Bian Que (407–310 BCE) was a renowned physician of the Warring States period. His surname was Qin, and his given name was Yue Ren. He was from Mo County, Bohai Commandery (north of present-day Renqiu, Hebei).
He studied medicine under the master Chang Sangjun and fully inherited his teachings. Later, when Bian Que traveled to the state of Qin, Li Xi, the Imperial Physician of Qin, jealous of Bian Que’s superior medical skill, sent assassins to murder him.
Bian Que was especially skilled in the “Four Diagnostic Methods”—observation (wang), listening and smelling (wen), inquiry (wen), and pulse-taking (qie)—to diagnose illnesses. He had profound knowledge of internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, and otorhinolaryngology (the five traditional branches), and employed treatments such as stone-needle therapy (bianci), acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, herbal decoctions, and hot compresses.
Tradition attributes to him the authorship of Bian Que’s Internal Classic (Bian Que Nei Jing) and External Classic (Wai Jing), though both texts are now lost. The extant work Classic of Difficult Issues (Nan Jing) is believed to be a later composition written under his name.
Leave a Reply