Spring in the Apricot Forest

"Spring in the Apricot Grove" is set between the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty and tells the story of the legendary medical career of Su Yutang, a son of a family of traditional Chinese medicine. When he was eight years old, he used a three-edged needle to prick the Shaoshang point to save a drowning child; when he was fourteen years old, he used Huang Yuan Yu Lizhong Decoction to cure his mother's stomach cold; when he was sixteen years old, he used classic prescriptions combined with acupuncture to solve the mystery of febrile diseases, and was exceptionally included in the Taiyuan Hospital. He integrated classics such as "Acupuncture and Moxibustion Classics A and B" and "Yi Zong Jin Jian" to create his original "Three Talents Acupuncture Method" and used traditional techniques to repeatedly treat strange diseases. Su Yutang and Liu Qingyun, a daughter of a well-known acupuncture family, became masters and apprentices. They combined acupuncture and medicine to protect traditional Chinese medicine during the poisoning scandal in the Imperial Pharmacy and the impact of Western medicine. Su Yutang wrote "Secrets of Acupuncture and Moxibustion" to organize the meridian theory, and Liu Qingyun founded "Taihe Medical Clinic" in Lingnan, passing on acupuncture techniques and improving equipment. Emperor Qianlong personally gave him a plaque of "Miaowu Qihuang" to commend his medical ethics and skills. The two masters and apprentices compiled "Essentials of Acupuncture and Moxibustion of Taiyuan Hospital", which was listed as a required textbook for Taiyuan Hospital. The story revolves around the inheritance of medical doctors in the Qing Dynasty, showing the persistence of traditional Chinese medicine in the court and among the people: Su Yutang used special therapy to save Liu Qingyun who was suspected of being poisoned; Liu Qingyun set up a porridge shed to administer medicine during the plague, and was awarded by the court. Eventually, Su Yutang retired to Suzhou and compiled the medical records into "Xinglin Xin Zhuan"; Liu Qingyun trained more than a hundred disciples, passing on acupuncture skills to future generations through the family and imperial hospital system. The whole book takes "benevolent medicine as its soul" and outlines a long scroll of traditional Chinese medicine inheritance spanning three generations.