Drawing Analogies from Images: Donglingcao

Only when the sky brightened did Su Ziyang help Daoist Jin tidy up the courtyard.

Although he gave Su Ziyang a rosary made of small-leaf sandalwood, Daoist Jin still lovingly treated Su Ziyang to mutton soup. Of course, Su Ziyang was the one who paid for the soup.

Despite still having no patients, Su Ziyang persevered on the front lines of the outpatient clinic, enduring aches and pains all over his body.

Su Ziyang's current thought is to research and see if there are any treatments for Jin Yizhi's nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Just as Su Ziyang was at his wit's end, Mr. Mengfei Dada into the consultation room.

"∀∀"

Mr. Mengfei took two deep breaths through his nose. "Qinan agarwood..."

"∀"

Mr. Mengfei took another breath. "Nameless, strange, earthy... Hmm???"

As soon as Mr. Mengfei entered the room, Su Ziyang put down his book and stared blankly as Mr. Mengfei sniffed around the room like a police dog.

"Um?"

Mr. Mengfei completely ignored Su Ziyang's gaze, patted Su Ziyang's head, looked him up and down, and then pulled Su Ziyang's hand to look him up and down again.

"Hmm, it's earth energy and an unnamed strange... Kid, you went to practice the Golden Bell Shield?"

Mr. Mengfei released Su Ziyang's hand and stared at Su Ziyang with a nervous expression.

After hearing Mr. Mengfei's words, Su Ziyang scratched his head and said, "Master, how do you know everything? Don't tell me you smelled it."

"Nameless Oddity, it smells earthy. This kind of medicine is only used for practicing the Golden Bell Shield technique. Did you really practice it?"

Su Ziyang, not understanding why Mr. Mengfei seemed so nervous, simply nodded blankly. "Yes, I practiced!"

"I..."

Mr. Mengfei gritted his teeth, turned around and rushed out the door, then kicked open Daoist Jin's door with a bang.

Although Su Ziyang didn't know what was going on, he quickly followed them out when he realized things were not good.

As soon as Su Ziyang entered, he heard Mr. Mengfei questioning Daoist Jin: "Are you crazy? You let him practice this stuff! Are you insane?!"

Daoist Jin was brewing tea, and looking at Mr. Mengfei, who was like a fighting rooster, he was at a loss for words.

"Master, Master! Calm down, what are you doing!" Su Ziyang quickly grabbed Mr. Mengfei. Mr. Mengfei's arm to prevent him from taking any further steps.

"..." Daoist Jin was silent for a moment. "I'm sure I can refine it for him."

"I told you, you old fogies, you traditionalists, you're too feudal and your brains aren't working. What's the use of this kind of skill? What are you going to do with it? Are you planning to stop bullets? Defend against missiles? Or atomic bombs?!"

Mr. Mengfei spoke in a furious tone, pointing his finger at Daoist Jin's nose and cursing.

"Master, what's wrong? Why are you so angry!" Su Ziyang tugged at Mr. Mengfei's arm again.

"I want to practice, I want to practice. I want Master Jin to teach me, what are you doing?"

Mr. Mengfei has a very high level of cultivation, and his emotions rarely change much, but when it comes to issues concerning his disciple, that's a different story.

"What do you want to refine?" Mr. Mengfei turned around, raised an eyebrow, and stared at Su Ziyang.

"Ah! I want to practice. I think this is more fun, so I asked Master Jin to teach me." Su Ziyang was afraid that Mr. Mengfei would attack Daoist Jin again, so he took all the blame upon himself.

"You think getting beaten up is fun? Don't come looking for me when you run into trouble!"

Mr. Mengfei shook off Su Ziyang's arm, turned around and left the house. By the time Su Ziyang chased after him, Mr. Mengfei had already disappeared into the crowd.

"Master, please don't be angry..." Su Ziyang went back into the house to plead with Daoist Jin.

With masters on both sides, Su Ziyang really didn't know what to say.

Daoist Jin is usually stubborn and quick-tempered, was surprisingly calm today. "I'm not angry. He's doing this for your own good. The Golden Bell Shield technique is indeed impractical. It takes a lot of time, and if you don't master it, it can damage your body. It does have some problems, and most importantly, it's really not very useful."

"It's alright, I'm willing to practice. It's always good to have more skills!" Su Ziyang quickly added to reassure him.

"Sigh, alright then!" Daoist Jin took a sip of tea, his mood not changing much.

Su Ziyang was preoccupied with Jin Yizhi's illness and didn't try to persuade him any further. He then plunged back into his clinic to search for information.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Su Ziyang slowly began to have a few clues.

Turning back and putting down his pen, Su Ziyang rubbed his slightly swollen eyes and took out his phone to call Mr. Mengfei.

After all, I upset them this morning, so I'll just make a quick phone call this afternoon and chat for a bit to avoid upsetting them.

There's a saying in Northeast China: "If you don't have a fart, just talk nonsense."

What Su Ziyang is doing now is just making a lot of noise without any substance.

"Hey~ Master." Su Ziyang chuckled mischievously.

"Get to the point," Mr. Mengfei's cold voice came through the phone.

"Master, please don't be so petty. Next time I want to learn something, I'll discuss it with you beforehand. If you say no, I'll immediately stop learning it, okay?" Su Ziyang chuckled and continued to interrupt.

"Are you alright? If not, I'm hanging up, I'm busy!" Mr. Mengfei ignored Su Ziyang's words and continued to ask.

On a whim, Su Ziyang told Mr. Mengfei about Jin Yizhi's illness. Upon hearing this, Mr. Mengfei stopped being angry with Su Ziyang, said "Let's talk about it when we meet," and hung up the phone.

Su Ziyang had always had one question: Mr. Mengfei's elusive nature. Less than five minutes after hanging up the phone, Mr. Mengfei reappeared in front of Su Ziyang, holding a small brown bottle.

"Take one next time you practice that damn Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth Shirt technique." Mr. Mengfei slammed the small brown bottle onto the table in front of Su Ziyang.

"What is this, Master!" Su Ziyang held the small bottle and examined it carefully. After opening it, he found a few crudely made pills inside. Although they were called pills, they looked odd and not round.

Su Ziyang studied it for a while, then poured out a pill and smelled it; it had a faint herbal scent.

"Good stuff, just eat it next time you practice!" Mr. Mengfei expressed his concern for his apprentice in a very casual way.

"Thank you, Master!" Su Ziyang chuckled and put the small medicine bottle away.

Before Mr. Mengfei could ask any questions, Su Ziyang handed Mr. Mengfei the medical records of Jin Yizhi that he had made.

Mr. Mengfei observed carefully, remaining silent for about ten minutes before speaking, "This illness is indeed a bit troublesome. However, your approach to using Pinellia and Magnolia Bark Decoction is quite good. It's ingenious and commendable!"

Mr. Mengfei rarely praised Su Ziyang, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "Without having seen the patient, I can't give you much advice, but I'll tell you about a main ingredient called Winter Jasmine. There are also two other ingredients: Sophora Root and Butterfly Pepper. You can use these three herbs to develop your strategies!"

Wintergreen grass?

Su Ziyang thought for a long time and realized that this was yet another medicine he had never heard of before.

"Well, my suggestion is to use analogy, which is the common saying 'using form to supplement form'! Do you understand?"

Mr. Mengfei handed the notebook back to Su Ziyang, organized his thoughts, and slowly said, "Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes analogy and metaphor. In folk remedies, Donglingcao (冬凌草) is used to treat sinusitis. Donglingcao is also called Gen Trigram * (山荏), and Shan (山) corresponds to the Gen trigram, which corresponds to the nose. Furthermore, both characters in Dongling (冬凌) belong to the Kan Trigram, both meaning inward or recessed. My analogy of inward recesses to the inside of the nose is based on this principle!"

Su Ziyang's heart clenched as he listened, a clenching emotion mixed with a breakthrough of understanding, as if his comprehension of traditional Chinese medicine had suddenly reached a new level.

Seeing Su Ziyang's shocked expression, Mr. Mengfei continued, "The 'mountain bean root' is quite simple; you should be able to understand it. In physiognomy, the root of the nose is called the 'mountain root,' so the 'mountain bean root' directly corresponds to it!"

"In Western anatomy, there is a Bones in the human skull called the sphenoid bone, which is a complex network of nerves and other organs. The wooden butterfly corresponds to the sphenoid bone in the human body; with such a direct correspondence, the medicinal effects can naturally reach the location directly!"

"China people often believe in the principle of 'like cures like,' which has long been considered unscientific. For example, many folk remedies for stomach ailments use pig's stomach, along with some simple medicinal herbs, and the effects are very good. However, this method is now heavily criticized by many people who call it feudal superstition."

"However, in recent years, some Western studies have extracted substances from pig stomachs, claiming they can repair human gastric mucosa. This has led to some scientific breakthroughs and garnered a lot of applause. But I don't quite understand why eating pig stomach directly is considered feudal superstition, while extracting it and then eating it is praised! Isn't that strange?"

"It's like refined cane sugar is sweet, but eating sugarcane directly doesn't taste sweet. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Su Ziyang nodded in deep agreement, because Mr. Mengfei's words were all reasonable and absolutely correct, with virtually no flaws.

The concept of "using form to supplement form" is a folk practice of analogy, which contains the wisdom of our ancestors and should not be dismissed as unscientific.

Is the "science" that some people use actually science or technology?

Su Ziyang pondered for a moment, then nodded, his mind suddenly clearing.

There's a China saying, "The master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you."

Since joining Mr. Mengfei's tutelage, Su Ziyang's efforts have been evident to all. However, the few times when his intellectual level truly improved were all accomplished under Mr. Mengfei's guidance.

A true master isn't someone who leads you through daily memorization and character recognition. A true master is someone who offers guidance when your knowledge reaches a plateau.

They are the ones who break through the barrier that allows you to reach a higher level.

Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty wrote a well-written essay called "On Teachers".

A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts.

"Those who do not understand punctuation, and those who are confused, may seek guidance from a teacher or not; they learn the basics but neglect the important ones. I have never seen such wisdom."

Han Yu succinctly expressed what I wanted to say, so I won't waste any more words here.

Having reached a new level of understanding, Su Ziyang already had a prescription in mind, and was just waiting for Jin Yizhi to come and examine the situation before making a final decision.

Perhaps Mr. Mengfei was a little jealous seeing how much Daoist Jin cared for Su Ziyang, or something like that today.

Su Ziyang couldn't figure out why Mr. Mengfei was so eager to give a lecture today.

After Su Ziyang absorbed the knowledge from earlier, Mr. Mengfei continued, "The *Huangdi Yin and Yang Basic Questions * (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon Classic - Basic Questions) records that 'each acupoint has a name.' This indicates that the naming of the body's meridians follows a fixed thought process. Furthermore, Sun Simiao's * Supplement to the Thousand Ducat Formulas) states that 'the names of all acupoints are not arbitrary but have profound meanings.' In other words, the ancients were never as casual in naming things as people are today!"

"You could say that all medicines have names that aren't chosen arbitrarily; they all have profound meanings. Every medicinal herb is named after careful consideration, and each name conveys direct information about the herb. Don't underestimate the name of a medicine! Especially its alternative names—they contain hidden secrets! You need to read more books; I can't watch you every day. Good luck!"

Mr. Mengfei said these few words meaningfully.

Originally, he just wanted to chat and joke around with his master, and maybe appease him so he wouldn't be angry. But it turned out to be another fruitful day, with Su Ziyang's head buzzing as he absorbed all this knowledge.

"Thank you, Master." Su Ziyang stood up from his seat and bowed respectfully to Mr. Mengfei.

"Stop with all this nonsense. If you have rules like this, why not just let me know beforehand when you make some ridiculous decisions? Let me tell you, that Old Jin has some issues. You'd better stay away from him. He's always trying to teach you all sorts of underworld stuff, that there are no good people in the underworld, so don't associate with him!"

Mr. Mengfei pretended to be very serious as he spoke to Su Ziyang. Moreover, Mr. Mengfei's expression of trying to suppress laughter but being unable to did so once again destroyed the imposing image of a preacher and enlightener that he had just established in front of Su Ziyang.

Later, Su Ziyang finally summarized one of Mr. Mengfei's characteristics: when he puts on his long gown, he is a teacher who educates people; when he takes it off, he can become a hooligan in the streets.

It has one more set of transformations than Cardcaptor Sakura...

Mr. Mengfei had no idea that Su Ziyang thought this way about him. If he did, he would have made Su Ziyang copy the Scripture of Purity and Tranquility hundreds of times.

"I have some things to take care of, so I'll go now. You can try to figure out a prescription for them yourself; it's a last resort, so just do it yourself!"

Mr. Mengfei, who had originally intended to say a few words to Su Ziyang, suddenly remembered something, turned around, and hurriedly left.

He had just left when Daoist Jin entered.

"Master." Su Ziyang, who had just sat down, immediately stood up and greeted Daoist Jin as soon as Daoist Jin entered.

"Haha, your master is really good to you. He's put in so much effort and care. He truly considers you his successor!" Daoist Jin said with a smile, watching Mr. Mengfei's departing figure.

"Don't you consider me your successor?" Su Ziyang grinned and joked with Daoist Jin.

"I only have a few tricks up my sleeve, and I've already passed them all on. How much you get depends on your own fate!" Daoist Jin stroked his beard and said very seriously.

"Thank you, Master!" Su Ziyang immediately became serious and quickly expressed his gratitude.

"It's fake... heh."

Daoist Jin left again with his hands behind his back, leaving Su Ziyang alone in the room writing and drawing, making preliminary deductions about the prescription for treating Jin Yizhi in his notebook.