慈濟宮 Taoist Master of medicine
文、攝影／張雅庭
你曾想像過生病了，但身處醫生和醫院都遙不可及的古代嗎？
Have you ever imagined what it is like to be sick without doctors or hospitals nearby?
古代的人們只能將一切交給命運，去面對自己的命運。然而，當時在中國人們有自己的方法。相傳，保生大帝是忠實信徒的仁慈守護神。在醫術方面，無人能敵。傳說中，所有的疾病都可以治愈，甚至死者也能在他的治療下復活。可以說，他是神醫，像耶穌基督可以使死人復活。
Many people in the past could only leave everything to chances and face their own destiny. Nonetheless, the ancient Chinese have their own ways to deal with this. Pao-sheng Emperor is said to be the merciful protector of faithful believers. And when it comes to medical skills, he has yet to meet any match. According to legend, no illness is uncurable, even the dead come back to life after his treatment. I think it’s fair to say that he is the eastern counterpart of Jesus Christ.
保生大帝原名吳夲，生於大約一千年前的宋朝。在童年時，他聰明且多才多藝，展現出在不凡的能力。傳說，17歲時，在一次神秘的顯靈之後，他獲得了治療疾病和驅邪的神奇力量。由於他富有同情心，人們總是將他視為來自天堂的神明化身。
Originally named Wu-tao, Pao-sheng Emperor was born in the Sung dynasty, which is roughly a millennium ago. As a child, he was smart and adept showing capability in different subjects of learning. The story goes, at the age of 17, after a divine apparition, he was granted the magical power of treating illnesses as well as exorcism. And since he was always generous in addition to compassionate, people have always seen him as the avatar of the deities from heaven.
有一天，他走在山徑上採集草藥，遇到了一隻氣喘吁吁、幾近死亡的老虎。吳夲對動物也充滿慈悲，想幫這隻老虎。經過檢查，發現虎喉嚨內有問題，伸手取出深處的一根簪子。立刻，老虎從被窒息致死的痛苦中解脫出來，並坦承牠剛剛吞食了一名在山下路上的女性。吳夲讓這隻野獸承諾永不再這樣做，並與這個可怕但勇敢的野生患者成為朋友。
One day walking down the mountain trails to gather herbal medicine, he met up with a panting and almost dead tiger. Being merciful even towards animals, he approached the beast offering his help. After checking, he found the problem in its throat and reached out with his arm to remove a hair pin from very deep inside. At once, the tiger was relieved from the agony of being chocked to death, and confessed that he had just devoured a lady on her way downhills. The doctor made the beast promise not to ever do that again and befriended this fearful but gallant patient from the wild.
吳夲的名聲和聲譽不僅僅在人類中流傳。連龍也來尋求治療。龍感染流感和嚴重的眼部感染，偽裝成普通凡人的形象前來求診。幾乎在瞬間，吳夲揭示龍的偽裝，同時提供無私的醫療治療。很快，吳夲用一些神奇藥水幫助龍恢復視力。為表感激，老虎和龍都留下跟著保生大帝行醫行善，降妖除怪。這是他曾經從天堂獲得的神聖力量的真實證明，該力量能使凡人免受疾病之苦，也免受妖魔鬼怪的恐嚇。
The fame and reputation of this miraculous physician did not stop among human beings. Even the mystical dragon could not resist the idea of booking an appointment. Coming down with flu and serious eye infection, the dragon resorted to seeing him after showing up as an ordinary mortal in disguise. In almost no time, the magnificent doctor uncovered its deceiving appearance while offering his altruistic medical treatment. And very quickly, some eye drops helped the dragon regain its once heathy eyesight. As a gesture of gratitude, both the tiger and the dragon have remained at the disposal of Pao-sheng Emperor, eliminating not only wrongdoers but also sinister beings from the underworld. This is a genuine proof of the divine power that he once received from heaven to keep all mortals from the pain of health issues as well as the intimidation of evil spirits.
由於他在醫學方面的技能和知識無人能及，不難想像為什麼人們會來尊崇他。這座寺廟與其他所有寺廟不同的一點是，尋求健康的人們會獲得中藥處方。在燒香、祈禱和占卜投擲之後，信徒會通過抽取類似於卜筮的小木棍進行神聖諮詢，只是這次的木棍比卜筮棒稍微小一些。與其解釋他們的運勢，信徒會得到一種中藥的使用指南。這聽起來像是一次醫療預約，處方可以拿到中藥店來配制。幾個世紀以來，這種做法成為社會的一種常態，直到現代醫學和醫療保健的出現。
Since his skills and knowledge in medicine was unsurpassed, it’s not hard to imagine why people come to worship him. One thing that sets this temple apart from all others is the Chinese medicine prescription granted to those who pray for health. After incense burning, prayer, and moon blocks casting, the believer gets a divine consultation by drawing sticks similar to a fortune stick oracle, but a little smaller in size. Only that in this case, instead of an explanation of their luck, they receive an instruction of what kinds of Chinese medicine to take. This sounds like a medical appointment, after which the prescription may be taken to a Chinese medicine store to have it filled. For centuries, this practice became a social norm until the advent of modern medicine and health care.
在明朝，或大約500年前，皇帝賜予他一個榮譽稱號：“恩主昊天金關御史慈濟馨鑒妙道真君萬賽無極保生大帝”。這個稱號很複雜且太長難以記住，很多追隨者甚至難以唸出整個名字。為了簡化，歷史上的人們都用這個稱號中的最後四個漢字來稱呼他，即“保生大帝”。
In Ming dynasty, or roughly 500 years ago, the emperor granted him a title of honor, "Imperial Inspector at Heavenly Gate, Miracle Doctor of Compassion Relief, Great Taoist Immortal, and the Long-lived Unbounded, Life-guarding Emperor” (恩主昊天金關御史慈濟馨鑒妙道真君萬賽無極保生大帝). This being complicated and too long to remember, many followers have a hard time even pronouncing his entire name. For the sake of simplicity, people throughout history call him by the name of the last four Chinese characters from the title, Pao-sheng Emperor.
