Pi Tong was a famous doctor of Chinese medicine during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 A.D.). He was known for his wisdom and widely respected for his superb medical skills and noble medical ethics. His story reminds us that living ethically can be a sacrifice but brings great rewards.
In addition to medicine, Pi Tong was knowledgeable in military strategies, wrote exceptionally persuasive articles, and assisted Emperor Liuxiu—founder of the Eastern Han.
When he was treating patients, Pi Tong forgot to eat and rest. He treated all of his patients equally, whether rich or poor, with great care. When he met with poor people, he would sometimes provide free treatments and medicine, and he contributed generously to help them. When he treated kings or high officials, he never charged them more than his usual fees.
‘King of Medicine’
Once, a princess fell ill and Pi Tong was called. He diagnosed her as suffering from chronic indigestion, which led to an appetite problem. He prepared a pill for the princess. After the princess took it, she immediately suffered intense nausea and vomited. She then began to drink more water. Several days later, her appetite returned and her complexion improved.
Pi Tong was afraid that the emperor would betroth the princess to him, and he therefore hurriedly returned to his hometown.
However, in gratitude, the emperor then bestowed the title “King of Medicine” on Pi Tong, and temples were later built in Pi Tong’s hometown.
A Devoted Son
Soon after he was granted this honor, Pi Tong heard that the southern part of China had been ravaged by a plague, so he left his hometown and traveled to the disaster scene to treat patients there. However, after he had left home, his mother became ill.
Pi Tong’s brother sent a letter to him describing their mother’s symptoms. Pi Tong was very anxious about his mother’s illness but had too many patients to leave the South, and from afar, Pi Tong could not find any medicine to treat her illness.
His sick mother missed Pi Tong very much, so his brother decided to bring their mother to join Pi Tong in the South.
Pi Tong began to diagnose his mother as soon as she arrived, but he still could not cure her illness as he couldn’t find any suitable medicine. After a time, his mother became very homesick, so Pi Tong asked his brother to take her home again.
Their parting was a sad one. With tears in his eyes Pi Tong said to his mother, “It was not that I was not filial to you but that I was not wise enough to find the right medicine for you. Even though I can cure the illnesses of so many people, I can’t treat my own mother’s illness because the drugs for this illness are very hard to find in this human world. Only by the mercy of the gods, as a reward for my efforts to save other people, will you find the right medicine.”
He wished his mother well and said that she should take good care of herself and see whether she would be lucky enough to find the medicine she needed in the future.
On their way home, Pi’s mother became very thirsty, but they were far away from any villages and they couldn’t find any clean water. So Pi Tong’s brother left his mother by the roadside and went to look for water to give her. In a forest of ash trees, he found a skull containing some rainwater and two little snakes playing inside. His brother dispersed the two snakes and brought the water to his mother. He said, “My dear mother, please close your eyes and finish the water in the skull.” His mother was so thirsty that she closed her eyes and gulped the water. Afterwards, she felt much better.
Later on their journey, they passed a little village. His mother felt very hungry, but there was no restaurant in the village, so his brother was forced to beg from the villagers.
Luckily, there was one family in the village who had just given birth to newborn twin boys. The lady of the family was blind, while the gentleman was crippled, but they were very happy to have the twin boys. Once they heard that there was a beggar outside, they gave the beggar the mother’s leftovers—a bowl of barley rice and an egg, but it happened that the egg had two yolks.
After finishing the rice and egg, Pi’s mother felt much stronger and she managed to walk back to their hometown. A short time later, Pi’s mother completely recovered from her illness.
Afterward, Pi Tong’s brother got a letter from Pi Tong in which he wrote, “If our mother can drink some natural water that has two little dragons playing in it, and eat a double-yolk egg and barley rice cooked by a blind woman with a crippled husband, then her illness will be cured. However, as these things are very hard to obtain, only by coincidence will her illness be cured.” He also expressed his eagerness to know how their mother was doing.
Pi Tong’s brother very surprised to learn that what his mother obtained on their way home was exactly what was prescribed by Pi Tong. He wrote a letter back to Pi Tong, saying that their mother’s illness was cured by the very methods that he prescribed.
Once Pi Tong received his brother’s letter, tears came to his eyes again, and he said, “So it is true that good people are rewarded. I thank the gods for providing my mother the drugs that she needed to cure her illness. I, Pi Tong, will continue to follow the laws of the universe and perform more good deeds and save more people to express my gratitude for the gods’ mercy.”
