The Biography of Old Man Dongyuan

Vernacular translation:

Mr. Li, an old man from Dongyuan, has a famous name and a courtesy name. His ancestors have lived on Zhending Road for generations, and their family is very wealthy. In the early years of Dading in the Jin Dynasty, the court checked the household registrations of Zhending and Hejian, and the results showed that his family's wealth ranked first among the two. When Mr. Li was a child, he was very different from ordinary children; when he grew up, he was loyal, trustworthy, dignified, and very cautious about making friends; he did not joke around when getting along with others. He never visited the places where everyone in the neighborhood considered them happy and comfortable, because that was just his nature. His contemporaries were jealous of him, so they agreed privately to prepare a banquet and let prostitutes tease him frivolously at the banquet. After the banquet, a prostitute pulled his clothes. He immediately cursed in anger, took off his clothes and burned them. Once, when he was receiving envoys from the Southern Song Dynasty as a local gentry, the chief of the palace heard that he was very moral at a young age, so he used words to imply that a prostitute forced him to drink. He couldn't refuse. After drinking a little wine, he vomited and left the table. This is how he valued himself. He studied "The Analects" and "Mencius" from Hanlin Wang Congzhi, and also studied "Spring and Autumn" from Hanlin Feng Shuxian. There was an open space in his house, and an academy was built there to receive Confucian scholars. If some Confucian scholars are in difficulty, we will provide them with comprehensive aid. During the Taihe period of the Jin Dynasty, famines occurred year after year. Most of the people fled or starved to death. Mr. Li did his best. They tried their best to provide relief with money and food, and many people were saved and saved.

Mr. Li's mother, Wang, was seriously ill and bedridden, so she asked several doctors in the village to treat her. Whether to use warm medicine or cold medicine, whether to use cold medicine or hot medicine, the doctors have different opinions. They have tried all the medicines, but they are just tonic medicines to nourish yin, and no one knows. What disease caused Wang to die. Mr. Li was very sad and grieved for his mother who lost his mother because she did not know medical skills. He made a vow: "If I meet a good doctor, I will study hard with him to make up for my mistakes."

I heard that Mr. Zhang Yuanyu, an ancient man from Yishui County, was famous for his medical skills, so I went to see him with gold and silver silk and satin. After studying for several years, I learned all his medical skills. Later, he donated money and food to the court and bought an official position in charge of taxation in Jiyuan County. The people there were widely suffering from epidemic infectious diseases, and the people in the society called it "Da Tou Tian Xing". The doctors checked all the medical books and found no prescription for this disease. Based on his own opinions, he randomly gave diarrhea to the patient. When it didn't work, he continued to give the patient diarrhea, so that the patient's condition worsened one after another until he died. The doctors didn't think it was a fault, and the patients didn't think it was wrong either. Only Mr. Li felt deeply sad in his heart, so he spent all his time exploring the cause of the disease, analyzing the symptoms to find out the root cause, and created a prescription. Only after giving it to the patients did he achieve curative effect. Mr. Li specially asked people to carve and print this prescription on a woodblock, and posted it in places where passers-by gathered for people to copy and use. Everyone who used this prescription did not fail to achieve curative effects. People at that time thought that the prescription was taught by immortals, so they carved it on the stone tablet.

Mr. Li was not famous for his medical skills at first, and people did not know that Mr. Li was very knowledgeable in medicine. Since Mr. Li came to Bianliang to escape the war, he relied on his medical skills to interact with dignitaries. His remarkable and good results in treating diseases are all recorded in other books. In the year of Renchen, he crossed the Yellow River to the north and lived in Dongping. He did not return to his hometown until the year of Jiachen. One day, Zhou Duyun De's father said to his friend Zhou Du: "I am old and want to pass on my medical skills to future generations. I feel that it is difficult to find suitable candidates. What should I do?" Zhou De's father said: "Luo Tianyi Qian's father from Liantai County He is honest and honest, and he regretted that he was not yet proficient in medicine as a career. If you want to teach medicine, this person can probably do it." On the other day, Zhou De's father took Luo Qianfu with him to visit Mr. Li. As soon as Mr. Li saw Luo Qianfu, he asked: "Are you here to study to become a doctor who makes money? Or to be a doctor who inherits and promotes medicine?" Luo Qianfu said: "It's just to inherit and promote medicine."

So I started studying with Mr. Li. Luo Qianfu's daily expenses and food are all provided by Mr. Li. After studying for three years, Mr. Li praised him. He was able to persevere for a long time and was tireless, so he gave him twenty taels of silver and said, "I know that your livelihood is difficult, and I am worried that your will will waver and give up halfway. I can use this money to support your wife and children." Luo Qianfu refused firmly and was unwilling to accept it. . Mr. Li said: "I have imparted my great medical knowledge to you without any reservation. How can I be stingy with this small amount of money?! Don't refuse anymore." You can imagine what Mr. Li expected. When Mr. Li was dying, he collated all the books he usually wrote and listed them by category, placed them on the desk, and told Luo Qianfu: "These books are not given to you, not for me, Li Mingzhi, nor for you, Luo Qianfu." , but for the people of the future generations. You must carefully preserve it and not let it be lost. You must promote it and spread it." Mr. Li died at the age of seventy-two, and the time of his death was February 20, 1911. Five days. Seventeen years have passed since Mr. Li passed away. Luo Qianfu still feels that Mr. Li's words are still in his ears when he talks about them, and they feel even fresher in retrospect. Ah! It turns out that Mr. Sir’s scholarship is indeed someone who can rely on and inherit it.