Medicine King
The untold story of the Ancient Chinese Physician Sun Simiao. This article was inspired by Ambroise et. al article on: 'science must overcome its racial legacy'.
A lot still remains a mystery about China’s advancement in medical science, until Tu Youyou broke two barriers in 2015 winning the country’s first Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine (for her discovery of artemisinin) and being the first Chinese woman to win the prize, making it more fascinating.
In China, Sun Simiao is well known for his contribution to medicine and is referred to as 药王 yao wang (translating to Medicine King). He reigned during the Tang dynasty at approximately 618 A.D. He lived for over 100 years, even though attaining that age was rare during his time. Sun has published many works on ethics, holistic and preventive medicine, and women and child medicine in his 千金要方 Qian jin yao fang (translating to Prescriptions worth a thousand gold).
The so-called well-known father of preventive medicine: Richard Mead, who was a British physician that existed recently (about 1700) has much of his work in the current field of public health, I mean the type of work Anthony Fauci does, especially regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and COVID-19, that is his type of work which has more to do with response and control of disease spread, but surprisingly he is “the father of preventive medicine?”. This emphasizes the firm belief of the white man that race is the determinant of capacity (intellect and ability to build civilizations).
As a first-year medical student, part of the Chinese language and culture immersion course, I had the opportunity to visit the Sun Simiao library in the far south of Shaanxi Province. This is a mega library with assorted books on current and ancient medical science. I am still in awe of the grandiosity of this library, I have never seen a library so huge. At the entrance, there is a huge statue of the Chinese medicine stalwart. Still fascinates me how little of his work is recognized by the West. This enmeshment of science history in racism leaves me with so many questions and anxiety as a wannabe physician-scientist of African descent about this path I have chosen. Am I gonna be discriminated against: based on my color? Or how I talk? Or my differing perspective on issues? Or How I dress?
As Nature puts it: “Honest science is research that studies, builds on, and also acknowledges what came before”. Albeit the marginalization of Africans in science is unique and possesses more devastating effects due to myriad factors, like the transatlantic slave trade, etc. It turns out Asians have their fair share of systematic racism in science. I used to think the reason lived due to the fact that most Chinese scientific works were published in Mandarin, but no, it is a deliberate exclusion. Sun Simiao should be the rightful father of preventive medicine.
The Sun Simiao Library in his birthplace, Huayuan, Jingzhao in Shaanxi Province. The largest Chinese character at the top: ‘大’ in the background means: “grandiose”.
The lower characters from left to right mean: Bed Encyclopedia (I think I butchered this translation, but here is the original: 床百科全书）is the first two books of prescription worth more than a thousand gold, and its work on medicine, such as prevention, alchemy, pediatrics, and ophthalmology, which has a profound influence on internal medicine, gynecology, and Chinese medical history. Sun Simiao was born during the Tang Dynasty.