Guwen in Medical Sense

[JohnSmith1980]

Hey everyone,

Ive heard that Chinese people do not continually go to the doctor for checkups and accupuncture etc fr everyday problems, just when they are seriously ill. I read that this is because of the culture where endurance of physical discomfort has often been viewed as a "virtue".

I dunno how true this is, but was wondering if anyone knew any 'guwen' that could support this.

Thanks for the help.

Chris.

[mr.stinky]

sounds impressive, but from what i've seen it's mainly because they can't afford it. those

that can will go for any reason imaginable. favorite treatment seems to be going to the

hospital for an i.v. (3 hours, for 5 days) for headache, bad cough, etc.

[roddy]

Just what I was about to say - as soon as there's a hint of a cold it's 吃药！and 看病！Then that's combined with an absolute terror of having to rely on profit-motivated hospitals in the case of any major illness.

[trevelyan]

38 degrees is a fever in Beijing. Better go to the doctor and get the drip!

[karmakid]

Well for starters as think the western idea of health is a bit misleading.

As soon as ANYTHING happens where ill all of a sudden, as soon as any symptoms arise were very quick to get up an aspirin from our purse medicin cabinet and so on.

But _I_ think other cultures which have a more holistic and "harmony" oriented view on our bodies tend to think more about causes and less about symptoms. If something hurts there is a reason, and to remove the pain might prevent us to see the reasin WHY it hurts.

I'm not saying the eastern medicine is better or to recommend in any way, I just find our way of seeing pain in perspective to other countries interesting. For us everything that is not "normal" is wrong. Perhaps it would help us to be able to endure physical pain a bit better, who knows.. I'm not that eager to try though... ;)

And concerning check-ups, not all westerners does periodical checkups either. I dont, and I dont know that many swedes that do.

(And according to the UN sweden has the best public health so check ups might not be the only way to prevent illness)

(on second thought the reason for swedes good health might be that everyone has the right to medical care and that noone needs a healtinsurance, so richer ppl in other western countries might be better off with repeated checkups)

[skylee]

What is 'guwen'?

[semantic nuance]

might be 顧問?

[mr.stinky]

in the west i think we've seen too many movies about eastern culture, somehow we

think it's wonderful and mystical.

you want real traditional chinese medicine? go to the local "health alley." here in kunming

it's a warehouse or street (usually covered) with fake traditional architectural models

inside.

go to the main booth, buy your prescription sheet for 5 kuai, then wait for the 'doctor.'

doc asks what's wrong, you tell him. doc takes your pulse, pulls out some old books,

and writes a prescription consisting of 16 magical ingredients. not 15, not 17, only 16.

must be some fengshui thing.

so you go to the prescription area, and the clerks fill a paper bag with 16 types of

roots and bark and mushrooms. three times a day for a week, you're to boil a portion of

the stuff for an hour, and drink a cup.

does it work? yes! but only for a sickness you'd recover from in a week anyway.

[liuzhou]

Well, as my old family doctor said, "A cold, with proper medication, will be gone in 7 days. Without medication, it will take about a week."

[JohnSmith1980]

Yeah, the whole 吃药 and 多喝开水 thing gets tedious very fast......

Firstly cheers for all the feedback, some interesting opinons out there, and ur probably right about if i want to know real chinese medicine i should go to the 'real' medicine clinics, i went to 同仁堂 Beijing's famous Pharmacy and health clinic with over 300 years experience to have a chat with a doctor and ask him his views of chinese medicine in china, all i got was a 100元 admission fee, and a doctor who had no idea what she was talking about.....when i asked her which school she had studied chinese medicine i got a grunting 什么?..当然从一个老师学!!! Wasnt too productive.

Anyway, sorry about the pinyin "guwen". I meant 古文, any literature that supports the theory of endurance of physical discomfort being a virtue in chinese culture would be perfect.

I also think that very few people really goes for checkups. I just dont think that is how human nature works. When we're ill we go straight to the hospital, buy the most expensive fast acting drugs, but when we're ok illness seems least of our worries - a check up is like going to the gym - its a 2moro thing.

Ive attatched a couple of photos from the doctor at 同仁堂, probably nothing to interesting but Id appreciate it if somebody who is able understand any of what he wrote - to translate into legible chinese..thanks!!

[Joffrie]

Well, the Chinese culture never value endurance of physical discomfort as a "virtue", I may tell you. But some times people do refuse to go to hospital, esp. those senior citizens with conventional ideas.

guwen is commonly used as 顾问 or 古文. The former means "adviser or consultant or counselor", while the latter means "ancient prose (an article written in old style) or ancient characters".

[Sujian]

that may be right! but everyone in China knows such a fact that seeing a doctor cost a lot of money and the procession is complex in America. In China, when we fall ill,we used to go to hospital and the doctor also used to prescribe some herbal medicines to us.we don't have any "gu wen"--consultant.顾问