PureInsight | December 30, 2002
When King Wuwang (r. BC 310-307) of the Qin State fell ill, he summoned the well-known doctor, Bian Que. The king described his symptoms and asked Bian Qu for treatment.
But right in front of Bian Que, the court officials advised the king to not receive any medical treatment from him. They argued that the symptoms surfaced between his eyes and ears, which is a very critical area. They felt that Bian Que might not be able to cure this complicated illness and that the king would be taking a serious risk of damaging both his eyes and ears. Bian Que was so offended upon hearing these words that he smashed his medical stone, and told the king, "Your Majesty asked a medical doctor for medical treatment, but allowed those who are not medical doctors to interfere with my medical operations. If you rule the country in the same fashion, you will ruin the country in no time!" The king then obediently received Bian Que's medical treatment.
Unfortunately, Bian Que's demonstration of his excellent medical skills later led to his death. Li Meng, the court physician, saw that his medical skill was not as good as Bian Que's. He became so jealous of Bian Que that he secretly assassinated him. The famous historian Sima Qian expressed his deep sympathy over Bian Que in "The Biography of Bian Que" in his book The Book of History, "An unattractive lady with a narrow mind will become jealous of other court ladies' beauty in the palace. An uncompetitive court official without moral values will suspect that everyone will surpass him in the royal court."
For a thousand years, the miracle doctor Bian Qu has been loved and respected by many generations of people. Bian Que had traveled a distance that measures approximately 2,000 kilometers. Along that route people of many different generations have built a mausoleum, a monument, and a temple to remember him by.
This story was based on a passage in classical Chinese in "The Book of Qin Dynasty" in The Record of the Warring States.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/11/19/19314.html
