Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has developed numerous distinctive academic schools over thousands of years, among which the Attack Evil School is the most unique. What are the “secret techniques” and “weapons” of the Attack Evil School? Let’s listen to the inheritors of this school discuss its historical transmission.
Founding of the Attack Evil School
The goal of the Attack Evil School is to combat the evil qi invading the human body, employing various treatment methods for both internal and external evils, as well as for different locations of evil qi. Acupuncture, which is rarely used by other schools, is a common treatment method in the Attack Evil School.
Zhang Congzheng is the founder of the Attack Evil School. He learned medicine from his father from a young age and began practicing independently at the age of twenty, demonstrating exceptional medical skills. Zhang served as a military doctor and worked in the Imperial Medical Institute before resigning to live in seclusion. He summarized his clinical experiences and authored “Rumen Shiqin”.
“Rumen Shiqin” contains many interesting medical cases; let’s explore the wonders of bloodletting therapy↓↓↓
TCM believes that the liver opens to the eyes, indicating a close relationship between the eyes and the liver meridian. The breasts are located on the liver meridian, with thick muscles and thin fascia, making bloodletting from this area less damaging to the body. Therefore, Zhang Congzheng chose to perform bloodletting on the breasts to alleviate symptoms of qi and blood stagnation in the eyes of laborers.
Transmission of the Attack Evil School
Attack Evil School
According to ancient records, Zhang Congzheng had three disciples: Ma Zhiji, Zhang Zhongjie, and Chang Zhongming, who assisted him in writing “Rumen Shiqin.” The treatment methods of the Attack Evil School have continued to this day, with bloodletting being the most commonly used technique in clinical practice. The bloodletting therapy using fire needles by Master He Purin and the Three Talents Acupuncture Method by Master Cheng Xinnong are both influenced by the ideas of the Attack Evil School.
The “Secret Techniques” of the Attack Evil School
Inducing Sweating, Vomiting, and Purging
The Attack Evil School believes that when pathogenic evils invade the body and remain on the surface, sweating can be used to expel them; if the evils are located above the diaphragm, vomiting can be employed to expel them from the mouth; and if the evils are below the diaphragm, they can be expelled through bowel movements.
Weapons of the Attack Evil School
01
Three-edged Needle
The three-edged needle can be used for bloodletting, which is a method of inducing sweating. Zhang Congzheng believed that “bloodletting and sweating, though named differently, are essentially the same”, as both methods expel pathogenic evils from the surface of the skin. The three-edged needle allows for a significant amount of bloodletting and is generally used on areas with thicker muscles, large joints, or certain blood vessels.
02
Filiform Needle
The filiform needle can be used for bloodletting in superficial or thinner muscle areas. TCM holds that the ear apex is an extraordinary acupuncture point, primarily effective for clearing heat. Therefore, for diseases caused by heat evils, such as hordeolum, the ear apex bloodletting method can be employed.
03
Commonly Used Medicines in the Attack Evil School
Niuhuang (Bovine Bile) is commonly used in the Attack Evil School to clear heat and expel evil qi from the body through purging methods. Niuhuang Qingwei Wan (Bovine Bile Stomach Clearing Pill) was invented by Zhang Congzheng to eliminate damp-heat from the spleen and stomach. Additionally, other herbs such as Dahuang (Rhubarb), Zhishi (Bitter Orange), Huangqin (Scutellaria), Zhizi (Gardenia), and Shigao (Gypsum) also have heat-clearing properties and can expel evil qi from different areas.
In times when medicine was not well developed, doctors often used Guati San (Melon Seed Powder) to induce vomiting for treating children who accidentally ingested foreign objects or had food accumulation.
04
Using Emotion to Overcome Emotion
Zhang Congzheng is also considered a pioneer in psychological treatment. He believed that negative emotions could affect the internal organs, which he regarded as a form of evil qi within the body. Thus, he proposed using one emotion to counteract another.
Zhang Congzheng once used this method of “using emotion to overcome emotion” to successfully treat a patient by using “joy to overcome sorrow”↓↓↓
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Health Road Program Broadcast Time
“Legends of TCM Schools” (Part Three)
△ First Broadcast: October 2, 18:05
△ Rebroadcast: Next day 08:28
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Edited by: Bo Ran Edited by: Bai Xia
