There was once a charlatan who claimed he could cure deformities of the spine. ”Whether your back is like a bow, a shrimp, a ring, or whatever you please, come to me and I’ll straighten it in no time.”
One hunchback was credulous enough to take his words at their face value and came to him for treatment. The charlatan made him lie prone on a plank, put another on his hump, then jumped up and down on it with all his might. The hump was straightened, but the man died.
The man’s son wanted to sue him, but the charlatan said, “My job is to straighten his hump. Whether or not he dies, has nothing to do with me.”
Allegorical Meaning
This Ming-Dynasty satirical fable critiques incompetent professionals through a “doctor” who flattens a hunchback by crushing him to death with a stone slab, boasting:
Form Over Function
The quack prioritizes straightening the spine (appearance) over preserving life (essence), satirizing officials/scholars who chase superficial results while ignoring fatal consequences.
Blind Expertise
His literal interpretation of “curing hunchbacks” reflects how rigid adherence to technical solutions—without ethical or holistic understanding — leads to disaster. The cure was worse than the disease.
Institutional Absurdity
The doctor’s defense (“I only treat hunched backs, not survival!”) mirrors bureaucratic excuses, highlighting systemic indifference to human costs.
Proverbial Wisdom:
The story warns against:
- Trusting “experts” without scrutinizing methods
- Valuing short-term fixes over sustainable outcomes
- Mistaking partial success (straightened back) for actual success (living patient).
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