Chapter 386: Chapter 386: The Three Broadaxes

The two continued their discussion on Chinese versus Western approaches to cancer treatment.

Li Xu said, "On the one hand, Western countries publicly disparage Chinese medicine, claiming it’s unscientific and backward.

But on the other hand, their actions are quite honest.

Japan and Korea are rushing to patent Chinese medicine formulas, the United States is investing dedicated funds into developing Chinese medicine, and they don’t hesitate to poach our Chinese medicine experts with high salaries.

Miaoli, what do you think? If Chinese medicine were truly as ’useless’ as they claim, why would places with such advanced Western medicine attach so much importance to it, even investing huge sums of money?"

Miaoli shook her head, confused. "You’re right, it’s a huge contradiction. If Chinese medicine is just pseudoscience, why would they go to all that trouble?"

"It means they’ve also seen the limits of Western medicine in treating cancer. They may even have observed that ’no treatment’ can yield better results than ’treatment’."

Li Xu proposed another idea.

"’No treatment’?"

Thinking back to Li Xu’s proposed treatment plan for Tang Zhanhu, Miaoli grew pensive.

"Yes. Online, you’ll even see people argue that for malignant tumors, ’no treatment’ can lead to higher survival rates and longer life expectancies than Western medical treatments. They joke that ’waiting for death’ is better than ’courting death’."

Li Xu said with a serious expression, "And this isn’t just baseless speculation. There are actual foreign studies, statistical analyses of thousands of cases, which confirm that cancer patients who refuse Western medical treatment generally survive longer than those who undergo ’comprehensive anti-cancer’ therapy."

"For example, back in 1986, a British doctor named Hulse Jeter discovered that surgically removing cancerous tumors can actually accelerate the metastasis of cancer cells.

There was an even more extreme case reported by the American Cancer Institute in 1977 involving a woman with breast cancer.

She found a two-centimeter tumor. According to Western medical data, a person with this type of early-to-mid-stage breast cancer could live for an average of twelve years without treatment.

However, this woman underwent 38 separate surgeries over three years and ultimately died a tragic death.

What’s even more disheartening is that Western medicine didn’t use this case to reflect on its treatment methods. Instead, it proposed a so-called ’early intervention method,’ a strategy of ’acting sooner,’ attempting to reframe the problem as ’not catching it early enough.’"

Li Xu’s words were like scalpels, laying bare the ugly reality of Western cancer treatment.

Although Miaoli’s medical skills weren’t as profound as Li Xu’s, she had, after all, received a formal education in the field.

Her professors at school had discussed similar cases.

She added critically, "You’re right. It’s completely backward. Surgery doesn’t just remove the tumor; it also removes large amounts of surrounding healthy tissue, which they euphemistically call ’tumor-free resection.’ It’s a method that destroys the body’s own vital systems and internal ecosystem. It’s like ’inviting a wolf into your home’ or ’cutting out your own flesh to patch a sore’—a form of rapid suicide."

"And chemo and radiotherapy are an even slower form of suicide, a classic case of ’killing eight hundred of the enemy at the cost of eight thousand of your own.’"

"They only erase the results of the cancer’s growth, not the cause of it. That’s just ’scooping the froth off a boiling pot’—treating the symptoms, not the root of the problem!"

"Everything you just said actually touches on the core philosophy of how we in Chinese medicine treat cancer."

Li Xu picked up the thread. "The true key to treating cancer can be summed up in four words—’Strengthen the foundation, support the origin.’"

"This aligns perfectly with a core principle of Daoist medicine: ’The greatest healer is not the doctor, but life itself.’"

"When the body encounters any threat, whether it’s a common cold or an invasion of cancer, the primary task is to bolster the vital qi and let the body resolve the issue on its own. This perfectly aligns with that classic assertion from the *Medical Classics*: ’Where vital qi is strong, pathogens cannot invade; where pathogens gain a foothold, the qi is surely deficient.’ As long as the body’s vital qi is abundant, cancer cells have no chance to run rampant."

"Therefore, the core focus of authentic Chinese medicine is bolstering the body’s ’vital qi’."

Li Xu’s tone shifted, tinged with a hint of regret. "Unfortunately, most Chinese medicine doctors practicing today have gone down the path of integrative medicine to cater to the assessment standards of the Western system. Practitioners of truly ’authentic’ Chinese medicine have become extremely rare—there are probably fewer than a few dozen in the entire country. I myself am striving to develop in that ’authentic’ direction."

"The core of the Daoist School’s medicine and wellness practices is also ’cultivating vital qi’."

Li Xu continued his detailed explanation. "They often say, ’The three supreme medicines are Essence, Qi, and Spirit.’ All medical interventions must be oriented toward this goal. And guaranteeing the body’s ’vital qi’ first requires that the Five Elements are balanced and the Five Organs are healthy. However, severely ill patients often have issues with multiple organs, which requires the doctor to make a precise diagnosis of the pattern and find the root cause of the problem."

"Within the core principle of strengthening the foundation and supporting the origin, the first priority is to protect the qi of the spleen and stomach—what we often refer to as the ’earth qi’."

"The *Inner Jing* states, ’The five organs all derive their qi from the stomach.’ Earth is the root of the Five Elements, nurturing all of creation. For a person, the spleen and stomach are the foundation of our postnatal existence, the very source of life. This is perfectly aligned with the ancient physicians’ belief: ’If a person has stomach qi, they live; without stomach qi, they die.’"

"You’ve probably heard that in ancient times, if a patient lost their ability to eat or had severe digestive problems, even for a minor illness, a master physician would refuse treatment. They knew that without ’stomach qi,’ even the most brilliant medical skills were useless."

"That’s why in clinical practice, a skilled doctor treating a critically ill patient won’t immediately use aggressive herbs to attack the disease’s focal point. Instead, they’ll start with a formula like ’Decoction to Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi’ to regulate the spleen system and cultivate Primordial Qi. They help the patient recover their appetite and digestive function first, and only then do they begin to treat the actual illness. This is the principle we often refer to as ’treat the spleen before treating the disease.’"

"Therefore, the essence of Chinese medical treatment isn’t treating the ’disease,’ but rather the ’middle qi’."

Li Xu summarized, "This is the core idea repeatedly emphasized in classics like the *Inner Jing*, *Typhoid*, and the *Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet*. This philosophy is far more scientific than the Western medical mindset of ’fighting a war against disease.’"

"Because the body’s own capacity for self-healing is far superior to any drug or surgery."

"The role of Chinese medicine is to activate this powerful self-healing ability, allowing the body to protect itself and repair any damage."

"And the spleen plays an absolutely vital role in this process. The *Medical Classics* says, ’The spleen governs transportation and transformation, and it governs the upward movement of the pure.’ It also says, ’All conditions of dampness, swelling, and fullness are related to the spleen.’ When the spleen’s function of transportation and transformation is strong, all the dampness, phlegm, excess fluids, and superfluous tissues in the body—including ’malignant tissues’—can be promptly processed and removed. This is what Chinese medicine calls ’qi transformation,’ or what Western medicine might call ’absorption.’ At the same time, robust spleen qi ensures that other systems function normally and boosts immunity, thereby truly achieving a state where ’vital qi is strong, and pathogens cannot invade.’"

"Now, when you reconsider why Western medicine struggles to cure cancer, doesn’t the root of the problem become clear?" Li Xu asked.

Miaoli said with deep admiration, "Li Xu, you’re truly incredible.

We learned all of these principles in school.

But for many of us, it was a matter of swallowing the information whole without ever truly understanding its deeper meaning.

You, on the other hand, have integrated it all into a seamless whole."

After praising him, Miaoli offered her own understanding: "Western medicine’s three-pronged attack—surgery, chemo, and radiation—they destroy the very thing you’re talking about: the body’s ’vital qi.’ While killing cancer cells, they also severely damage the qi of the spleen and stomach, crippling the body’s self-healing capabilities and immune system. This leaves the patient’s vital qi progressively weaker, which is why the cancer keeps recurring and metastasizing, ultimately becoming incurable!"

Li Xu nodded. "Precisely."