Bian Que 1

    Bian Que

    Bian Que

    Native name 扁 鹊

    Born Chinese: 秦 緩; pinyin: Qín Huǎn

    circa 401 BC

    Chinese: 勃 海 郡; pinyin: Bó Hǎi Jùn

    (Present-day Cangzhou city)

    Died circa 310 BC (aged?91)

    Monuments See Tomb of Bian Que (Jinan)

    Notable work(s) The Yellow Emperor's Canon of 81 Difficult Issues

    (Chinese: 黄 帝 八 十 一 难 经; pinyin: Huángdì Bāshíyī Nán Jīng)

    Predecessor Chinese: 长 桑 君; pinyin: Cháng Sāng Jūn

    Bian Que

    Stone carving from the Eastern Han Dynasty, showing the divine healer Bian Que, depicted as a bird with a human head, treating sick people using

    acupuncture.

    Simplified Chinese

    扁 鹊

    Traditional Chinese

    扁 鵲

    Transcriptions

    Mandarin

    Hanyu Pinyin Biǎn Què

    Wade–Giles Pien Ch'üeh

    Bian Que (Chinese: 扁 鹊; pinyin: Biǎn Què) (also pronounced Bian Qiao, Wade-Giles: Pien Ch'iao; died 310

    BC) was, according to legend, the earliest known Chinese physician. His real name is said to be Qin Yueren (秦 越

    人), but his medical skills were so amazing that the people gave him the same name as the legendary doctor Bian

    Que, from the time of the Yellow Emperor. He was a native of the State of Qi.Bian Que 2

    Life and legend

    According to the legend recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian (史 记·扁 鹊 仓 公 列 传), he was gifted

    with clairvoyance from a deity when he was working as a noble hostel staff. The legend states that while being an

    attendant at the hostel, he encountered an old man who stayed there for many years. The old man was thankful of

    Bian Que's attentive service and politeness, and gave him a packet of medicine which he told Bian Que to boil in

    water. After taking this medicine, he gained the ability to see through the human body. He thereby became an

    excellent diagnostician with his X-ray-like ability. He also excelled in pulse taking and acupuncture therapy. He is

    ascribed the authorship of Bian Que Neijing (Internal Classic of Bian Que). Han Dynasty physicians claimed to have

    studied his works, which have since been lost. Tales state that he was a doctor of many disciplines, conforming to the

    local needs wherever he went. For example, in one city he was a children's doctor, and in another a female physician.

    One famous legend tells of how once when Bian Que was in the State of Cai, he saw the lord of the state at the time

    and told him that he had a disease, which Bian Que claimed was only in his skin. The lord brushed this aside as at

    that time he felt no symptoms, and told his attendants that Bian Que was just trying to profit from the fears of others.

    Bian Que is said to have visited the lord many times thereafter, telling him each time how this sickness was

    becoming progressively worse, each time spreading into more of his body, from his skin to his blood and to his

    organs. The last time Bian Que went to see the lord, he looked in from afar, and rushed out of the palace. When an

    attendant of the lord asked him why he had done this, he replied that the disease was in the marrow and was

    incurable. The lord was said to have died soon after.

    Another legend stated that once, while visiting the state of Guo, he saw people mourning on the streets. Upon

    inquiring what their grievances were, he got the reply that the heir apparent of the lord had died, and the lord was in ......