In costume TV dramas, especially in court dramas, we often see a group of people named Imperial Doctors, who are the exclusive doctors of the royal family and are responsible for taking care of the health of the royal family.
Although they were not eunuchs, because of the peculiarities of their positions, they could often enter the palace and provide medical services to the royal family.
In ancient times, the imperial physician was not a profession that everyone envied, and many well-known doctors took various ways to avoid being called by the royal family as imperial doctors. So, what is the difference between the imperial doctor in the TV series and the imperial doctor in reality?
Why were ancient doctors reluctant to serve as imperial physicians? Before this question, let's correct a common misconception: the imperial physician did not specifically refer to a physician who served the emperor, but rather an official position, similar to some departments today.
The ancient imperial medical system has a long history, which can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty at the earliest, and the division of labor is fine. These include dietetics (nutrition), disease (internal medicine), traumatology (surgery) and veterinarians (animals).
Even the ancient emperors were no exception, occasionally having headaches, brain fever or gastrointestinal discomfort, and needed to seek medical attention like ordinary people. Therefore, it is not a miracle that medical officers were established during the Zhou Dynasty.
Don't look at me as an emperor, I will occasionally have a stomachache. In fact, there was no clear concept of imperial medicine in ancient China, and it was not until the Qin and Han dynasties that the term "imperial doctor" was born.
Moreover, these royal doctors who served the royal family were quite well paid. For example, in the Han Dynasty, the highest position of medical officials, "Lang Zhongling", had an annual salary of up to 2,000 stones, which could even be compared with a powerful general.
Since then, although the Central Plains region has experienced a long period of ** and chaos, the medical officer system has not changed much. It was not until the Sui Dynasty that the Imperial Medical Office was officially established for the first time. Later, although the name of the Tai Yi Department was changed, such as Tai Hospital, Tai Yi Bureau, etc., its main functions did not change.
Although the hospital is huge, the pharmacy is the exclusive institution for seeing patients. In addition to the emperor's medical care, he was also responsible for the country's medical and health care and the distribution of plague medicines, similar to today's Ministry of Health.
Its functions became more and more abundant and perfect with the development of the dynasty, and even the compilation of medical books was required during the Qing Dynasty. However, although the past dynasties attached great importance to the Tai Hospital, and the ** Yu Lu rank was also high, because doctors were not valued in ancient times, and they were even regarded as the ninth class, people were reluctant to be Tai Doctors.
In ancient society, doctors were regarded as a low-status profession and were considered "lowly workers", and even in Han Yu's "Shi Shuo", doctors were classified as a low-level group of "witch doctors, musicians, and people".
Although the imperial doctors have certain official positions, they still appear to have a low status in front of the people they serve, and they are not much different from ordinary subordinates.
In Chinese history, the doctor can be the most professional, I am afraid that it is the Ming Dynasty's Tai Hospital envoy Xu Shen, who was finally named the crown prince and the official department of Shangshu, and his status is equivalent to today's first grade.
However, the reason why Xu Shen was able to receive such a high honor was not because of his outstanding contributions to the field of ancient medicine. On the contrary, in the Renyin Palace Change, several palace maids tried to ** Emperor Jiajing, and when he was in danger, Xu Shen stepped forward and successfully rescued the dying and struggling emperor.
Xu Shen was exceptionally promoted because of his life-saving grace to the emperor, and Emperor Jiajing directly rewarded him with the post of secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and posthumously presented the crown prince Taibao after his death. However, compared to the good fortune of the gentry, the status of ancient doctors was usually lower.
Wealthy families are more likely to have their children go to school than to become doctors. Although Xu Shen's story is legendary, few people think about what would happen if he failed and failed to save Emperor Jiajing.
The answer is that they will be killed, their homes raided, and their doors destroyed.
Xu Shen was once promoted to the throne for his exploits in saving the emperor. However, his career did not last long, and he died only a short time after receiving the award. Historians generally have no objection to Xu Shen's death, let alone conspiracy theories.
The cause of his death was quite straightforward: he was frightened.
When Xu Shen was treating Jiajing, his life and death were all on a pair of medicines. If he can**, he will be ranked among the ministers; If left untreated, he could be in danger of having his entire family beheaded.
This kind of situation will be unbearable for anyone. Later, Xu Shen died of a sudden illness, which was not uncommon under ancient medical conditions. Although he enjoyed great glory at the time of his death, his experience can only be regarded as a blessing compared to those imperial doctors who were beheaded for the ** princely ministers.
When royal physicians serve the royal family, harem, and top **, their official position may seem irrelevant because they are unable to communicate with patients on an equal footing. In modern society, doctor-patient disputes have become a serious social problem, not to mention ancient societies, and there is still an inequality in the status of patients and doctors.
The ancient imperial doctor can be said to be a hanging pot to help the world, but he is also always facing the test of life and death. Hua Tuo was brutally murdered for proposing a craniotomy for Cao Cao. In the eyes of the upper echelons of the empire, the imperial doctors were just minions who could see patients, and their status was even inferior to that of eunuchs.
Although there are eunuchs interfering in politics in history, there are few records of imperial doctors interfering in politics. If you say too much, you will lose it, misjudge the disease, and even cure someone who should not be treated, which may lead to the disaster of killing the head.
Such a risk discourages many people from becoming imperial doctors. This is the reason why people in ancient times were reluctant to pursue the profession of imperial doctors!