Zhang Zhongjing (150-219), a medical scientist of the Eastern
Han Dynasty (25-220) who has been respectfully referred to as a
"Sage in Medicine" for the last 2,000 years, became the target of
criticism in Science Brings About Health, a recently
published book by Fang Zhouzi who runs the Xin Yu Si (New Threads)
website that exposes cases of pseudoscience.
A biochemist by training, with a PhD from Michigan State
University, the California-based Fang says in his book that as an
ancient physician, "Zhang's medical knowledge is basically wrong.
He cannot even be compared to any student graduating from today's
regular medical schools."
Fang Zhouzi
In a chapter titled "A Scientific View on the Poisonous Side
Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)," Fang spearheads the
attack on TCM classics. "If we regard medicine as science rather
than persuasion, we should not have a superstitious belief in
ancient people," he writes.
The chapter ends with a 20-page chart detailing the poisonous
side effects of over 60 types of TCM including Chinese thorowax
(Bupleurum chinensis), Isatis root (Radix isatidis),
and the rhizome of Chinese goldthread (Coptis chinensis). "A
history of being used for over 1,000 years doesn't mean that the
medicinal herbs don't have any problems," Fang points out.
To this very day, ancient literature texts such as Classics
of Internal Medicine and Zhang Zhongjing's Febrile and Other
Diseases are still considered Bibles by TCM students when
diagnosing illnesses and writing prescriptions. "Innovation is the
life of scientific research. No progress can be made if we continue
to have a bigoted belief in the ancients," Fang stresses.
Nevertheless, Gao Xuemin, a famous Chinese pharmacology expert
and a professor from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, holds
very different opinions. "Students majoring in TCM should treat
every ancient medical book as a required course, discarding the
dross and keeping the essence," he was quoted by Beijing Morning
Post as saying on January 21.
Zheng Chaoqiang, vice chairman of Beijing Medical Education
Association, echoed Gao's view: "Practitioners of Western medicine
should learn TCM knowledge, and vice versa. We should carefully
study the rich TCM tradition rather than categorically denying
it."
According to Zheng, former dean of Xiehe, or Peking Union
Medical College, which was established based on the Western medical
system, "Even Xiehe students are required to study TCM theory."
What's more, Zhang Zhongjing's theory was vital for the
development of medical science in ancient China. "People living in
different times have different knowledge structures. To make an
across-time-and-space comparison (as Fang did) is meaningless," Gao
Xuemin said.
"Sage in Medicine" Zhang Zhongjing (150-219)
Fang of course has his supporters including 80-year-old He
Zuoxiu, a theoretical physicist and academician at the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, who wrote a preface for Fang's new book. "Very
few physicists have read Newton's original texts because it's
unnecessary. So it is the case, too, for medicine," He said.
"Chinese people are used to holding the opinion that all old
conventions are good. Actually, medical students don't need to
worship ancient books in which the errors are often more than
plentiful."
(China.org.cn by Shao Da, January 25, 2007)
