大医精诚英语翻译

Medical Ethics

Zhang Zhan, a famous scholar in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, said: “To master the classics of medicine is difficult and the difficulty is long-standing.” Nowadays diseases are sometimes interiorly the same but exteriorly different, and sometimes interiorly different but exteriorly the same. Thus it is difficult to examine the conditions of the five Zang-organs and the six Fu-organs as well as the circulation of the blood, nutrient Qi and defensive Qi simply by means of listening and observation. It is necessary that the pulse be taken to make an accurate diagnosis. However, the Cun, Guan and Chi divisions of the Cunkou (the pulsation of the radial artery) may be either floating, or sunken, or taut, or tense; the circulation of Qi and blood through the acupoints may be either upward, or downward, or shallow, or deep; the skin, muscle and bones may be either thick, or thin, or strong, or weak. Only those who are very cautious and conscientious can be discussed with such an abstruse theory.

However some unqualified doctors nowadays study such a profound and excellent theory with very simple and crude thinking. Is not it dangerous? If sthenia syndrome is treated with nourishing therapy, asthenia syndrome with purging therapy, incontinence with drainage therapy, constipation with blockage therapy, cold syndrome with cold therapy and heat syndrome with warm therapy, it will undoubtedly worsen the disease. Those quack doctors may hope to save the patients in such a way, but I believe that the patients treated will certainly die. That is why the knowledge of medicine and divination are very difficult to be mastered. Without the inspiration of the immortals, how could one understand the profound theory of medicine!

Nowadays some ignorant people who have studied medicine for just three years claim that no disease is incurable to them. However, after three years of practice, they have begun to realize that no prescriptions are applicable. So those who are ready to devote themselves to medicine must try to search for the origin of medicine and work hard in their studies. They should not believe hearsay. If they think that they have mastered all the knowledge of medicine, then they will surely mislead themselves.

When great doctors treat patients, they are usually calm and concentrated without any desire and avarice. They have great sympathy with the patients and are determined to save the people from suffering. If the patients come to ask for help, they would not treat them differently by seeing whether they are rich or poor, old or young, beautiful or ugly, enemy or friends, Chinese or foreigners and foolish or intelligent. They would treat all the patients like their close relatives. In treating patients, they would not think over and over for themselves and pay too much attention to the protection of their own life. Being doctors, they should regard patients’ suffering as their own and have deep sympathy with them. Confronted with danger, they should not try to avoid it. No matter in the daytime or night and in winter or summer, and no matter when they are hungry or thirsty and tired or exhausted, they should work for the patients heart and soul without any delay and contemplation for personal gain or loss. Only by doing so can one become a great doctor for the people. Otherwise he will surely become a scourge of the people.

From the ancient times, celebrated doctors treated patients by using the live animals. Although it is believed that animals are humble and human beings are noble. However in terms of the love for life, human beings and animals are the same. To kill one for the saving of another is regarded as a disaster even in the animal world, let alone human beings! To kill animals to save human beings actually deviates from the right way of saving life. That is why the prescriptions recorded in my book have excluded the use of live animals. Some insects, like horsefly and leech which were dead before being sold on the market, can be bought and used in prescriptions. This