Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 839 Imperial Physician's Unique Skill: Taking Pulse with Both Hands, "A Real Comment Makes You Unhappy Again" (Two Chapters Combined)
The others found it somewhat amusing to see Gu Mingyuan's expression—that he was actually in pain but was trying to pretend he was fine.

They could also see that Gu Mingyuan was the kind of person who was extremely concerned about saving face.

He appears polite on the surface, but in reality, he's always competing and secretly plotting against each other.

Moreover, this person is very pretentious, always maintaining his own demeanor no matter what.

They are jealous of others' achievements and try to elevate themselves by belittling others, but they lack real talent and can only rely on rhetoric to put others down.

He was publicly humiliated just now because of a permission issue, and his current behavior only highlights his vanity and lack of practical ability.

Wang Zhijun had previously commented on this person, saying, "His wickedness is so low-level that it's easy to see through him at a glance."

Now everyone feels this even more deeply.

If someone really thinks they can rival a dialect, then they're really overthinking it.

He's not even in the same league as Fang Yan. The only reason he can be so sarcastic and sarcastic towards Fang Yan is because the school gave him this platform. Otherwise, someone like him would probably never have the chance to spout nonsense in front of Fang Yan.

Chen Keji's words just now made him realize this matter to some extent.

Whether he can realize it himself is another matter.

Seeing the veins bulging on his neck and his temples throbbing, it was clear that he was too preoccupied to be aware of such things at the moment.

He's probably thinking more about the embarrassing moment that just happened.

It's playing on repeat in my head right now.

"Doctor? Can you treat patients?" At this moment, someone broke the atmosphere.

This drew everyone's attention to the doorway.

Fang Yan also put the book away.

He was too lazy to pay attention to Gu Mingyuan standing to the side. His main purpose in coming here today was to learn how Chen Keji treats illnesses.

The person at the door was a middle-aged man in his early fifties.

He was still wearing Shougang's work uniform.

Chen Keji said to him:
"Sure! Have you made an appointment?"

The man walked in and took out a sheet from his pocket:

"You've registered. Look, is this the place?"

Chen Keji glanced at it and nodded:
"Yes, this is it."

After saying that, he pointed to the chair:

"Please have a seat."

The other party said:

"It wasn't me, it was my wife."

"Oh?" Chen Keji looked behind him but didn't see anyone else at the door.

The man turned and ran out the door, saying into the hallway:
"come in."

Soon a woman, also in her early fifties and wearing a Shougang work uniform, walked in.

People who come here for medical treatment instead of going to their own workplace are most likely suffering from serious illnesses that cannot be treated at their original workplace, which is why they come here.

As soon as the woman entered the room, the dialect speaker, like everyone else, began to observe her carefully.

Most people who come to Chen Keji for treatment have cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases, or are suffering from age-related illnesses.

Fang Yan noticed that the woman in front of him had dark lips.

If you have puffy eyes, it's highly likely that this is a problem with your heart or lungs.

As soon as the middle-aged woman entered, she glanced at the group of people standing behind Chen Keji.

Seeing that they were all young men, she felt a little nervous for a moment.

Chen Keji said to the woman:

“They are college students who are doing their internships here, don’t worry about them.”

"Just tell me where you feel unwell."

Hearing Chen Keji's words, the woman came to her senses, sat down, and said to Chen Keji:

"I have heart problems and have been to your hospital several times."

Upon hearing that the person had previously visited a hospital, Chen Keji asked:

"Who watched it? It wasn't me, was it?"

The middle-aged woman said:

"A woman, in her forties."

Chen Keji seemed to remember someone, but instead of saying their name, he asked:

"Were the previous treatments ineffective?"

The middle-aged woman said:

"No, I've had this pain for years. Treatment only provides temporary relief; the root cause remains."

"I had a severe pain two years ago and was hospitalized for several months."

"Recently, I feel like I'm going to have a major heart attack again, similar to what happened two years ago. The frequency of chest pains is higher, and when I checked my blood pressure, it was normal... Oh right, what was that saying again?"

As she finished speaking, she turned to look at her husband.

The latter immediately pulled out a notebook, flipped through it a few times, found the data he had written down, and said:
"Oh...110/70 mmHg!"

Chen Keji nodded and asked:
"how old are you?"

“Fifty,” the middle-aged woman replied.

At this moment, Gu Mingyuan whispered to the person next to him:
"For a normal woman aged 46-50, her systolic and diastolic blood pressure should be around 128/79 mmHg. Hers is a bit low..."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at him.

Even the middle-aged woman looked over in surprise.

The classmate who was with Gu Mingyuan asked:

"Brother Gu even knows this?"

Gu Mingyuan said smugly:

"That's right, I did my homework before I came!"

At this point, Fang Yan couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Just as Gu Mingyuan was about to angrily question Fang Yanxiao about what she was laughing about, Chen Keji also turned around and said with some dissatisfaction:
"Young man, if you don't understand, don't talk nonsense here!"

"Her blood pressure is completely within the normal range and is in the ideal range."

"Besides, we in traditional Chinese medicine don't use this kind of thing. Haven't you heard of the four diagnostic methods: observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation?"

"I don't know what kind of homework you did, but I advise you not to do it next time."

"..." Gu Mingyuan's face immediately turned red.

Before he came today, he thought of prioritizing research on cardiovascular information.

In order to leave a good impression on Chen Keji.

Now Chen Keji is telling him that what he was looking at was completely wrong, and that there was no need to look at it at all.

This is really giving him a headache.

Aren't hospitals nowadays mostly combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine?
Many TCM doctors in hospitals now need to learn how to read Western medical examination reports.

He simply anticipated the inspection reports he would encounter and then prepared to put on a show in front of others.

Instead of succeeding, he was mocked in the local dialect and ridiculed by Chen Keji.

"I knew it, you scared me." At this moment, the patient also came to his senses and gave Gu Mingyuan a dissatisfied look.

Being sick is already annoying enough, and you, a college student, are making trouble here too.

They're just looking for trouble.

Fortunately, both husband and wife were workers and were wearing work clothes, so they didn't say much because they were concerned about the impact on their workplace.

If it were someone with a bad temper, or if they weren't wearing their work uniform that day, they would at least swear at them a couple of times.

"Alright, ignore him, please continue," Chen Keji said to the patient.

The patient was taken aback and asked:

"What place did you say?"

Chen Keji said:

"I've already mentioned your blood pressure... Please just tell me what symptoms you're experiencing now."

The patient realized what was happening and said:

"Oh, I see. When I fell ill, my main symptoms were dizziness, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and irritability."

"The onset of the illness usually takes about an hour, but recently it has been a little longer in more severe cases, and people are too weak to get out of bed and can only lie down."

Chen Keji nodded as he wrote the medical record, then asked:
"What about eating, sleeping, and using the toilet?"

The patient tilted his head and thought for a moment:

"Eating, sleeping, and urinating/defecating... should be considered normal."

Chen Keji wrote it down and then asked:

Do you still have your period?

“It stopped a year ago,” the patient replied.

Chen Keji nodded.

After writing it down, he said to the patient:
"Stick out your tongue so I can see it."

The patient stuck out her tongue as instructed, and everyone could see that her tongue was a deep red color.

Then Chen Keji pointed to the patient's hand:
"Put your hands on the table, I'll take your pulse."

The patient asked:
"Two hands?"

“Yes.” Chen Keji nodded.

Those around were somewhat surprised; was he going to use both hands to draw the bow?
Many of them were stunned.

His dialect was slightly better, after all, he came from the internet age and was well-versed in various ancient books, so he still knew this skill.

Gong Tingxian, the author of "Wanbing Huichun" (Returning Spring to Ten Thousand Diseases), a Ming Dynasty imperial physician, created a unique method of pulse diagnosis using both hands. He was able to detect cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases by taking the pulse with both hands.

This method was once used to discover that an official had a weak and thin left cun position and a large and strong right chi position, which diagnosed him with deficiency of heart yang combined with excessive ministerial fire. He was cured by taking Jiaotai Pill with modifications.

His descendants also know this skill. Fang Yan even met one of his descendants, named Gong Honghai, a PhD from the Chinese Academy of Traditional Medicine and a student of the National Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Weng Weiliang (note that he is a student, not an apprentice).

By taking the pulse with both hands, one can compare and differentiate the subtle changes in the pulse of the patient's left and right hands, namely the "yin and yang pulses," thereby obtaining a more accurate diagnosis and making an accurate judgment on the development and prognosis of the disease.

That was the first time Fang Yan had ever seen a real person take his pulse with both hands.

It is also said that Zhang Jianzhai, a famous doctor during the Republic of China period, could also take the pulse with both hands. However, he would take the pulse of two patients at the same time, and he never wrote medical records himself. He would dictate the prescriptions, and the medical records were written by others, so there were never any mistakes.

In 1935, when he consulted on Wang Jingwei's case, he examined Wang with his left hand and his secretary with his right hand. He immediately pointed out that the secretary's right hand was slippery, which suggested early signs of stomach cancer. The diagnosis was later confirmed by Western medicine.

Traditional single-hand pulse diagnosis takes 3-5 minutes per person, while double-hand pulse diagnosis can be reduced to 1.5-2 minutes. Zhang Jianzhai's daily outpatient volume reached 300 visits, setting a record in the medical field during the Republic of China era.

I never expected to see this kind of move from Chen Keji today.

The difficulty of taking pulses with both hands is actually quite high for most people, as it requires processing pulse information from both sides simultaneously, and there are very few qualified TCM doctors who can master it.

When Fang Yan was still a student, she specifically asked the teachers and classmates around her, but she had never heard of any similar traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. The teacher even told Fang Yan not to think about these fancy things.

For an ordinary traditional Chinese medicine doctor, the learning cost is simply too high.

In fact, this pulse diagnosis is by no means a show of skill. From a dialectical perspective, it is the ultimate embodiment of the holistic view and the essence of syndrome differentiation in traditional Chinese medicine.

"Why didn't I think of that? I could take a pulse with both hands!"

"That would greatly improve efficiency!"

Just then, Gu Mingyuan's boastful voice rang out again. Everyone else present, except for Chen Keji who had his back to him, turned to look at him.

Gu Mingyuan enjoyed the feeling of being at the center of the crowd. He said:
"I'll go back and practice, and try to incorporate it into my pulse diagnosis techniques as soon as possible."

"I think this technology should be promoted."

Everyone was speechless: "..."

Dude, you're such a show-off!
They were talking nonsense about blood pressure just now, and now they're trying to imitate Chen Keji's method of taking pulses with both hands.

You feel uncomfortable if you don't act pretentious for more than ten minutes?

"If you're going to watch, then watch properly and don't talk!" Chen Keji was clearly getting fed up with this guy.

He had been concentrating on calculating his pulse, but Gu Mingyuan's words immediately interrupted his train of thought.

Fang Yan shook his head and winked at the others around him, signaling them not to look at this kid. The more you pay attention to Gu Mingyuan, the more energetic he becomes. He's a complete performer.

Everyone else understood, and their gazes fell on Chen Keji, no longer glancing at Gu Mingyuan.

Gu Mingyuan's attempt to show off failed, and he was interrupted by Chen Keji. Although he was a little annoyed, the feeling of being watched by everyone just now still gave him a sense of satisfaction.

He smiled and looked towards Fang Yan, wanting to give him a provocative look, but found that Fang Yan and the four people around him were not looking at him.

After a while, Chen Keji finished his diagnosis and then began writing the medical record.

The patient presented with dizziness, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and irritability. She was unable to get out of bed and could only lie down. Her appetite, sleep, and bowel movements were normal. She had stopped menstruating a year ago. Her tongue was red and her pulse was weak and thready.

The diagnosis is as follows: The patient has been ill for many years, resulting in deficiency of both Qi and Blood. The heart governs the blood vessels, and there is insufficient Yin and Blood, leading to malnourishment of the liver. Hence, the patient experiences dizziness, irritability, extreme fatigue, and frequent lying down. Due to impaired Qi circulation, the patient also experiences chest tightness and occasional heart pain. Furthermore, due to Yin deficiency and excessive Yang, the tongue is reddish-brown.

Fang Yan saw that his analysis was basically the same as what he had in his mind.

The treatment method, if used in dialects, is to nourish the heart and liver, and harmonize the heart and kidneys.

Nourishing the heart and soothing the liver is the core pathogenesis for repairing the malnourishment of the heart and liver.

Improving the balance between the heart and kidneys is fundamental to improving a constitution characterized by yin deficiency and excessive fire.

After Chen Keji finished writing, he paused, then started a new line and wrote:

The treatment plan focuses on nourishing the heart and liver, and regulating qi and blood.

Fang Yan noticed that Chen Keji did not choose to regulate the heart and kidneys, but instead chose to regulate qi and blood.

That works too. Restoring the balance of Yin and Yang through regulating Qi and blood is also a viable approach.

Regarding the core pathogenesis, their treatment ideas are the same.

Then it's about how to extract the formula.

Then Chen Keji took out a prescription, placed carbon paper on it, and began to write on it quickly.

Wow, he writes incredibly fast.

The writing was very messy.

Even though Fang Yan had seen many illegible characters, he was still amazed by the extent of his illegibility.

How can I describe how sloppy this is?
Those concentric rings and lines are like a pirate's treasure map, as if afraid that no one will be able to figure out what's inside.

The dialect is only enough to get a general idea from what you see in front of you, and you can guess and deduce some medicines that you can't understand.

It can be roughly seen that it contains formulas such as Huazai Yangxin Decoction, Gualou Xiebai Decoction, Sini Powder, and Shengmai Powder, with the addition of Panax notoginseng, Salvia miltiorrhiza, and amber to promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, nourish the heart, and calm the mind.

Of course, we need to verify this with Chen Keji to know if it's correct.

As for the others, they were completely dumbfounded.

I couldn't understand it at all.

All I could see were lines flying across the prescription form.

"Take the prescription to Master Sun at the pharmacy, and he will prepare the medicine for you." Chen Keji tore off the prescription and handed it to the other person. The carbon copy was printed on his medical record notebook.

After the patient took the prescription, he glanced at the scribbles on it. If Chen Keji hadn't said he was going to the pharmacy, they would have thought he was to take it back, boil it, and mix it with water to drink.

“Only Master Sun can understand it, so you’ve come to the right person,” Chen Keji confirmed to the patient and her husband.

Only then did the two have no choice but to believe it, bid farewell to Chen Keji, and leave.

After everyone left, Chen Keji opened the lid of his teacup and took a sip of tea.

Then he turned to the crowd and said:

"Did you understand just now?"

Everyone stared at him, completely bewildered. You deliberately wrote it that way and then asked us if we understood it?

"Forget about the prescription I just gave you. I know you won't understand it. Just follow the logic of my analysis and write a prescription for me based on the content."

"Let's see how you're going to prescribe this medicine."

"Come on, everyone take a prescription form and fill it out yourselves. This is a special kind of classroom assignment for me."

After saying that, he tore off the prescription and handed it to everyone.

After everyone received their prescriptions, they divided into two groups and began writing out the prescriptions.

At this point, Chen Keji also said:
"Don't copy others, and don't ask others for their opinions. Just be yourself and let your thoughts flow."

He wrote in dialect very quickly because he already had the idea and could just write it down now, while the others were a little slower.

Zhang Yanchang and Yang Jingxiang followed closely behind. They had treated similar illnesses using the dialect, so they had a good understanding of it. They could recall most of it after a little effort. Although it wasn't completely accurate, the thought process was definitely correct, and since they had clearly diagnosed the symptoms, the difficulty was actually quite small.

However, we just need to figure out what Chen Keji really wants.

"Director Chen, I've finished writing." To everyone's surprise, Gu Mingyuan was the first to step forward.

He simply shook the thing in his hand.

Then he looked at Fang Yan with a smug expression.

He was the first to hand in his paper before the people around him had even finished writing.

Fang Yan ignored the guy and continued waiting for the others.

This isn't a competition to see who can prescribe medicine the fastest. Learning requires a proper attitude. He just likes to compete in these trivial matters.

Fang Yan didn't know what kind of environment he grew up in; it seemed like he would die if he didn't win.

At this moment, Chen Keji walked over, took Gu Mingyuan's prescription, glanced at it, and exclaimed in admiration:
"Eight ingredients, that's quite a potent prescription!"

Gu Mingyuan smiled; at least he had finally praised himself.

"Have you finished writing Fang Yan yet?" To everyone's surprise, Chen Keji turned around and walked straight towards Fang Yan.

Fang Yan took out his own recipe and said:

"It's finished."

Chen Keji approached Fang Yan and glanced at the prescription.

It's written in great detail above.

Qi-tonifying, Yin-nourishing, and meridian-clearing formula

composition:

9g of American ginseng is decocted separately and taken with the decoction (to nourish both qi and yin, and improve myocardial metabolism).

Ophiopogon japonicus 12g (nourishes yin and moistens dryness, clears deficiency fire)
Schisandra chinensis 6g (calms the mind and soothes the nerves, astringes and consolidates the body)

15g of Salvia miltiorrhiza (promotes blood circulation and improves microcirculation)

Red peony root 9g (cools blood and disperses blood stasis, inhibits platelet aggregation)

Turmeric 9g (soothes the liver, relieves depression, promotes qi circulation, and alleviates pain)

30g of stir-fried jujube seeds (nourishes the liver, calms the mind, and improves sleep)

First decoct 30g of raw dragon bone (to calm the mind, soothe the liver, and extinguish wind).

Prepared licorice root 6g (to harmonize the effects of other herbs, relieve spasms and pain)
Matching logic:

American ginseng, combined with Ophiopogon japonicus and Schisandra chinensis, forms an improved Shengmai Powder, which targets the core pathogenesis of deficiency of both Qi and Yin.

Danshen and Chishao form a blood-activating and stasis-removing pair, improving the blood stasis state of the red tongue.

Raw dragon bone has a strong effect in calming the body and suppressing the rising of deficient yang caused by yin deficiency and excessive fire.

"Great!" Chen Keji said with just two words after reading it.

Then the others finished writing one after another.

Chen Keji took the prescriptions that had been written one by one.

Then they were all laid out on the table.

Then he began to speak:
"Actually, most people's prescriptions are pretty good, but the best one is Fang Yan. His prescription logic is very clear, and he takes into account all aspects of medication details. His reasoning, method, prescription, and medicine are complete, and he has marked all the necessary information in the prescription."

After speaking, he also showed the prescription in the local dialect to everyone.

Everyone discovered that Fang Yan's prescription was written like a textbook, with everything explained clearly and all the necessary notes noted down.

Even Gu Mingyuan, who was unconvinced, couldn't find anything wrong with it.

I just feel like this is similar to my own thinking, so what's so great about it?

Next time I'll write it in more detail myself.

Then Chen Keji said:

"In addition, the other students are also quite good in all aspects, but they haven't paid attention to matching in some areas."

Just then, Gu Mingyuan, who always insisted on using the local dialect, couldn't hold back any longer and asked:

"Director Chen, what about mine? Didn't you say mine was pretty ruthless?"

"You?" Chen Keji raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

asked:

Are you sure I want to say what you want?

Gu Mingyuan immediately had a bad feeling.

What do you mean?
Did I make a mistake?
The herbs he and Fang Yan used were the same, so how could they be wrong?

Although he felt a little uneasy, that's just his personality, so he forced himself to nod and say:

"I'm here to learn from you, and it's an honor to receive your feedback."

Upon hearing this, Chen Keji said:

"Alright! Then I'll tell you your recipe."

“你这个方子确实挺狠，党参12g、麦冬10g、五味子6g、丹参15g、赤芍9g、当归12g、茯苓15g、炙甘草6g。”

After speaking, he glanced at the people around him.

Everyone else looked thoughtful after hearing this.

Chen Keji said:

"In my opinion, there are three mistakes in this recipe."

He held up his finger and said:
"The first mistake: Codonopsis pilosula replenishes qi but raises temperature. The patient has yin deficiency and excessive fire. This is like blowing oxygen into a red-hot iron."

"The second mistake: Angelica sinensis is known as the 'blood qi medicine,' but using it on someone with a red tongue is like giving someone with insomnia strong tea."

"The third mistake: Poria cocos promotes diuresis but does not protect yin. The patient has already 'exhausted her yin' after menopause. Are you trying to drain the last drop of her body fluids?"

After saying that, he commented without any politeness:

"Your prescription is like pouring boiling water on parched land; it looks promising, but it will actually make things worse!"

"If we follow your instructions, the patient's dry mouth will worsen after three doses, and he will experience night sweats and hot flashes."

"You know the medicine but not the symptoms, you lack clinical experience, and the prescriptions you write are off by a hair's breadth but have a huge error!"

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

There's more to come!

(End of this chapter)