January 24 – 30, 2014

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Essence of China 15

This week's solution

Sudoku SudokuFill in the boxes using numbers between 1 and 9 so that each col-umn, each row, and each 3x3 square contain all nine numbers only once.

GEOGRAPHY GURU™Quiz 452

READ EPOCH TIMES NEXT WEEK FOR THE ANSWER!

Answer for Quiz 451

RIVER TRIP:

‘A’ IS FOR ‘AFRICA’:

Sun Simiao:

Name the nation for which each of the cities below is the capital(or former capital).

If you took a boat down a certain river from Aswan to Luxor to Asyut to Giza, you would be boating in EGYPT.

1. Abidjan2. Abuja3. Accra4. Addis Ababa5. Algiers6. Antananarivo7. Asmara

Guess the hidden saying, phrase or word(s)

suggested by the picture!

SOLUTION BELOW

Presented By

Ala

n M

org

an

C

ANS: xxx_United_we_stand_xxx

WE

WE

BY DAVID WUEPOCH TIMES STAFF

Sun Simiao ( was a famous 7th century Chinese doctor who lived during the Sui ( ) and Tang ( ) dynasties, A.D. 581–618 and A.D. 618–907 respectively. Tradi-tional Chinese physicians regard him as the “King of Chinese Medi-cine.”

He is often described in folk-lore as a tiger-riding Daoist who achieved immortality after spend-ing his life saving people and teaching “cultivation as a way of life.”

His theory was called “yang sheng” ), a vision of cultivat-ing (improving) one’s character in order to maintain health and nurture life and longevity.

Sun Simiao showed extraordi-nary intelligence and talent at a very young age, and by age 20 was already well versed in the Chinese classics and the teachings of many schools of thought.

He grew up during the reign of Emperor Zhou Xuan ( , near the end of the Northern Dynasties era (A.D. 386–581).

During this chaotic period, Sun Simiao decided to retreat to Mount Taibai to live a reclusive life while studying Daoism. He spent his days cultivating deep in the mountains, studying the secrets of the uni-

verse and practicing medicine.As a sage of traditional Chinese

medicine, there are many legends about Sun Simiao. One tells of how he once received some magi-cal remedies from an immortal source.

Of dragons and remediesAs the story goes, one day Sun Sim-iao came upon a shepherd boy who had injured a small snake. Sun took off his robe and traded it for the snake, which was bleeding, then put medicine on its wounds and released it.

Several days later, Sun Simiao was greeted by a young man rid-ing a horse. The man thanked Sun Simiao for saving his brother, but Sun did not understand what he meant.

The young man invited Sun to visit his home and asked Sun to ride on his horse. In the blink of an eye, they were suddenly in front of a luxurious manor.

An elderly gentleman greeted Sun Simiao. He said to Sun: “I wanted to thank you, so I sent my son to invite you here.” He then pointed to a boy and explained, “Several days ago, my younger son went out alone and was injured by a shepherd boy. It was good fortune that you appeared and saved him!”

The gentleman asked the boy to bow in thanks to Sun Simiao. Sun then remembered his encounter with the small snake. He asked what place this was, and was informed that he was in the Drag-on King’s water palace, and that the boy was the Dragon King’s son.

For three days, the king enter-tained Sun Simiao with sumptuous banquets and offered him many treasures, but Sun refused the gifts. Finally, the king presented Sun with 30 magical recipes and told him that he could use the remedies to save people’s lives.

‘Human life is extremely precious’After returning home, Sun indeed found the remedies from the

immortals of the sea very effec-tive. He later included them in his renowned medical journal “Qian Jin Yao Fang” ( ), or “Essential Prescriptions Worth 1,000 Liang of Gold,” where “liang” refers to an ancient Chinese unit of weight.

The book contained life-saving remedies and its title refl ected Sun Simiao’s belief that “a human life is extremely precious, more valuable than 1,000 liang of gold.”

Knowing of Sun Simiao’s repu-tation, several emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties tried to appoint him to offi cial positions, but Sun always politely declined, preferring to remain among the common people so that he would be available to treat those in need, especially the poor who could not afford to see a doctor.

When Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ( ) took the throne and summoned Sun Simiao to the capital, he was astonished to see Sun’s youthful appearance despite being at an advanced age.

“I heard that those who are in the Dao are all worthy of great respect,” the emperor said. “Today I realize the truth of that saying about cultivating the Dao.”

According to many accounts, Sun Simiao lived for 101 years (A.D. 581–682); however, some argue that he was born before A.D. 581 and lived for 141 or more years.

Leaving medicine for the futureAmong the over 80 books he authored, Sun Simiao left to future generations two of the most valu-able encyclopedias in the history of traditional Chinese medicine.

In addition to the 30-volume “Qian Jin Yao Fang,” which he com-pleted around A.D. 652, he later published “Qian Jin Yi Fang”

), or “Supplement to Essential Prescriptions Worth 1,000 Liang of Gold.” This was another sub-stantial text of 30 volumes, which Sun completed at the end of his life in A.D. 682.

The two books contain useful information from previous medi-cal literature, as well as Sun’s own clinical experience.

The rich contents of these books attest to Sun Simiao’s profound medical knowledge and extraor-dinary medical skills, along with his immense achievement in the study of pharmacology and clinical practice, including the gathering and processing of medicinal herbs, identifi cation characteristics, herbal

formulas, and clinical treatments.“Qian Jin Yao Fang” consists of

some 5,000 prescriptions and covers medical theories and clini-cal subjects including internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics, giving special attention to the treatment of women and children.

It also covers detoxifi cation, emergency aid, health preserva-tion, food therapy, acupuncture, and massage. It is a remarkable conclusive work summarizing the development of Chinese medicine before the Tang Dynasty.

“Qian Jin Yi Fang” contains nearly 3,000 prescriptions and covers gynecology, pediatrics, and acu-puncture, as well as information about strokes and many other sub-jects. This comprehensive supple-ment to “Qian Jin Yao Fang” also describes over 800 herbs.

According to Sun Simiao, disor-der in the balance of yin and yang causes natural disasters. Similarly, human diseases are due to yin-yang imbalances in the body, and

balance can be restored through appropriate treatments.

Medicine is an art of kindnessSun Simiao also valued the cultva-tion of medical ethics and believed that medicine is an art of kindness.

In his book “Da Yi Jing Chen” ), or “Sincerity and Devotion

of Great Doctors,” he wrote: “When a great doctor treats a patient, he must calm his spirit, focus his will-power, and be free from desires and pursuits. He fi rst needs to have a compassionate heart and devote himself to freeing patients from illnesses.

“If patients come for treatment, whether they are of high or low social status, rich or poor, elderly or young, beautiful or ugly, enemies or relatives, the Han race or other ethnic groups, intelligent or unin-telligent, the doctor should treat them the same as if they were all his dear relatives.”

This passage provides a clear refl ection of Sun Simiao’s noble character as a doctor.

‘King of Chinese Medicine’

He fi rst needs to have a compassionate heart and devote himself to freeing patients from illnesses.Sun Simiao

BY CINDY CHANEPOCH TIMES STAFF

The Chinese character (dào) describes a path, road, or a way or method.

When used in the discussion of traditional Chinese philosophy, Dao is an important concept that refers to the Way of Heaven or the

Truth of the universe.In the two major systems of

cultivation practice in China, the Dao School ( dào ) and the Buddha School ( fó ), the goal is the same—to return to one’s original, true self and achieve spiritual enlightenment by cultivating the Truth of the universe.

In the Dao School, the principles that one cultivates are called the Dao, and the goal is to attain the Dao (also written as Tao). Dao also refers to an enlightened being who has achieved the Dao.

In the cultivation way of the Buddha School, the law and principles that one cultivates

are called the Fa , f ), and the goal is to complete cultivation and attain Buddhahood.

In the character , on the left and bottom is the radical (chuò), an alternative form of the radical (chuò), which means walking, or to walk.

The character ( ) on the top-right is a pictogram depicting the head. It refers to the head, a leader or chief, or being fi rst or at the beginning.

Thus, (dào) expresses the concept of achieving spiritual enlightenment through walking the right path.

Chinese cultivation practice guides one to advance on the right

path in both elevating the mind (improving one’s character) and enhancing physical health.

While the Dao School empha-sizes cultivating truthfulness, the Buddha School emphasizes culti-vating compassion for all beings.

Examples of terms that contain include (dào lù), a road

or way; (dào ), a moral or spiritual nature; (dào yì), morality and justice, or a sense of righteous honour; and (dào

), reason or doctrine, especially reasoning or principles that are correct or the truth.

(dào dé) refers to moral-ity, virtue, or ethics. Lao Zi ( ), the founder of the Dao School, is believed to have lived in China about 2,500 years ago. His teach-ings are contained in the Dao De Jing ), or the “Classic of Dao and Virtue.”

(dào jiào), the religion of Daoism, is distinguished from

(dào ), the Dao School, in that the Dao School includes many more practices or cultiva-tion ways that are not part of the Daoist religion; they have no religious formalities and places of worship, etc., but only a teacher and students.

The same is true for the Bud-dhist religion and the Buddha School.

Lao Zi once stated, “A wise person who hears the Dao will practice it diligently. An average person who hears the Dao will practice it on and off. A foolish person who hears the Dao will laugh at it loudly. If this person does not laugh, it is not the Dao.”

CHINESE CHARACTER

A wise person who hears the Dao will practice it diligently.Lao Zi

Sun Simiao, considered the king of Chinese medicine, believed in cultivation (improvement) of character as a way of life and incorporated that belief into his work.

YEUAN FANG/EPOCH TIMES

When a great doctor treats a patient, he must calm his spirit, focus his willpower, and be free from desires and pursuits.Sun Simiao