Human civilization has developed to this day. In the face of Omicron , there is no specific medicine. The country may have formulated and implemented plans from a professional perspective to minimize losses, control risks, and save lives.
Looking back on ancient times, how did China respond to plague?
Plague: The collective name for acute infectious diseases in ancient times
"Plague" is explained in "Ciyuan" as: "Epidemic, an acute infectious disease caused by humans or livestock and poultry."
Plague was also called "epidemic" or "Heavenly Movement" in ancient times. , refers to a type of acute infectious disease that is highly contagious and can cause epidemics;
the smallpox, plague, avian flu, SARS and the latest new coronavirus that we are familiar with today could all be called plagues in ancient times.
Since the birth of human society, humans have never stopped fighting against acute infectious diseases. viruses and bacteria have evolved together with human civilization. As long as there are gatherings, they may be infected. Even if there are specific drugs, they can still rely on mutation. Infectious diseases are not only a medical problem, but also a social public event and can affect the historical process of human society.
▲In 1348, the tragedy of the plague ( Black Death) in Florence, Italy, . In medieval Europe, which had no specific medicines and believed deeply in theology, faced with the plague with a very high fatality rate, the busier big cities were hit harder.
▲The "bird's beak doctor" who treated the Black Death in the Middle Ages was dressed up in a weird and terrifying way, and has now become a cultural symbol in the Middle Ages.
In medieval Europe, there was an outbreak of plague that decimated the population by half, and even indirectly led to the Renaissance.
The plague in Chinese history is clearly recorded in the plague that spread from Shanxi to Beijing in the late Ming Dynasty , the plague in Yunnan and Hong Kong at the end of the 19th century, and the Northeastern Great Plague that Wu Liande successfully resisted.
An anti-epidemic hero a hundred years ago, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize
▲Wu Liande (1879-1960), Malaysian Overseas Chinese, ancestral home Xinning, Guangdong (today's Taishan), a doctor of medicine from the University of Cambridge. He was a pioneer in quarantine and epidemic prevention in China. He successfully controlled diseases such as the Northeast Pneumonic Plague in 1910 and Shanghai Cholera in 1932. He initiated the establishment of Beijing Central Hospital (now Peking University People's Hospital) and Binjiang Medical College (the predecessor of Harbin Medical University) and other institutions.
1910-1911 When the Great Plague broke out in Northeast China, Japanese experts were busy catching rats based on their previous knowledge of plague. Based on scientific research methods, Wu Liande, the plenipotentiary medical officer of
, analyzed that the main transmission route of this plague was not rat-to-human transmission (bubonic plague) as believed by the Japanese side, but human-to-human transmission (pneumonic plague) through droplets and airborne . He formulated targeted epidemic prevention measures and strictly implemented them. Facts have proved that he was right.
▲The closed inns and schools in Harbin at that time were used as offices, disinfection rooms and wards for epidemic prevention.
Finally, in the absence of specific drugs (at that time, it was not long before the first discovery of antibiotics by humans). 4 - The advent of penicillin was still more than ten years away, and the treatment of plague required streptomycin , which was successfully isolated in 1943). Wu Liande successfully controlled the epidemic by cutting off the route of infection (Harbin closed the city), identifying the source of infection (wild prairie dogs), burning the source of infection (patient remains), and popularizing masks.
Wu Liande invented China's earliest cotton gauze mask, which was called the "Wu-style mask" at the time. It was low-cost and simple to make. After people wore it, the transmission rate was greatly reduced.
To this day, masks are still an indispensable anti-epidemic tool when infectious diseases break out.
Wu Liande was a pioneer in scientific prevention and control of plague, and his experience is also effective for other infectious diseases.
In 1935, Wu Liande was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his "work in the fight against pneumonic plague, especially the discovery of the role of marmot ( prairie dog ) in its spread."
Although he had British expatriate status at the time, in the Nobel Prize candidate list, his "Country" column was "CHINA".
Plague, as a Class A infectious disease with high fatality rate and high transmission rate, has cast a huge shadow on all mankind for centuries. Eventually, due to the development of bacteriology and infectious diseases, the discovery and application of antibiotics, and the improvement of the public health environment, the plague has gradually dissipated. Today, plague has mature treatment and prevention mechanisms.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Liande successfully controlled the Northeastern Great Plague with scientific knowledge and methods. Going forward, how did the Chinese people deal with the plague?
The Song Dynasty corresponds to the late European Middle Ages. The following article takes the epidemic prevention measures of the Song Dynasty as an example.
How did the plague break out in the Song Dynasty?
Plague was called plague, disease, disease, plague, etc. by the Song people, and was generally referred to as epidemic. According to historical records such as Song Dynasty history, medicine, and local chronicles, more than 200 highly contagious diseases occurred in the Song Dynasty.
According to the classification of epidemic diseases in official medical prescriptions of the Song Dynasty such as "Taiping Shenghui Prescription" and "Divine Medical Universal Rescue Prescription", it mainly includes epidemic diseases, typhoid fever, Shiqi disease, dysentery, measles, mumps, yellow swelling, and miasma that are widely prevalent in the south.
There are many causes of plague, but they are nothing more than natural disasters and man-made disasters, that is, natural factors and social factors.
A great famine must be followed by a great epidemic
Ming Dynasty medical scientist Zhang Jingyue (1563-1640) said in Volume 13 "Plague·Argument" of "The Complete Book of Jingyue": "After a great famine there must be a great epidemic." That is to say, after serious natural disasters, such as floods and famines, plagues will follow.
Disasters often lead to environmental imbalances and concentrated deaths of people and livestock. The exposure of corpses leads to sharp deterioration of sanitary conditions, bacterial growth, and drinking water contamination, which can easily lead to plagues;
After disasters, people often have insufficient food and low physical fitness and are susceptible, and the large-scale migration of disaster victims will accelerate the spread of the epidemic.
▲Song Dynasty Li Tang's "Pictures of Picking Wei" Volume, collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing
Among the plagues in the Song Dynasty, diseases caused by natural disasters accounted for a large proportion. In the literature, such epidemics were directly named as drought epidemic, water epidemic, earthquake epidemic, famine epidemic, etc.
In the eighth year of the Qingli reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (1048), floods occurred on Hebei Road (now under the jurisdiction of Zhengding County, Hebei Province) and Jingdong Road (now under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou City, Shandong Province), followed by a great famine. The tragic situation of people having sex with their children and cannibalism appeared among the people. In addition, the state government's improper disaster relief led to a large-scale epidemic outbreak.
"In the past, those who were rescuing people gathered in the city walls to cook porridge and eat it. The hungry people gathered together to get sick and died among each other. Or they did not eat for several days and all the porridge was frozen. They were killed in the name of saving them."
——Su Shi "Fu Zhenggong Divine Monument"
Frequent wars still breed epidemics
In addition, frequent wars are the main social factors that cause the epidemic of epidemics. Casualties caused by war, population mobility and hunger caused by food shortages all provide a breeding ground for the formation and spread of diseases.
▲Northern Song Dynasty Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" (detail), collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing
Although the citizen culture of the Song Dynasty reached a peak and the artistic development was praised by later generations, the Song Dynasty's territorial inheritance from the Tang Dynasty was inherently deficient, and it was recognized by laymen in foreign wars.
During the three hundred years before and after the Song Dynasty, several wars occurred with Liao, Xia, Jin, and Mongolia, which resulted in a significant increase in the number of epidemics in the military and border areas.
▲Northern Song Dynasty Li Gonglin's "Meeting on a Bridge" (detail), sold at Christie's New York in 2017, with a transaction price of about 120 million yuan
Among them, a vicious epidemic at the turn of the two Song Dynasties accelerated the destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the first year of Qinzong Jingkang's reign (1126), the Jin soldiers went south to attack the Song Dynasty and surrounded Kaifeng for several months. In the spring of the following year, a great epidemic broke out in Kaifeng, killing almost half of the soldiers and civilians, and even many Jin soldiers died of the infection.
"History of the Song Dynasty" contains: "In March of the first year of Jianyan (1127), the Jin people besieged Bianjing, and most of the people in the city died of the epidemic."
What kind of infectious disease this plague was is unknown, but based on the season of onset and the number of deaths, it is speculated that it may be typhus or plague.
Diseases enter through the mouth and cause plagues
In addition to wars, human beings' unreasonable lifestyle can also cause epidemics. This phenomenon became more and more prominent in the Song Dynasty.
Such as Southern Song Dynasty Xiaozong Chunxi In August of the fifth year (1178), an epidemic broke out in Ninghai County (now Ninghai District, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province) on the East Road of Liangzhejiang Province. It was caused by the local people eating sea loach ( right whale ).
▲Right whale
This incident was recorded in the "Jiading Chicheng Chronicle", a general chronicle of Taizhou compiled in the Southern Song Dynasty (Taizhou was part of the two eastern Zhejiang provinces during the Southern Song Dynasty) Lu): "...those who know it call it sea loach, fight for its meat, fry it into oil, and use its spine as a mortar. Naturally, people on the seaside often suffer from epidemics."
The meat that humans can safely eat has been domesticated by our ancestors thousands of years ago, and we call it poultry. Not being satisfied with poultry and consuming wild animals at will will destroy the barrier between the natural environment and human society, which will lead to heavy costs.
The SARS coronavirus (SARSr-CoV) that caused the SARS epidemic in 2003 came from its natural host, bats , and was transmitted to humans through the intermediate host civet. This year’s new crown , researchers also believe that the natural host is bats.
▲Bat is a kind of animal that carries a large number of pathogens. The viruses it can spread include coronavirus , influenza virus, rabies virus , Ebola virus , etc.
How did the Song Dynasty prevent and control plague?
The plague endangers people's lives and health. Once it breaks out, it will have a serious impact on social and economic development, population balance, military warfare and even national order. It requires the cooperation of the government and the people to prevent and control it.
▲ Wang Weiyi, a medical officer in the Northern Song Dynasty, was ordered to compile the "New Issue of the Tongren Acupoint Acupuncture Illustration", which introduced the images of the meridians of the hands and feet, the methods of avoiding acupuncture, detailed twelve meridians each acupuncture point, each part of the acupuncture point, and the breathing method of acupuncture according to the four seasons and five elements.
The Song Dynasty produced a lot of works on traditional medicine. In "History of the Song Dynasty·Yiwenzhi" alone, more than 500 kinds of medical books were compiled, with the highest achievements in the fields of acupuncture and moxibustion, forensic medicine, and gynecology.
The Song government also attached great importance to the compilation of medical prescriptions, and introduced official medical prescriptions such as "Taiping Shenghui Prescription", "Divine Doctor's Universal Rescue Prescription" and "Jianji Jizhong Prescription" into the treatment of epidemic diseases, and strictly ordered the dispensing of medicines according to the prescriptions, which not only effectively curbed the epidemic, but also promoted the development of proprietary Chinese medicines.
▲ "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty (detail), collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing
When epidemics occurred, the imperial court often ordered institutions such as the Imperial Medical College, Imperial Medical Bureau , and the Imperial Medical College to send good doctors to inspect the epidemic areas in person, and dispense medicines according to the symptoms to the affected people. The expenses were mostly gratuitously allocated by the government.
In the first year of Renzong's reign (1054), there was a great epidemic in the capital. Song Renzong ordered that the rare rhinoceros horns that had always been enjoyed by emperors be broken into pieces and given to the affected people in medicine to treat febrile diseases. Song Renzong used precious rhinoceros horns to treat people during a great epidemic, which was highly praised by historians and worthy of the temple name "Ren".
▲Song Renzong Zhao Zhen, the fourth emperor of the Song Dynasty (reigned from 1022 to 1063 AD), was the longest reigning emperor in the Song Dynasty
In addition to formulating medicines, the Song Dynasty government also made great efforts to block the routes of infection. "Taiping Shenghui Prescription" clearly stipulates: "If the disease is the same regardless of age, it must be avoided. It must not be passed between meals. If one person is sick, the whole family will be uneasy, and there will be this contamination."
▲Northern Song Dynasty Zeng Gong's "Bureau Affairs Note" ink on paper The center of the mirror, auctioned by China Guardian in 2016, sold for RMB 207 million
In the spring of the ninth year of Xining of Shenzong (1076), a drought occurred in the Liangzhe Road Wuyue area. Zeng Gong, one of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, once wrote " Yuezhou Zhao Gong's Disaster Relief Records " to describe the situation at that time, as well as the measures taken by the Yuezhou magistrate Zhao Peng to quell the disaster.
During the fight against the epidemic, Zhao Pian ordered the establishment of "sick rooms" to specifically accommodate and treat sick people in order to isolate the patients and prevent infection.
"In the spring of next year (1176), there will be a great epidemic. It is a hospital for those who have no return from the disease."The two monks were recruited to take care of medicine and food, so that they would not lose anything. All dead people will be killed wherever they are. "
——Zeng Gong's "Yuezhou Zhao Gong's Disaster Relief Record"
▲Song Dynasty Li Tang's "Burning Mugwort", collected by the National Palace Museum in Taipei
In addition, if the bodies of patients who died after ineffective treatment are not buried and disposed of in time, they can easily spread the virus. Therefore, after the epidemic, the Song Dynasty government ordered local officials or recruited temple monks to dispose of the corpses to prevent the secondary spread of the disease.
Doctors’ Anti-epidemic Techniques
In the fight against epidemics in the Song Dynasty, doctors were always on the front lines, treating patients, whether they were appointed by the government or voluntary among the people. Suffer.
After the epidemic occurred, they distributed medicines, diagnosed and treated patients, and at the same time published prescriptions among the people and spread medical knowledge to the people. On the basis of medical treatment practice, medical scientists also incorporated medical practice experience into medical books, simplifying and selecting famous prescriptions, so that they can be spread and more easily accepted by the public.
▲The "Picture of Shennong Gathering Herbs" painted in the Liao Dynasty was discovered in a wooden pagoda in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province in 1974
Physicians in the Song Dynasty also paid great attention to Emphasizing the importance of epidemic prevention, we have provided the public with many effective epidemic prevention methods, and adhered to the disease prevention principle of "not treating the existing disease but treating the disease before it" in the "Huangdi Neijing".
For example, "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" written by the famous doctor Pang Anshi in the Northern Song Dynasty has many differences from Zhang Zhongjing "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases". The book also introduces a variety of anti-epidemic drugs, including Tusu wine, Piwen powder, Qianfu powder, Shagui pills, etc., all of which are commonly used by ordinary people. The people accepted and used it, and drinking and slaughtering Su on New Year's Eve became an important annual custom of the Song people.
▲The scene of applying prescriptions to treat epidemics as depicted in the murals of Song Dynasty tombs
At any time, infectious diseases are social public events and require overall cooperation and mobilization of social forces. In the Song Dynasty, monks, Taoists, and ordinary people also played their respective roles and actively participated in epidemic prevention.
▲Northern Song Dynasty Shi Ke's "The Heart Adjustment Diagram of the Second Ancestor" (detail), collected by Tokyo National Museum, Japan
With the development of human civilization to this day, in the face of unfamiliar infectious diseases, although there are still no specific drugs, we can formulate and implement scientific epidemic prevention and treatment plans from the professional perspective of infectious diseases, etc., to minimize losses, control risks, and save lives. Follow the rules, develop good hygiene habits, and be altruistic to others.
The COVID-19 epidemic has entered an all-sheep period, and the tide will not ebb in time. I hope our compatriots at home and abroad will be safe.
