Bone-setting tools

After seeing Daqing and his wife off, Su Ziyang turned back and took out a bamboo curtain from the box to secure Daqing's forearm.

Su Ziyang held it in his hand and examined it for a while, then hesitated and pondered, "Master Pang, why does this look like it's made of straw mat..."

"Haha, you guessed right, this is made of straw mat!" Lao Pang didn't reply, but Beichen laughed and chimed in.

"Oh? So hasty..."

Su Ziyang held the bamboo curtain in his hand and examined it repeatedly, confirming that it was indeed a piece cut from a bamboo mat.

"Xiaochen, go to the inner room and bring out all those tools. Let Little Ziyang see them, let him have a look. Even though they haven't been used for years, it'll be good for him to see them, to have something to remember them by!"

For some reason, when Su Ziyang heard Lao Pang's words, there was a hint of loneliness and desolation in them.

Beichen obediently turned and went into the east wing. After a short while, he came out of the east wing carrying a large box, which was covered in dust. Beichen took a broom and swept the dust off before carrying it into the house.

The box was placed on the ground with a thud, sounding rather heavy.

"Come on, take a look, Ziyang!" Beichen opened the box, which was filled with a jumble of things.

"As the saying goes, 'A skilled craftsman must first sharpen his tools.' These are some tools used for bone setting and fracture repair in the old days. Nowadays, everyone goes to Western hospitals for surgery when they get injured, and fewer and fewer people come to me for treatment of external injuries. So these things haven't been touched for many years and have been gathering dust!" Lao Pang rummaged through the box, pulled out one item after another, and laid them out on the ground, beginning to introduce them to Su Ziyang one by one.

The first thing they brought out was a piece of white cloth, made of pure cotton. It was just ordinary cloth, but it had turned slightly yellow from oxidation due to years of not being exposed to sunlight.

Lao Pang said that this thing is called a "wrapping curtain," which, as the name suggests, is used to wrap around the limbs, hence the name "wrapping curtain."

Wrap curtains are used to secure areas that are inconvenient to fix with clamps or other materials, because they are made of fabric and can be easily shaped.

This piece of cloth was very wide, and when rolled up, it formed a large roll. It could be cut to size according to the specific area being used, much like modern gauze.

The Lao Pang rummaged through the items and took out a second one: a wooden stick with a patina, called a "zhen ting".

This wooden stick is about a foot and a half long and about the thickness of a one-yuan coin. The purpose of this stick is for massage. Lao Pang said that when there is a bruise or sprain, the blood and qi are congealed, causing pain and swelling. At this time, it is necessary to use this stick to gently vibrate the area above, below, and around the injury to allow the blood and qi to circulate and disperse, so that the pain will gradually decrease and the swelling and hardness will gradually subside.

Lao Pang also told an interesting story, which is also a special use of this wooden stick. That is, after a head injury, as long as the Bones are not broken and the tendons are not severed, even if there is bruising, swelling and pain, this wooden stick can be used for treatment.

The method sounds strange: first, massage techniques are used to relax and realign the muscles and tendons of the cervical spine; then, two or three layers of cotton cloth are tightly wrapped around the head; and finally, the soles of the feet are gently patted with a vibrating stick.

Such vibration can promote the free flow of Qi in the five internal organs and disperse stagnant blood, thus preventing nausea, vomiting, and palpitations caused by head injuries.

If you wrap your head with cotton cloth and pat the soles of your feet, and the patient doesn't feel pain, but instead falls into a coma, with phlegm rattling in their throat like a saw, their body stiff, and drooling, then in general, there's no hope of survival; it means they've injured their brain.

At this Lao Pang, Su Ziyang suddenly realized that the method Lao Pang was talking about might be able to treat headaches, dizziness, and nausea caused by concussion.

Currently, the main treatment for concussion is rest, as there are no particularly quick and effective treatments or relief methods. Furthermore, the cause of concussion is still unclear, but the symptoms are indeed mainly dizziness, nausea, and headache.

Moreover, the symptoms of head injury that Lao Pang described are very similar to those of concussion. Perhaps this method can easily solve the symptoms caused by concussion!

Holding the wooden stick, Su Ziyang secretly wrote down the method.

The third item that Lao Pang introduced was called a shawl, which was made of tanned cowhide.

The cowhide, when stretched, is about five inches long and three inches wide, with two holes at each end. Cotton ropes can be threaded through the holes to secure the cowhide, allowing the shawl to fit snugly against the muscles. This material is softer and more flexible than wooden splints.

A shawl is definitely used to treat sprains and strains in the shoulders. It is used when the shoulder Bones are broken, protruding, oblique, or the joints are misaligned.

In ancient times, doctors would have patients lie supine on a bench, then press and massage the joints of their bones and muscles. First, they would pad the patient's body with soft materials such as cotton, then use a shawl to hold the front and back of the shoulders, tying it tightly with rope to make it adhere closely to the skin. Next, they would wrap the patient's arms with a white cloth several times, and then use a board about two feet long and three or four inches wide with ropes threaded through both ends to suspend it in the air, supporting the patient's arms and preventing the shoulder bones from drooping.

After seven days, check it. If the bone has set, the armrest can be removed. If it has not healed, continue to immobilize it so that the person's shoulder will not be left with a disability.

After proudly finishing his description of the shawl, the Lao Pang took out a redwood plank from the box. The plank was three inches wide and two inches thick, and it had mortise and tenon joints at both ends, so it could be lengthened or shortened. This thing was called Tongmu (通木).

One side of the redwood plank was flat, while the other side was slightly concave, the shape of which closely resembled the protrusions on both sides of the spine. A slanted perforation was drilled into the flat side of the plank, through which ropes were threaded. There were four perforations on each side, and the distance between each hole was slightly different. The ropes were slightly wide. Lao Pang picked them up and measured them against Su Ziyang's back, then, like tying shoelaces, tightly bound the plank to Su Ziyang's back.

The function of this thing is very simple: any patient who suffers a back injury from a fall or blow, or whose sacrum is cracked and raised, will inevitably curl up and be unable to straighten their body.

However, during treatment, the patient should lie face down, and an assistant should use both feet to step on the patient's shoulders so that the bone setter can manually realign the broken Bones. After that, the broken bones are fixed with a wooden block. This can protect the lower back and promote the healing of the injury.

The other item was also made of redwood, one inch wide and five-tenths of an inch thick, shaped like a small carrying pole, and there were four of them. All four redwood poles were drilled from the side and strung together with rope.

This thing is called a lumbar support. If the lumbar vertebrae are injured by a fall, muscles are torn, or tendons are bent or hunched, first prepare medicine for treating falls and injuries, and apply it to this lumbar support. Depending on the condition of the affected area, arrange the lumbar support on both sides of the spine, making sure it is straight and not crooked. Then, make a small, thin blanket from mugwort or similar materials and cover it with the lumbar support to keep it warm and protect it from wind and cold. Finally, wrap a wide, long cloth strip around the body several times to make it fit tightly against both sides of the spine. This method of treating back injuries is stable and safe.

There was also half a roll of bamboo mat in the box, which is what Lao Pang called a bamboo blind. Lao Pang had already cut the mat into a terrible shape, so it seemed that he had used quite a bit of it before.

Lao Pang, holding the tattered straw mat, sighed, "Back in small places like ours, we had a lot of external injuries, and I was always the one treating them. Sometimes a single straw mat would be used up very quickly! Haha..."

Unfolding the tattered straw mat, one finds seven or eight redwood planks rolled up inside, some with holes and some without.

The Lao Pang, holding a wooden plank, said, "This is a cedar fence, a tool for trapping people. I made a few before, but then I stopped."

Lao Pang was initially excited, then said with a hint of self-deprecation, "Hey! Actually, this isn't anything special. It's just an old-fashioned bamboo screen! Because it's not as dense as a bamboo curtain, it's called a 'fence,' meaning a fence."

Fir hedges are mostly used to wrap around bamboo curtains. Ropes are threaded through holes drilled in the side, and the injured area is kept sturdy and straight to prevent the fixed bone joints from deforming again.

The Lao Pang took out the last item from the box; it was called a knee hug.

The knee-hugging exercise involves making a circle with bamboo strips, slightly larger than the knee. Four bamboo strips are then tied tightly to the circle with hemp thread, making the circle appear to have four legs. Finally, strips of white cloth are wrapped around the bamboo circle and the four legs. This way, when the knee-hugging exercise is fixed to the knee, it will not cause any damage to the skin or flesh.

Looking at the dazzling array of utensils laid out on the ground, Su Ziyang once again marveled at the wisdom of the ancients. Many people believe that the ancients lacked expertise in anatomy, but in fact, they had a very clear understanding of the human skeleton, muscles, and internal organs long ago.

Lao Pang arranged the items carefully, wiped the dust off each one, and then slowly put them back into the box.

"Humanity is progressing, and technology is developing. Some things are bound to be eliminated, while others must be passed down. When people have better things, they will inevitably abandon those that are relatively outdated. Just like when everyone uses smartphones, nobody uses old-fashioned mobile phones anymore!"

Lao Pang's views on things are far from being as old-fashioned as his age suggests. When you listen carefully to him speak, you will find that he is an old man with remarkable insight, and his words are full of wisdom.

"Master, can you give me these things? I'm willing to pay for them!" Su Ziyang asked abruptly after hearing the Lao Pang's sigh.

Su Ziyang thought Lao Pang would definitely agree, but Lao Pang Fatty patted the box and shook his head. "No. I want to be buried with these things after I die."

"Yes! Bury them together!" Lao Pang repeated to himself, then picked up the box and carried it into his room.

Su Ziyang watched the old man's back, completely unprepared for the robust Lao Pang to suddenly utter such a sentence. People who cultivate internal energy generally live long lives, and a master like the Lao Pang could easily live to be a hundred years old, so such people rarely mention death. But the Lao Pang not only said it, but said it twice.

"Sigh. Master seems quite open-minded and progressive, but deep down he's still very feudal. He wants his craft to be passed down, but unfortunately he has no successor!" Beichen, as Lao Pang's son-in-law, understands Lao Pang's thoughts very well.

"Brother Chen, I have two questions, but I'm not sure if I should ask them," Su Ziyang said after thinking for a moment, following Beichen's words.

"You say."

"Why do you call Master Pang 'Master' instead of 'Dad'? And you're also Master Pang's successor! Why did you say that just now? You must have studied here for many years! You are his successor!"

Beichen sighed after hearing Su Ziyang's words, "I came here to learn the craft first, and then I got together with Meimei, so I've never changed how I address you, I'm just used to calling you Master. Yes, I've been in this family for twenty years. But I can't fully master all of Master's bone-setting techniques. There are some bone-setting techniques he uses that I can't do, and even if I could barely manage to do them, the Bones wouldn't be set so neatly. Maybe it's just that I don't have the talent!"

"Could that be related to Master Pang's skill?" Su Ziyang was referring to the Thousand Gold Art that Lao Pang practiced. Because Lao Pang's hand strength was extraordinary, Su Ziyang felt that the reason he couldn't perform some techniques might be due to insufficient strength.

Beichen shook his head after hearing this. "You mean the Thousand Gold Art? It has nothing to do with that."

Having said that, Beichen pinched a wine cup that had just landed on the table, and with just two fingers, the cup instantly shattered into pieces.

"Brother Chen, you can do that too?" Su Ziyang was shocked...

"How could I not know it? I came to learn bone setting to get started with this skill, and I've mastered it in twenty years. Even if I were stronger, I couldn't perform those delicate techniques!"

Beichen chuckled self-deprecatingly, then ignored Su Ziyang and went back to the barbershop to continue shaving people's heads.

Lao Pang took the box into the house and didn't come out. Su Ziyang watched the two leave, then lowered his head and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Later, Su Ziyang told Mr. Mengfei about Beichen's twenty years of learning his craft, and Mr. Mengfei gave Su Ziyang a very clear and reasonable answer.

Su Ziyang recalled that Mr. Mengfei had quoted a passage from classical Chinese: "Those with keen eyesight can see colors; those with sharp ears can hear sounds; those who speak swiftly can convey arguments; those who speak slowly and calmly, with skillful hands and a discerning mind can perform acupuncture and moxibustion, regulate blood and qi, and harmonize imbalances, observe Yin and Yang and yang, and master various methods. Those who are gentle and flexible, with a peaceful mind, can guide qi circulation; those who speak harshly and rudely can spit on boils and curses; those with sharp nails and venomous hands, who are prone to causing injury, can massage and suppress ailments. When each person has their own ability, the method can be implemented, and their reputation will be established. Without the right person, the work will not be accomplished, and the teacher will have no reputation."

This passage comes from the "Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon · Spiritual Pivot Classic · Official Functions" and its meaning is very simple, just about an idiom: teaching according to aptitude.

Talent is essential for learning anything. While hard work is undeniable, talent must be valued.

Those who treat external injuries must have sharp, venomous hands; only then can their techniques be effective. Later, Master Pang also told Su Ziyang a piece of advice: when setting bones, one must always keep in mind the principle of "a compassionate heart and a ruthless method."

You need to be highly skilled, and then you need to be bold enough to take action. If you're not like that, you're not suited for this line of work.

This also explains why Beichen, despite learning to shave for over twenty years, never dared to use a razor to wash someone's eyes. His hands weren't ruthless enough, and he hesitated, so he dared not, and thus failed.