Chinese Medicine Gem

When it comes to Chinese medicine school of Huo Shen Pai, Dr. Li Ke is someone we can not afford to miss.

Who is Dr. Li Ke?

Dr. Li Ke, who is a unique Chinese medicine practitioner from Shanxi Province, ever wrote a book of Monograph of Dr. Li Ke’s Experiences on Treating Acute Critical Difficult Diseases. Generally emergency cases is the matter of western medicine, but emergency cases turn out to be in charge by Chinese Medicine department during Dr. Li Ke’s tenure in People’s Hospital in Lingshi County. This is one and only exception across the country, and so Dr. Li Ke was acclaimed “the backbone of Chinese medicine” by another Chinese medicine master of Deng Tie Tao.

In his book of Monograph of Dr. Li Ke’s Experiences on Treating Acute Critical Difficult Diseases, he included 246 successful cases, among which some usually can be cured in one or two doses. And the most convincing fact is that all cases were listed with the patients’ real names, which withstands others tracking and questioning. And he also confessed that he ever misconduct in some cases and kept them there as a warning for those beginners.

What Dr. Li Ke said about himself?

I started to teach myself Chinese medicine since I was 23 years old. 6 years later, I kept some formulas in mind. But in terms of treating diseases, it was only pigeon-holing. Even if sometimes it worked, however I had no idea how it worked. Then I went to consult an old experienced Chinese medicine practitioner. He told me that the way out for Chinese medicine was laid in the book of Shang Han Lun (“Treatise on Febrile Diseases”). After that, I began to dig into “Treatise on Febrile Diseases” and situation began to improve. The treatment effect improved after I considered categorizing a wide variety of diseases into Six Channels. Before I was stereotyped but now I made progress in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and pediatrics.

In the year of 1961, I was 31 years old, I saved a patient with heart failure, who then was in coma, cold limbs, pulseless, no blood pressure, only tepid in chest, breathing and heartbeat did not stop yet, namely pulseless dying emergency. I started with 30 grams of Fu Zi and asked them to boil with hot water in no time. After Fu Zi was boiling for a quarter, then his family fed the patient while still kept adding Fu Zi inside the pot. 1 hour later when Fu Zi was added to 150 grams, the patient opened his eyes and talked again.

In the year of 1962, I came across another case of heart failure. I prescribed 45 grams of Fu Zi each dosage. At that time the patient’s family was already preparing for her funeral. Her daughter-in-law had no idea how to boil the medicine and put all three doses into one pot. And the entire decoction was fed by spoon in 3 hours. It turned out that the old woman woke up that night and asked for food immediately. Surprisingly next day she could get up and walk again.

Since then, I looked over the medical books and came across a medical record in Shang Han 90 Lun by Xu Shu Wei in Song dynasty.
“The patient was not cured even though after long treatment. I adopted the original dosage recorded in Shang Han Lun and separated one doses for three times. It turned out that the patient recovered immediately after only taking medicine for two times.”

Another medical record I found in the fist volume of Classified Medical Records of Famous Physicians. It was a medical record by Wu Qiu, who was from Zhejiang province and ever employed as imperial doctor in Ming dynasty. “There was a wealthy businessman suffering from syndrome of deficient cold and his family gathered many famous doctors to come up with the therapy. But all of them failed. Later doctor Wu Qiu came and made a diagnosis and told his family that: ‘no other medicine could rescue him but Fu Zi, and you’d better pick 3 pieces of raw, large and heavy Fu Zi and cut them as one dose. The dosage of Fu Zi would be up to 270 grams.’ All other doctors marveled at this heavy dosage of Fu Zi and his family was so worried that they reduced half amount without permission. Sure enough the wealthy businessman recovered after he took the medicine. However, Doctor Wu Qiu found their trick when he paid the second visit. He said to them:’why you reduce the dosage I prescribed without my permission? This dosage of 3 pieces of Fu Zi can guarantee another 3 years life for him. Unfortunately he can only live half of them now.’ And one and a half years later, the wealthy businessman died as expected.”

These two predecessors of Chinese medicine practitioners woke me up like a sound of thunder, which led me into the path of trying and tasting drugs. Only those who practice it by himself can discover the truth. That experience by a fluke really shocked me. I began to be aware that dosage was the key of the cure, and the basic effective dosage in classical formulas was the right breakthrough point.

Li Shi Zhen said:”1 Liang in ancient time is approximately 1 Qian now.” This verdict has misled us on understanding Shang Han Lun for 470 years. The dosage now we are using is only one tenth of the dosage prescribed in formulas of Shang Han Lun. Did not it castrate Shang Han Lun? If someone’s weapon is confiscated, what else he can do but surrender? Why Chinese medicine loses its position and become slow in taking effect? Why Chinese medicine only acts as alternative medicine instead of first choice for the patients? The root reason is now clear.

Since then, I never missed again on the cases of heart failure, pulmonary decline and renal failure patients.

Heart failure patients and the local custom

And there is an objective reason for Dr. Li Ke obtaining above-mentioned experience on heart failure. That is the custom in Jinzhong areas that those dying patients, who was issued the notice of critical illness by doctors, will be carried home for burial due to fear for cremation. So they would go for Chinese medicine and Dr. Li Ke for the last faint hope. Therefore, Dr. Li Ke refined his skills of traditional Chinese medicine from the dead pile, namely those dying patients suffering from heart failure. In turn, this experience saved a lot of them.

Though Dr. Li Ke is a controversial figure in the field of Chinese medicine, there is no doubt that his experience is invaluable to all of us.

So what you have gained from the story about the backbone of Chinese medicine – Dr. Li Ke?