Two

Two

In the remote mountains of the western wilderness, his mood was far from peaceful—only bitterness and heaviness lingered. During those merciless years that “touched the soul,” Pei Zhengxue also faced misfortune: he was labeled as one of the “Black Five Classes,” dismissed from his position, and sent to the countryside.

Water has its source, mountains have their peaks—yet even in adversity, there is a measure of good fortune. During the two-plus years he was sent to the countryside, he encountered many rare and complex cases that were rarely seen in urban hospitals, gaining invaluable clinical experience. At the same time, he witnessed firsthand the miraculous power of traditional Chinese herbs and certain folk remedies—just one section of herbal vine stewed with chicken could cure pulmonary tuberculosis. Pei Zhengxue collected and discovered many such magical recipes and tested them firsthand. In 1972, at the age of 34, Pei Zhengxue published his first paper on the treatment of complex and difficult cases in the newly published Chinese medical journal “New Chinese Medicine,” titled “Taoren Chengqi Decoction for Treating Fulminant Dysentery,” elevating his understanding of traditional Chinese medicine to a new level.

For years, Pei Zhengxue adhered to the medical practice of “Western medical diagnosis, Chinese medical dialectics, accurate diagnosis, meticulous treatment.” Every time he saw a patient, he would diagnose, observe, and closely monitor changes in the patient’s condition, carefully analyzing and repeatedly refining his approach, striving to grasp each patient’s clinical characteristics and pathogenesis with utmost precision.

Li Yuegui, a female employee of the Liancheng Aluminum Factory, aged 40, suddenly suffered from hemorrhagic shock and lost consciousness during a conference in southern China. She was diagnosed with acute leukemia by the local hospital. She was transferred to a hospital in Gansu Province for treatment, where she continued to suffer from high fever and multiple episodes of deep coma, her hemoglobin dropping to just 6 grams. The attending physician sighed and said, “Let’s stop here—don’t waste any more money; the patient won’t make it through the next few days…” Several hospitals in the province refused to accept her due to worsening conditions and inability to control her illness. Her family, desperate and anxious, finally managed to find Pei Zhengxue and ask him for treatment. After careful diagnosis, Pei Zhengxue determined that she had subacute septicemia. Taking decisive action based on her symptoms, she recovered from fever within four days, and after 40 days of treatment, she largely returned to normal.

After decades of wandering, Pei Zhengxue worked tirelessly, diligently exploring the depths of medical knowledge, steadily overcoming one challenge after another and ultimately developing a complete set of new methods for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment through the integration of Chinese and Western medicine. In 1985, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Gansu Provincial Institute of New Medicine; shortly thereafter, he became Vice President of the Gansu Provincial Cancer Hospital. In 1987, he was promoted to Chief Physician—by special appointment. Meanwhile, five major medical monographs, each reflecting his profound efforts, were published: “Commentary on Blood Disorders,” “New Compilation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas,” “Pharmacology and Clinical Applications of Rheum,” “Wenbing Studies,” and “Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatitis B,” among others. More than 60 medical papers were also published, attracting widespread attention from medical professionals both within and outside the province.