Whether it is Chinese medicine or Western medicine, the word "Xinglin" is a common vocabulary in the medical field. Many doctors also regard themselves as people from Xinglin. Some famous doctors have plaques such as Xinglin Chunnuan, Xinglin Master, and Renowned Xinglin in their homes, praising doctors for their superb medical skills and noble medical ethics. Records in ancient books include "Dragon Gao Ji" by Yang Jue of the Ming Dynasty. "Bride's Disease": "There is no orange well for elixirs, no apricot grove for medicine, and all the bait is ineffective."
Then, why is "apricot grove" used to refer to the medical profession?
According to the records in "Taiping Guangji Volume 12 Dong Feng", the origin of the word "Xinglin" comes from the story of Dong Feng, a famous doctor in the Three Kingdoms era.
Dong Feng was a famous doctor in Soochow from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms. He was a master of medicine, had a wonderful rejuvenation technique, and was famous for his noble medical ethics. Dong Feng is as famous as Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing, and is known as the "Three Miracle Doctors of Jian'an".
Dong Feng later came to Yuzhang to live in seclusion in Lushan. He lives in the mountains without farming, and treats people every day without taking any money. After the seriously ill person was cured by him, Dong Feng asked the patient to plant five apricot trees, and for those with mild illness, he would plant one. After several years of this, there were more than 100,000 trees, forming a lush apricot forest. He let all the birds and beasts in the mountains play in the apricot grove, and no weeds grew under the trees, as if they had deliberately hoeed all the grass.
When the apricots were ripe, Dong Feng built a barn with grass in the apricot forest and told people: "Those who want to buy apricots don't need to tell Dong Feng. They just need to bring them to Dong Feng." Put a can of grain into the warehouse and you can take away a can of apricots. "Someone once put a small amount of grain into the warehouse but took away a lot of apricots. Suddenly a group of tigers roared and chased them out of the apricot forest. The man was very frightened. , hurriedly carried Xingzi to escape, but fell over on the roadside. When I went home and measured the apricots, there were exactly as many apricots left as the grain.
If someone comes to steal apricots, the tiger will chase him to his home and bite him to death. The family of the deceased knew that they had stolen the apricots, so they returned the apricots to Dong Feng and kowtowed to admit their mistake. Dong Feng would resurrect the deceased.
The grain Dong Feng got from selling apricots every year was all used to relieve poor families and provide it to people who lacked travel expenses. He could distribute more than 20,000 grains a year. Dong Feng passed away after more than three hundred years in the human world, but he still looks like a thirty-year-old man.
Dong Feng had superb medical skills but did not attach much importance to fame and wealth. He was willing to do good and charity. His noble medical ethics were respected and praised by people, and became a legend through the ages.
Therefore, "Xinglin" has become a synonym for the medical community