For example, the pre-Qin medical text "Huang Di Nei Jing" contains "righteousness within, evil can not be dry, to avoid its poisonous gas"; "Han Shu - Ping Di Ji" records that in the second year of the Yuan Shi, if the people have an infectious disease, it is necessary to be isolated to a separate house for treatment; "Jin Shu" records that during the Jin Dynasty, if there is a contagious disease in the official's home, the official himself, although not sick, but for 100 days, the official will have to be isolated. Although he or she was not sick, he or she was not allowed to enter the palace for a hundred days; the Southern Dynasties Qi Hui Yao - Civil Affairs recorded that during the Xiaoqi Dynasty, Prince Changmao and others had set up the Six Diseases Hall, a medical institution that could receive and isolate the sick, in order to isolate the patients; and the Northern Song Dynasty's medical work, Taiping Shenghui Fang, recorded that when the plague entered the homes of the people, they needed to open the windows and ventilate the homes so that they would not be infected.
The Qing dynasty's first medical book, the
The Qing Dynasty was the period when smallpox was most prevalent in China. Smallpox, also known as pox rash and pox sores, is one of the oldest diseases, highly contagious and with a high mortality rate, which, like bubonic plague, cholera and typhoid fever, had seriously threatened the health and lives of the ancients. The rulers of the Forbidden City at that time also took a series of measures to prevent and control smallpox, one of the main measures is isolation, that is, through the avoidance of smallpox, pox checking, the construction of summer resorts in Jehol (Chengde), and the establishment of a system of round-ups to prevent and control smallpox.
Pox avoidance was the main method of smallpox isolation for the emperors in the early Qing Dynasty. According to the Qing Dynasty historical notebooks "North Travel Records", after the Qing Dynasty entered the Customs in 1644, due to the smallpox epidemic in the capital, the regent King dorgon ordered that wherever there was a smallpox patient, the surrounding eighty paces should be surrounded with ropes, and other people were not allowed to enter the area. According to the historical record "Donghua Records", Shunzhi two years (1645) had stipulated the isolation of smallpox patients, required in the capital outside the forty miles east and west, north and south of the village designated as the capital out of the pox people isolation of the centralized area to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
The Shunzhi Emperor himself adopted the method of avoiding smallpox by stopping large-scale pilgrimages or suspending the stay in the palace. As recorded in the "Qing Shizu Shiru", Shunzhi Emperor a birthday, due to the smallpox epidemic in the capital, and thus ordered the exemption of the court gift; and as recorded in the "North Tour", Shunzhi 12 November, Shunzhi Emperor's second Empress that is, filial pimples, Shunzhi Emperor rushed to the South China Sea to "avoid the pox" and ordered the palace every day to send the carbon of the people, regardless of gender, as long as there is no pox!
The Kangxi Emperor was just born, at the time of smallpox pandemic, had to be held by the nurse Sun out of the Forbidden City, into the North Changjie North exit of the Fuyou Temple isolation. Favored two years old, he still did not escape the smallpox, in a number of careful care, but fortunately saved his life. After Emperor Kangxi moved back to the Forbidden City, the shadow of smallpox still loomed around him at times. According to the Qing Dynasty official book "State Dynasty Palace History" records, Kangxi thirteen years he had ordered the palace eunuchs and the palace walking and so on, if there is a patient suffering from smallpox at home, cured stay at home for a month, is still in the treatment of the home to live for a hundred days, and only then can enter the palace. Avoid pox method is simple, but effective.
In order to effectively isolate smallpox, the Qing Dynasty court established a pox checking official position, that is, checking the pox chapter Jing. At that time, smallpox patients almost every year, the court provided for the object of checking the pox from the eight banners of the military and civilian expansion of the capital residents, foreign traders, as well as to the capital of the foreign clan. Check the pox Zhangjing once found the symptoms, that is, isolation, requiring the pox populace away from the capital, or order not pox foreigners can not come to the capital; for concealment of the non-reporting, but also will be severely punished. According to the Qing dynasty historical materials "decisic deposit" volume 9 records, check the pox Zhangjing is responsible for the eight banners and the capital residents of smallpox inspection, where found to have smallpox patients, all asked to relocate a separate place; in the imperial city outside the royal princes, princesses and county princesses to take isolation measures of protection, that is, a certain range of the above homes do not allow smallpox patients to enter the scope of; responsible for the management of the Mongolian princes of the Beijing matters, only out of the pox (smallpox) (and produced antibodies) officials can not come to Beijing. Only officials who have had the pox (and have produced antibodies) are allowed to enter the capital.
The Summer Resort (Jehol Palace) in Chengde was a royal garden during the Qing Dynasty, but its construction was originally related to the isolation of smallpox. Kangxi Emperor in sixteen years in the hot river inspection, suddenly found that this is not only connected to the capital and the Mongolian plateau of the throat place, but also conducive to the isolation of smallpox virus, the natural climatic conditions are also suitable for summer vacation, rest, and therefore ordered the construction of a palace, which is the origin of the summer resort. The Qing emperor came to the mountain villa in May each year, around October returned to the capital, where hunting, summoned the ministers, read the zhangzhang, received not out of the pox of the upper class of ethnic minorities such as monks, Hui, Vi and other political activities, residing in nearly half a year.
The Kangxi emperor in Jehol in addition to the construction of summer resorts, but also took the corresponding class system, in order to facilitate not out of the pox Mongolian flag leaders to participate in the political activities under its auspices. The so-called "class", that is, the emperor held in the fall of each year in the hot river roundup, border Mongolia and the northwest national tribal leaders in batches to see the emperor, and participate in the emperor presided over the roundup, banquets and other activities.
Located in the northwestern part of Jehol's Mulan area, an area of nearly 10,000 square kilometers, where the forest is deep and dense, lush water and grass, is an excellent hunting ground. Wei Ban system is a complementary form of the annual Ban system. According to the Qing Dynasty system, the Mongolian princes and princesses of all flags have to go to the capital at the end of each year to have an audience with the emperor, and stay in the capital for more than 40 days, which is called Nianban. During this period, they offered tribute to the emperor, who would return the gifts, host banquets for them, organize various celebrations, and learn about the political affairs of the flags in order to strengthen the management of the Mongolian flags.
The early Qing dynasty when smallpox epidemic in the capital, in order to avoid smallpox contagion, the emperor ordered that no pox Mongolian princes shall not be the end of the year to the capital of the court of attendance, but can be in July to the hot river, in September with the emperor of the Mulan roundup, the emperor can also take this opportunity to meet them and give a variety of rewards and entertaining hospitality. At this time, the heat of the river in autumn, sparsely populated, can be more effective to avoid smallpox infection.
Limited to the level of productivity and social conditions at that time, the court of the Qing dynasty to take the above measures to isolate the smallpox virus has imperfections, but for the prevention of the spread of the plague, the normal development of various activities still played a positive role. It can be considered that the above isolation method is one of the applications of the concept of epidemic prevention in traditional Chinese medicine, which also reflects the wisdom of the ancients in China. (Zhou Qian, the author is a research librarian of the Palace Museum)