county. Inside is a statue of the legendary doctor Sun Simiao, built by local resident Jia Qi during the Zhizheng reign of the Yuan Dynasty.”⑤
The Sun Zhenren Temple has its main entrance facing east and west. The main entrance is a complex of overlapping buildings with tens of thousands of rafters. There are two two-story bell and drum towers on either side of the main entrance. Inside the temple are three main halls: the Xian Hall, the Main Hall, and the Sleeping Hall. The main hall has a seated statue of Sun Simiao. In addition to the Taoist accommodation, the temple also has the Guandi Temple, General's Hall, Hall of Immortal Gathering, Li Gongci, Horse King Temple, Bodhisattva Temple, Temple of the Goddess of Children, City God Temple, Earth God Temple, Temple of the God of Wealth, Temple of the Sweat God covering a total area of more than 30 acres and a building area of more than 3,000 square meters. Its “magnificent scale, majestic architecture, long history, and far-reaching influence are second to none among the thousands of Yao Wang temples in the country.”⑥
Notes:
① Ren Jiyu, Religious Dictionary, page 477 (Shanghai Cishu Publishing House, 1st edition, December 1981).
② The capital of the Zhou Dynasty was located in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an). The jurisdiction of the capital was quite extensive, covering the area north of the Qinling Mountains, east of Qian County, south of Tongchuan, and west of Weinan in present-day Shaanxi Province.
③ The Grand Counsellor was a high-ranking official in charge of advising the emperor.
④ Hongdong County Gazetteer, p. 227 (Hongdong County People's Government, internal publication, November 1987).
⑤ Hongdong County Gazetteer, vol. 8, p. 129.
⑥ Hu Shixiang, “The Story of Sun Simiao, the ‘Medicine King’” (Chinese Taoism, 1990, no. 3).
我国隋唐两代著名医学家孙思邈被历代皇帝封为药王。在他 102年的生涯中，单在洪洞就度过了63个春秋。在槐乡大地，不但保存有药王庙、药王墓碑等极其珍贵的文物古迹，而且还流传着很多动人的故事与传说。
孙思邈，京兆府华原县人(今陕西省耀县东南孟家源村)，出生于隋文帝开皇元年(公元581年)农历四月二十日①。他自幼聪明伶俐、智慧超人。7岁开始读书，有“日诵千言，过目成诵”的天才。少年时代，他大病一场。由于家乡缺医少药，使他病魔缠身，久不能愈。这次患病，他痛苦万分，感受颇深，从此决心改学医道，立志治病救人。当时，正是隋朝的鼎盛时期，隋文帝统一了全国。社会安定、经济繁荣的局面，为孙思邈专心致志地研究医学、经史和百家学术，提供了极为有利的条件。到了隋文帝仁寿元年，孙思邈20岁，风华正茂，医道学成。
孙思邈医术高明，誉满天下。隋文帝召他出任“国子监博士”。孙思邈不慕高官厚禄，假称有病谢绝，拒辞不赴。此后，他继续隐姓埋名，钻研医学，遍游天下，为百姓解除疾病痛苦。公元618年，李渊称帝，建立唐朝，定都长安。唐高祖武德二年(公元619年)，孙思邈由京兆府北渡黄河，来到洪洞，隐居于洪洞城南的南坂里村，继续用自己的精湛医术为百姓治病②。凡是来看病没有钱的病人，他不但不收诊费、药钱，还腾出住房，给远道而来的病人住，并亲自熬药给病人喝。不论是三更半夜，还是天气恶劣，只要有人请他看病，他从不推辞，一定赶去救治。
唐高祖武德三年(公元620年)，隋军失利，退至介休。隋将宋金刚帐下有一员名叫尉迟恭的大将，作战英勇异常，在一次战役中，尉迟恭追赶李世民一天一夜，马不停蹄的跑了300多里。李世民途中遇到接应，才将尉迟恭杀退。李世民率军在洪洞南坂一带休整。李世民由于连日劳累，突然吐血不止。众多将士也身负重伤。唐军上下，惶恐不安。孙思邈闻知，入帐求见，自称能治好李世民的病。一剂药下，过了两个时辰，李世民顿觉痊愈。好多将士的伤势，在孙思邈的精心治疗下也很快康复。李世民重振雄风率军北上，一举歼灭隋军的残余部队。
李世民对孙思邈感激万分，并欲封孙为“谏议大夫”③。孙思邈婉言谢绝，说道：“公乃天生圣人，以拯民于水火之中。我的医术，也只是从民之命，济百姓之望，并非自己的功劳。”李世民无奈，在率军北上前，封孙为“安乐真人”。自此，南坂村即改名为南坂安乐村。
孙思邈在洪洞南坂安乐村一带，继续为百姓治病。他的医术已到了炉火纯青的地步，而且在医疗实践中，不断创新，并研究出一些新的治疗方法。世界上第一个眼科疾病——夜盲症的发现者就是孙思邈，找到治疗方法的还是孙思邈。那时，洪洞东西两山的老百性，有的人白天视力正常，一到了晚上，什么也看不见了，感到奇怪，便找到孙思邈诊治。孙思邈潜心研究发现，患这种病的人都是贫穷家。穷苦百姓，不得温饱，更缺乏营养食品。他想到医书中有“肝开窍于目”的说法，又想到洪洞东西两山的飞禽走兽很多，便让夜盲症病人吃捕获动物的肝脏。病人吃上一段时间，夜盲症便慢慢地好转了。同时，在当地也有几家富人找他看病。他看到病人身上发肿，肌肉疼痛，浑身没劲，孙思邈诊断为脚气病。他想，为啥穷人得的是夜盲症，而富人得的是脚气病呢?这很可能也和饮食有关系。他比较了穷人和富人的饮食。富人多吃精米白面，鱼虾蛋肉，而穷人吃五谷杂粮。他仔细分析，粗粮内夹杂着不少米糠麦麸，精米白面把这类东西全去掉了。他估计，脚气病很可能是缺少米糠和麦麸这些物质引起的。于是，他试着用米糠和麦麸来治疗脚气病，果然很是灵验。不到半年，周围几家富人的脚气都陆续治好了。
孙思邈不仅钻研医术，而且不畏艰险，手执小镐，身背药篓，穿山越岭，攀登陡崖，进山采药。他走遍附近的名山大川，还北上到五台山采药。他每次采药回来，都要亲自将药进行晾晒、加工，有时还亲自试用。孙思邈在山地采集药材过程中，随时随地给老百姓看病治疗，为山区的百姓解疾病痛苦。久住山区的人，很容易得大脖子病，脖子前面长出一个大瘤子来。孙思邈想：人们常说，吃心补心，吃肝补肝，能不能用羊靥治疗大脖子病呢?他试治了几个病人，果然见效。
一次，一个腿疼的病人前来就诊，孙思邈便给他针灸。他按照传统的疗法，扎了几针，都未能止疼。他想，难道除了古人发现的365个穴位之外，再没有别的穴位了吗?他认真仔细地寻找新的穴位，一面用大拇指轻轻按掐，一面问病人按掐的部位是不是疼?病人一直都摇头。当孙思邈手指按掐住一个新的部位时，病人立即感到腿疼的症状减轻了好多。孙思邈就在这一点扎了一针，病人的腿立刻不疼了。这种随疼点而定的穴位，叫做“阿是穴”，又名“天应穴”或“不定穴”。这是孙思邈对针灸学的一大贡献。
孙思邈来到洪洞地区后，30年来，在治疗疾病的实践中，不断提高自己的医疗技术，他还总结了唐以前的医学理论和临床经验；分析药性，收集方药，在他70岁时(公元652年)，写成《备急千金要方》一书。全书共30卷，232门，方论5300余首，记载了800多种药物的药性及功效。其书倡立脏病、腑病分类，具有新的系统性，在妇科和儿科方面，也有许多独创。
孙思邈在行医道德品质方面，也是一位杰出的典范。他经常教导跟随他学医的徒弟们，做一名医生，一定要有高尚的人格，刻苦钻研的精神和极其强烈的责任感。他在编著《备急千金要方》一书中，综述做一名医生，一定要做到“十要”。一要热爱祖国传统的医学；二要对医术钻研，精益求精；三在看病时，要把病人当作自己的亲人，认真诊断，细心治疗，千万不能粗心大意和漠不关心；四要在行医过程中，不为名，不图利；五要在看病时，不要考虑个人得失，不要怕担风险，负责任全力救治病人；六要加强责任感，诊治无差错；七要求医生不要和病家谈与诊治病情无关的话语，以免影响病人的治疗和身心健康；八要对患者一视同仁；九要切勿骄傲，自高自大，不要因偶然治愈一病，就目中无人；十要为人正直，光明磊落，真诚待人，团结同道。
孙思邈在洪洞编写的这部《备急千金要方》医书，突破了长期以来，医必《黄帝内经》和药必《神农本草》的旧框框。这部被后世誉为临床医学的百科全书，它的内容精辟而丰富，包括了做一名医生必须具备的各种医学理论知识、实践经验、行为规范和道德品质。
四
孙思邈从71岁(公元652年)到整整100岁(公元681年)时，他在洪洞又把这30年在治病时所积累的验方，编成第二部医书《千金翼方》，为《备急千金要方》作了补充。除这两部医学专著外，还著有《摄生论》、《福寿论》、《保生铭》、《存神炼气铭》、《摄养枕中方》等书。孙思邈于唐永淳元年(公元682年)，病逝于洪洞县大坂村(今洪洞县淹底乡孙张村)家中。相传，该村孙姓大部为孙思邈之后裔。据《洪洞县地名录》载：“孙张村位于淹底乡西北部。相传，唐代名医孙思邈即此村人。唐太宗负伤后，由孙思邈医治痊愈，后封为药王，建药王庙于村西，现碑石俱存。该村初名大坂，后因张姓较多，依孙思邈、张姓，故名孙张村④。
药王孙思邈虽然仙逝，但其功德永存人间。400年后宋徽宗(公元1100年—公元1125年)，追封孙思邈为“妙应真人”。到了元代至正年间(公元1341年—公元1367年)，由道士贾奇主持，在当年孙思邈救治唐太宗李世民的原地旧址——洪洞县南安乐坂村，修建了规模宏大的药王庙，名日孙真人庙。《洪洞县志》载：“孙真人庙，在县南安乐坂，内塑神医孙思邈像，元至正年间，里人贾奇建。”⑤
孙真人庙，山门座东朝西。山门重楼叠阁，万椽相接。山门两旁有2层的钟鼓楼各一座。庙内有献殿、正殿、寝殿3座大殿。正殿塑有孙思邈的坐像。庙内除建有道人住宿房舍外，还有关帝庙、将军殿、会仙阁、李公祠、马王庙、菩萨庙、子孙娘娘庙、城隍庙、土地庙、财神庙、汗暑庙等，共占地30余亩，建筑面积达3000余平方米，其“规模之宏大，建筑之雄伟，历史之悠久，影响之深远，在全国成千上万的药王庙中可谓首屈一指了。”⑥
注：
①任继愈：《宗教词典 )477页(上海辞书出版社1981年12月1版)。
②京兆府，府址设在长安万年 (今西安市)。辖境相当今陕西省秦岭以北，乾县以东，铜川以南，渭南以西的辽阔地带。
③谏议大夫，在唐代隶属门下省，掌管议论，掌侍从规谏。
④《洪洞地名录 )227页(洪洞县人民政府1987年11月内部出版)。
⑤《洪洞县志·卷八》 129页。
⑥扈石祥：《药王孙思邈的故事》 (《中国道教》1990年第3期)。