Origin of the Concept of “Immunity” in Traditional Chinese Medicine
In China’s medical history, the concept of immunity existed very early—this is the therapeutic method known as “using poison to counteract poison.” The oldest Chinese medical text, the Huangdi Neijing, mentions that treatment requires “toxic drugs”; without toxicity, illness cannot be cured. Interestingly, the pioneer who first put this immunological idea into practice and conducted early research in immunology was Ge Hong, a Daoist alchemist deeply devoted to elixir-making.
Ge Hong, styled Zhi Chuan, also known as Pu Zi. From childhood, he loved reading medical and alchemical texts. As he grew older, he immersed himself in alchemy while also studying medicine diligently, becoming a renowned physician in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. People frequently sought him out for urgent or serious illnesses.
One day, a farmer in his forties rushed to Ge Hong’s home, anxious and distressed: “My only son was bitten by a rabid dog! Please help me save his life!” Ge Hong felt equally alarmed. He knew that if a person was bitten by a rabid dog, the pain would be unbearable, and even slight stimuli—like light or sound—could trigger convulsions and agitation. Especially fearful of water, hearing, talking about, or seeing water would instantly cause throat spasms. Death could occur within hours. Ge Hong searched desperately through countless prescriptions, but none proved effective. Suddenly, inspiration struck: ancient texts advocated “using poison to counteract poison”—why not try using the poison from a rabid dog’s body to treat this condition? He told the farmer: “There’s no other good solution now. I’ll try applying the brain of the rabid dog to your son’s wound—it might save him.”
The farmer returned home and followed the advice. Surprisingly, it worked—the patient didn’t fall ill. Since then, Ge Hong used this method to treat many others bitten by rabid dogs, with consistently positive results.
Modern medical science confirms that after being bitten by a rabid dog, the rabies virus enters the human body through the wound. Due to its special affinity for nerve tissue, it triggers rabies. The brain and saliva of rabid dogs contain large amounts of the rabies virus. The famous French biologist Pasteur isolated the rabies virus from dog brain tissue, cultured it, and developed a vaccine to prevent and treat rabies. Clearly, Pasteur’s method was fundamentally similar to Ge Hong’s approach—only more scientifically rigorous. However, Pasteur’s discovery came over a thousand years after Ge Hong’s pioneering work.