Bianque, whose surname was Qin and original given name was Yueren, was born in Bohai (now Renqiu County of Hebei Province) in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period (770-221BC). As a child, he learned medicine from an old folk doctor, Mr. Changsang. He mastered Mr. Changsang's diagnosis method and treatment techniques and became the most famous doctor in his time, and was an outstanding representative of medical experts in the Pre-Qin Period (before 221BC). He could diagnose diseases accurately, cure patients miraculously and bring the dying back to life,just like the legendary god doctor Bianque. Thus, people simply called him Bianque. Gradually, many people forgot his real name, Qin Yueren.

After Bianque became famous, he toured all the kingdoms to cure diseases for people, and his areas of treatment often changed according to different regions. In Handan,he heard that most patients were women, so he worked as a "Daixia Doctor" (doctor specializing in gynecology);when he passed by Luoyang,he saw that elders were highly revered there, so he became a doctor mainly treating diseases of the old such as the trouble in the ear or the eye;when he reached Xianyang, he learned that people of the Qin Kingdom regarded children as important,so he became a pediatrician. In his practice of diagnosis,he had already applied the comprehensive diagnostic techniques of traditional Chinese medicines, namely, the four diagnostic methods: observation, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation, and pulse-feeling and palpation. "Observation" means looking at the appearance and tongue fur, "auscultation and olfaction" refers to listening to the sound of the patient's speech and breath, "interrogation" refers to asking about the patient's symptoms, and "pulse-feeling and palpation" is just in the literal meaning. At that time, Bianque called those techniques "Wangse (observing the color of the patient), Tingsheng (listening to the voice), Xieying (drawing a primary conclusion of the symptoms) and Qiemai (feeling the pulse)". Bianque's ways of treatment varied,such as acupuncture, adhibition of medicine, operation, medicine taking and so on. But Bianque was assassinated by the Dayiling (royal officer in charge of medicine) of the Qin Kingdom, Li Xi, who envied him very much.

Bianque was memorized and respected by people forever. Until now,in many of the places he had been to, there are memorial sites preserved, such as "Native Place of Bianque", "Village of Bianque", "Relics of Bianque", "Temple of Bianque", "Mountain of Doctor Bianque", etc., in Hebei, Henan, Shandong and other provinces; a highly-skilled doctor is always praised as "Bianque coming to life again".

Bianque had nine disciples in his life, and it was because of these disciples that his high medical skill had been handed down. Till the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), his well-preserved works included nine volumes of Internal Canon of Medicine, twelve volumes of External Canon of Medicine, and thirteen volumes of Bianque's Prescriptions Approved by First Yellow Emperor, etc. The extant medical book of the Han Dynasty, Canon of Medicine of Difficult Diseases , is a work compiled on the basis of Bianque's medical skill, especially his knowledge on pulse-taking. Many of the basic theories of the traditional Chinese medicine, which is still playing a great role in the health service of mankind, are closely related to Bianque.

This article was posted on 2007-08-22
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