Chapter 301 - 190: Medicine in the Great Tang
Ran Yan had made up her mind to seize the opportunity to visit Chang’an. Once she had determined her resolve, she brushed aside the impatience and instability in her heart and strived to carve out a place for herself in the Great Tang.
That day at Yingmei Temple, a conversation with Liu Qingsong suddenly enlightened her about many things. She disliked living in a haze, and since she was given the chance to live again with her memories intact, she had to maximize her strengths to make this life worthwhile!
With a calm mind, Ran Yan would not let herself act recklessly like she did in Suzhou; at least, she wouldn’t impulsively conduct an autopsy when her foundation was still unsteady.
Ran Yan didn’t plan to change the entire Great Tang’s view of the forensic doctor profession but instead planned to use a roundabout strategy. She would first establish herself with other talents, gain people’s respect, and then gradually penetrate deeper.
However, doctors’ social status wasn’t high in the Tang Dynasty. The Medicine King, Sun Simiao, originally gained fame for his scholarship and was extremely talented. Wei Zheng, commissioned to compile the histories of the Qi, Liang, Chen, Zhou, and Sui dynasties, feared omissions and visited Sun Simiao, Meng Xian, and Lu Zhaolin frequently to learn from them. Yet, merely because he was skilled in medical skills, he was grouped under "technicians," roughly meaning someone proficient in a particular skill. At that time, technical skills were the least valued.
"Scholars from all over despised the name of medical arts, often teaching their children to recite concise articles and orchestrate minor strategies to find a way out; medical arts were neglected and hardly discussed." This meant that scholars, whether imperial or local, all considered learning medical arts shameful, mostly teaching the younger generation to read short and powerful texts and construct political arguments to seek advancement. As for medical skills, they were utterly disregarded.
This was the ethos of the Tang Dynasty; even Sun Simiao was in such a position, making Ran Yan’s efforts seem minuscule and insignificant.
Then what could she use to establish her reputation?
The Tang Dynasty valued Confucianism and respected those who could produce splendid writings or recite beautiful poetry, but these were precisely Ran Yan’s weak points, hardly sufficient to handle on the spot.
After pondering for two to three hours, she still had few leads.
Unknowingly, it had grown late. Wan Lu, Ge Lan, and Xing Niang began dressing Ran Yan for the family dinner. Since it was a family affair, the attire wasn’t overly extravagant. A simple Chao Yun hairstyle close to her temples, pinned with two jade hairpins; because Ran Yan liked purple, her purple clothing was the most refined, while the rest, whether fabric or craftsmanship, were slightly inferior.