So what kind of officials were the ancient "doctors"? Doctor, formerly known as "Doctor of Five Classics", is the title of academic officials and originated in the Warring States Period. Xu Shen's "Five Classics and Different Meanings" records: "During the Warring States Period, doctors were juxtaposed." During the Qin and early Han dynasties, the position of doctor was mainly in charge of books and communication between ancient and modern times for reference. From this point of view, there is no difference between ancient and modern doctors in terms of profound knowledge. For example, Dr. Qin has a deep knowledge, especially history books. He is over 90 years old and can dictate 28 articles of Shangshu. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up a doctor to teach his disciples the Five Classics, from then on, the doctor became a scholar specializing in teaching Confucian classics. In the early Han Dynasty, there were only one classic: Poetry, Book, Book of Changes, Rite and Spring and Autumn Annals. Every classic is taught by a doctor, so it is called the Five Classics Doctor.
In addition, people who were proficient in a certain profession in ancient times were called "doctors", such as "doctors of medicine" and "doctors of arithmetic". Dr. Tai Chang is good at etiquette, and Dr. Taylor is familiar with temperament. This is no different from the current doctoral degree, because the current doctoral degree is actually generally understood as a title for people who are proficient in a certain subject.
Therefore, both ancient doctors and modern doctors are yearning for scholars. After all, being knowledgeable is the goal pursued by scholars, and being called a doctor is also an honor.