Medical historians have always held different views on where smallpox was introduced into China. Some people think that the plague came from the western regions. Others think it's from China's neighbor-ancient India. According to ancient books, smallpox began to spread in the Central Plains when it attacked Lu. It is speculated that the enemy invaded Nanyang at that time, and the soldiers guarding the city fought bravely. After days and nights of fierce fighting, they finally repelled the enemy and captured a large number of prisoners. But before long, a disease became popular among prisoners, and that was smallpox. In the Tang and Five Dynasties, smallpox, commonly known as "pea sores", began to appear in the articles and poems of literati.
It is generally believed in the medical field that Ge Hong's account of smallpox symptoms and treatment prescriptions is the first time in the medical history of China. According to Ge Hong's "Elbow Back Rescue Recipe", smallpox was "obtained by attacking Nanyang Lu during Jianwu years, but it was almost a sore". Ge Hong was born in Taikang of Jin Dynasty for about four years, that is, in 283 AD. He became a famous medical scientist in China because of three volumes of "Saving the Nation from Elbow" and hundreds of volumes of "Jade Letter".
Smallpox is called "abscess" because it was brought by prisoners on the battlefield. According to historical records, the emergency documents of the unrest in southern Xinjiang were quickly delivered to Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty, after he captured "more than 60 cities" and became king himself. Liu Xiu not only flew into a rage. Therefore, Ma Yuan, who is famous for his valor, was named "General Fu Bo" by the imperial court and was responsible for leading troops to fight against the rebellion in southern Xinjiang.
At that time, the south was regarded as a "barren land" by many people, where the climate was hot, humid and rainy, and there were poisonous fog and miasma everywhere. Marching is extremely difficult. In the eighteenth year of Jianwu, Ma Yuan marched thousands of miles in the mountains with a great army, and finally reached his destination, which soon put down the rebellion. The following year, he arrested and beheaded Zheng Bian and Zheng Er. Since then, the name of General Fu Bo has been handed down in the south.
In the 20th year of Jianwu, in 44 AD, Ma Yuan moved troops to triumph. After returning to South Korea, when counting the number of troops, it was found that almost half of the officers and men died of the plague. Most scholars believe that the "plague" at that time mainly refers to smallpox.
According to "Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties", there was a child prodigy named Chen An in the Five Dynasties, who was witty and clever. Unfortunately, when he was thirteen, he contracted smallpox. After his recovery, he left a little scar on his face. Some people think: the last two sentences in An Chen's poem: "The sky is not right, apply (blessing) noodles and install flowers." That is, it implies the name of "smallpox".
At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, smallpox began to be named "pox sore". Since then, Chinese medicine has classified "acne" as "pediatric disease". It is speculated that in the Song Dynasty, smallpox mainly attacked children, while adults already had immunity.
Wanquan, a medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, also believed that acne was brought back to the Central Plains on tiptoe when Ma Yuan went south. Ge Hong explicitly mentioned that "Lu Chuang" came from the prisoners in the battle of Nanyang by the Han army. The geographical location of toe crossing is far south of China. Therefore, some scholars have made a careful textual research and pointed out that "Nanyang" in Ge Hong's Elbow Saving Death is a clerical error. In fact, it should refer to the crossing of southern Xinjiang in China. Therefore, in some ancient writings of China, when talking about the origin of smallpox, it is believed that it was Ma Yuan who first brought smallpox to the Central Plains across his toes.
Wan Quan, a medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, recorded in The Heart of Vaccinia: "In the spring of Jiajing Wu Jianian (1534), there was an epidemic of pox, and 89 people died."