Library

Who does not love their children? Those who love their children, who does not worry about the hurdle of smallpox (variola)? Only after safely passing this hurdle can one say they are truly their own children. Now there is a method of inoculating cowpox (niudou), which requires no avoidance of wind, no dietary restrictions, and proceeds as if nothing were amiss, with ten thousand chances of success and none of failure. Is this not a great benefit? Why then has it not become prevalent? It is simply that people cannot firmly believe in it, fearing that after contracting cowpox, if they encounter the epidemic variola (tianxing douzi), they will be re-infected.

In Guangdong, this method has been practiced for nearly thirty years. I have asked many people from Guangdong, and all say they have never had a recurrence. Among those born in Guangdong over the past thirty years, many have served as officials or merchants in other provinces, yet none have been heard of to have contracted epidemic variola again. Even in Xiangtan, where it was not widely practiced, dozens of families had cowpox inoculated three or four years ago; did any of them contract epidemic variola again! Moreover, this year, several families had cowpox inoculated. Initially doubting its efficacy, they tried the "blowing seed" method (chuimiao, blowing smallpox matter into the nose) as a test, and no further eruption occurred. This is indeed something to trust.

Some argue: Those who receive cowpox inoculation should erupt again after ten years. If so, then once every ten years, meaning only ten times in a hundred years, steady and effortless. However, surely this logic is flawed? Consider, the seed is introduced into both arms, slightly pricking the skin, showing only minute blood points. By the next day, there are no traces. If it did not reach the internal organs directly, how could red shadows appear after three or four days, followed by vesicles after three more days, pus formation after another three days, and scabbing after yet another three days, occurring exactly on schedule without error? This is similar to the blowing seed method; the eruptions grow round, full, and plump, looking even better than those from the blowing seed method. This is because the innate toxin is stored invisibly, and qi draws qi to produce the eruption! Blowing seed uses qi to draw qi, and point-seeding also uses qi to draw qi. Why trust blowing seed but not point-seeding?

However, families choosing point-seeding must pay close attention. After the scabs form, if the scabs are pointed at the top and slanted at the base, the toxic vapor has not fully exited, and re-inoculation is necessary to count as successful. Even if not pointed/slanted, during the vesicle and pus stages, if the child's qi and blood are insufficient, or if they suffer from diarrhea, preventing full growth, the toxic vapor must exit but may not be fully expelled. In such cases, herbs such as Atractylodis Rhizoma (Baizhu) must be taken again to tonify the spleen and assist qi, ensuring the eruption grows fully plump. One must fear that re-inoculation was needed, but the owner mistakenly believed it was unnecessary. Physicians specializing in smallpox may not monitor closely enough, so among ten thousand cases, one or two might recur. This method originally had theories of guiding eruptions twice or thrice; one must not be careless.

If re-inoculation was needed but delayed, and epidemic variola occurs simultaneously, people will use this as an excuse, and no one will believe in the method anymore. Would this not be a great pity? I examined medical texts which record that infants, a few days after birth, had dirty blood pricked from the arm, granting lifelong immunity from smallpox, but the acupoints and knife techniques were lost. The current point-seeding method may be a remnant of this. The perfect method was lost long ago, and its revival now is likely because the previous kalpa (disaster cycle) was not yet complete. With opium entering China and harming countless people, offsetting that kalpa, this method also came from foreigners, thereby preserving the lifespan of infants. To not firmly believe and practice it is to violate Heaven and exclude oneself from the principle of continuous generation.

In my family, over ten people received cowpox inoculation this year. Witnessing this personally and deeply understanding its mechanism, I firmly believe without doubt. How could I bear to keep it secret and not share it? I wish to strengthen the faith of all under heaven and spread it widely, so that all infants may henceforth enter the realm of benevolence and longevity. I dare to offer these humble words as "Discourse on Firmly Believing in Cowpox Inoculation."

Note: The art of cowpox inoculation began in the Dinghai year of the Daoguang reign (1827). Many infants in my hometown were saved. Wu Zixian Ting, whose technique was particularly exquisite, inoculated no fewer than thousands. Based on what my relatives and friends saw and heard, in twenty years, not a single case of recurrence occurred. He is truly a master hand in protecting infants.