CH 39

“What? Another five households in the west quarter of the city caught cold damage?! Isn’t that the barbarian’s marketplace?” Wang Wen turned bloodlessly pale at the news. The disease had come too early this year – the fifth month had only just begun. How was there news of plague already?

“Half a month ago, the people on the outskirts were already beginning to fall sick. The traveling merchants must have caught cold damage as well, hence the sudden rise in new cases,” Physician Jiang answered calmly. 

“Then what should we do? Is it too late to leave Jinyang?” Rich nobles like him moved out of the city and into their remote mountain villas every summer to avoid heat and plague. But the plague had crept upon them sooner than expected; Wang Wen, as well as most of the city’s elites, were trapped within.

“If everyone swarms out of the city, they’ll likely meet with sickness on the road. There are so many refugees roaming about nowadays, you’re almost guaranteed to run into them!” Physician Jiang instantly refuted. “Right now, the only option is for everyone to work together and prevent the plague from spreading any further!”

“This is cold damage, who’s able to do anything about it?” Wang Wen shook his head in dismay. Even as a member of Jinyang City’s upper echelons, he’d lost relatives to cold damage. If it really was preventable, how would the use of cold-food powder have become so commonplace?

“If it was truly hopeless, then why did Buddha impart his teachings in a dream? Why did you just so happen to meet with Liang Zixi, and just so happen to send me to cure him? Isn’t this precisely the predestination that Buddhists speak of?!” Physician Jiang was going for broke – he’d even brought up the dream about Buddha. 

Wang Wen lurched at his words. But of course, why had he been able to encounter Liang Feng? Was it to say that Buddha had foreseen Jinyang’s current crisis and had sent him to resolve it? If he fled the city and ignored Physician Jiang’s words, wouldn’t he be wasting this rare karmic destiny with Buddha?

He gritted his teeth and finally nodded, “In that case, I’ll listen to you, Mister Jiang. We’ll see just how this cold damage can be stopped…..”

Jiang Da instantly breathed in relief, “Don’t fret, controller, I’ve already called for Ji’en – he’s been by Liang Zixi’s side for some time now; he’s familiar with all the warnings that Buddha conveyed through dream. There must be a way. Right now, what we have to do is organize a group of people and contain the outbreak area. At the same time, announce the fact that rats and bugs transmit disease, so that the people know what to guard against.”

“As you say, Mister Jiang! I’ll support you in any way I can!” Wang Wen instantly yelled, “Servants! Hurry and light mugwort incense! Bring me brush and paper, I must write at once to the Duke of Dongying!”

※

“Zixi, there’s been an outbreak in Jinyang City. My grandfather and father are there already, and I must go as well…” Jiang Da was so guilt-stricken he could hardly meet Liang Feng’s eyes. He’d promised that he’d stay to help Liang Zixi recover, but now, because of the plague, he was abandoning his friend. He felt utterly ashamed.

And yet Liang Feng, who he thought would be furious, answered at once, “Saving lives can no more be delayed than putting out a fire. The pill spasm has already stopped; all that’s left is to take my medicine on time. I’m alright now. You, on the other hand, are heading into a disease area. You must be careful not to become infected.”

Jiang Da felt his chest warm, “Thank you for your concern, Zixi! If everything goes well, the methods you taught me will surely save countless lives!” 

“I can only hope so!” He’d already told him everything he knew about disease prevention. Now it was time to see whether it’d make an impact in this era. Liang Feng thought for a moment, then picked up a letter from the table, “These are a few chapters of the ‘Diamond Sutra’ I recently transcribed. Bring them with you and deliver them to Controller Wang. With these, he’ll surely assist your efforts. Ah-Liang, find a good horse for Doctor Jiang to use.”

Now, even Jiang Da’s eyes were warm. He carefully received the letter and tucked it safely into his robes. He bowed deeply, “You’re an honorable man, Zixi! I won’t disappoint you!”

Then, he turned and left.

Lüzhu’s face was slightly green, “Master, why are you sending Doctor Jiang off? What do we do if the plague spreads to the estate and we don’t have a doctor?” 

“The disease area is in Jinyang; it’s far off yet. Only if the sickness is allowed to run rampant there, will the surrounding areas be impacted. Doctor Jiang is doing a good deed, and saving us in the process as well.”

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Lüzhu bit her lip, “Then, I’ll go burn some more mugwort. I’ll light incense every day to pray for Bodhisattva’s protection!”

Liang Feng smiled but didn’t reply. Hopefully, the spread of the plague could be prevented. If they could become a successful precedent, then the court could establish and implement standardized measures for disease control. That was what would be of most benefit to the common people. 

※

The Liang Estate truly had given him a fine steed. Traveling day and night without stop, Jiang Da arrived at Jinyang in only four days. The once-bustling streets were now empty and silent. All the pedestrians were bundled head to toe in thick cloth; they were all rushing to their destination, trying to avoid lingering outside. Jiang Da didn’t loiter either. He quickly spurred his steed towards the western city, where his grandfather was temporarily residing.

Wang Wen had specially provided a clinic for the Jiang family there. The moment he entered, the scent of mugwort surged up his nostrils. Jiang Da scrunched his nose and ignored the odor, making his way to the main courtyard. Along the way, he saw several men, dressed in long robes, their faces covered with brown cloth, carrying wooden buckets that smelled uniquely of limewater as they headed outside. It looked like they were laborers off to scatter limewater on the streets. The ball of worry in Jiang Da’s chest loosened slightly. His grandfather really had taken his letters to heart and prioritized sanitation.

He wound his way through several corridors before a spacious courtyard came into view. There were large quantities of medicinal ingredients piled in the corner and several healers busily sorting them out. The pungent stench of medicinal soup overwhelmed even the scent of mugwort and limewater, but still Jiang Da paid it no mind. He already caught sight of the person standing in the middle of the courtyard, rapidly firing off orders to the laborers. 

With one glance, Jiang Da’s eyes were already watering with tears. After just half a month, his grandfather’s back was now stooped and crooked; his face no longer shone with vigor, but the yellow sheen of waxy wrinkles. He looked harried and overworked. Jiang Da ran over to him and supported him by the arm. He said chokingly, “Grandfather, I’ve come late.”

“You’re not late at all!” Physician Jiang beamed, “Right now I’m sending groups of people out to scatter limewater. They’re all wearing hemp aprons and masks, and up till now, none of them have caught cold damage! Liang Zixi’s methods are indeed effective!”

Jiang Da immediately wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve and said seriously, “I think scattering limewater alone isn’t enough. You have to quarantine the sick in order to effectively control the spread of plague.”

“What do you mean by quarantine?” Physician Jiang asked curiously. 

“Send people to monitor the neighborhoods where people have contracted the disease; order everyone to stay inside and avoid leaving their homes. Set up another medical facility to house all the sick and let them be tended to by doctors. Those who are cured can be released, and the corpses of those who succumbed must be disposed of with all haste.”

“Doesn’t this go against filial piety?” Physician Jiang frowned.

“There’s a distinction between piety for the living and piety for the dead – if we don’t take any preventative measures, one person’s disease will become one family’s disease, one neighborhood’s disease, one city’s disease. By then, it’ll be out of control!”

Physician Jiang knew cold damage well, of course he understood how frighteningly quickly it could spread. He mulled it over for a moment and finally made his decision, “I’ll go see Controller Wang this instant and see if he can designate some space to house the sick. Da-er, come with me as well…” 

Jiang Da instantly nodded and dug a letter out from his robes, “This is the scripture that Liang Zixi entrusted me to deliver to Controller Wang. He said that with this, Controller Wang would help us with disease prevention.”

“More scripture?” Physician Jiang couldn’t help feeling enthused. Before, he’d mentioned the dream sent by Buddha to instigate Wang Wen. Who’d have thought that Liang Feng would lend such a timely hand? Without the desire to save the people, who would go through all this trouble?

“This is excellent! Ah-Cheng, hurry and lead my horse over!”

※ 

“What? Gather all the sick and separate them from their families?” Wang Wen instantly shook his head at Physician Jiang’s proposal, “Inappropriate, infeasible, you’re practically cutting them off from their flesh and blood. You can’t just deprive the sick of people to look after them.”

The court did have a similar law. If three members of an official’s family fell sick, then even if the official himself was fine, he was forbidden to enter the palace for a hundred days. But even that law was generally decried, let alone one that would separate ill patients from their families. It was utterly inhumane!

Physician Jiang answered, “There will be specially appointed people looking after them all. These people will be familiar with disease prevention measures and less likely to catch the plague from the patients. That will also keep the disease from spreading further.”

“But without any relatives by their side, it still goes against familial piety. The Duke of Dongying will not agree!” Wang Wen had written to Sima Teng not long ago, informing him about the matter of disease prevention. 

Because the Duke of Dongying, Sima Teng, was rather close with the Wang family and Bing Province was under his governance, he didn’t oppose the disease prevention measures. Plus, many of the aristocrats in Jinyang had made visits to Wang Wen, inquiring after these measures. To repay the favor, many of them had donated medicinal ingredients and people for the disease prevention efforts. That was how Physician Jiang’s clinic had been built so quickly.

But prevention was one matter, and quarantine was another. Familial piety was considered the most important moral. If they separated people from their families and prevented their relatives from tending to them, they’d be castigated to no end and ruin their reputations. That wasn’t something Wang Wen could tolerate.

Jiang Da looked at his grandfather for a moment, then respectfully presented Liang Feng’s letter, “Controller Wang, this is a new section of scripture from Liang Zixi. Before I left the estate, he earnestly entreated me to bring this to you. Quarantine itself is a measure that Zixi first enlightened me to. He once said that ‘saving lives can no more be delayed than putting out fires.’ If one doesn’t dismantle the house to prevent the flames from engulfing it whole, won’t it all turn to white ash? Please consider it again, Controller Wang!”

His words gave Wang Wen pause. Of course he knew that when a building caught fire, the nearby structures had to be demolished in order to stop it from spreading. But he’d never thought that disease control would be the same! He hesitated once he saw the graceful, elegant characters splayed across the paper. If it really was as Liang Feng said, should he speak up or shut up? 

As Wang Wen was wavering, Jiang Da hurriedly gave him a push, “Actually, we can recruit the patient’s family members as caretakers too. If any of their children or grandchildren are willing to take care of them, they can enter the quarantine zone as well, and at the same time, help with other patients. Wouldn’t they then fulfill their filial duties and accumulate virtue as well?”

“That is a good idea.” Wang Wen’s expression gradually smoothened out, “But where do you plan to put all the quarantined patients?”

“Clear out a neighborhood, or perhaps find a mansion?” Physician Jiang answered, “As long as we’re diligent with sanitization, there won’t be any blight left over. But it must be spacious.”

Wang Wen dithered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Perhaps I could borrow the meditation rooms of the Huai’en Temple in the western quarter.” 

Huai’en Temple was one of the largest monasteries in Jinyang City. Because there were many barbarians, Buddhism was surging in popularity, and the temples had grown into sprawling complexes. Wang Wen himself often donated to the monasteries. If they could use the meditation rooms as medical facilities, there would surely be many more people willing to go.

Jiang Da’s eyes brightened, “Then that’s even better! Blight was taught to us by Buddha in the first place, wouldn’t it just align with heaven’s will if we could use the monastery? And when monks die, I believe their remains are all cremated. If any of the sick die, and cremated their corpses in the name of Buddhism, then controlling the plague will become much simpler!”

“If so, then excellent.” Upon finding that every aspect of this matter silently adhered to Buddhist belief, Wang Wen was no longer ambivalent. He slapped the table with finality, “The two of you must quickly draft a procedure to present to the Duke of Dongying. If a great plague truly is prevented, then we won’t have wasted this knowledge granted by Buddha.”

Jiang Da and his grandfather glanced at each other and sighed in relief. They themselves didn’t really believe in Buddhism, but they didn’t object to using it to save the people. They only hoped that they could preserve a few more lives… 

※

The smoke of sandalwood incense wafted through the open meditation room. A kindly and gentle-seeming monk was looking down at the scroll of scripture laying before him. Though it was incomplete, each word was exquisite as a pearl. In his early years, he’d even heard a monk from the west preach a similar scripture, though it was in Sanskrit and not the Han language.

It was simply inconceivable that such a sutra had been written by the hand of a young noble who’d never left the Central Plains. After a moment of silence, he asked, “You say that Benefactor Liang once dreamed of a whirling garden where the ground was half yellow and half gold?”

Wang Wen asked somewhat astonishedly, “Is there truly such a garden?” 

“It is probably the Jetavana-vihara. It originally belonged to the prince of the Kingdom of Kosala. Later, Anthapindika wished to buy it from him so that he might offer it to the Buddha. The prince said that he would sell the garden to him if he could cover all the ground with gold. Thus, Anathapindika scattered all his wealth on gold to pave the ground with. In the end, the prince was moved by his actions, and the two of them presented the garden to the Buddha together. Hence the name, Jetavana-vihara.”

The old monk lightly brushed a finger across a line of delicately written characters in the first scroll of the scripture. It wasn’t a story that’d been written down anywhere, yet someone had been able to flawlessly reconstruct the scene. Even he couldn’t outright deny that the Buddha had communicated with him through a dream.

A moment later, he said, “I wonder if perhaps the blight that Benefactor Liang speaks of really can be guarded against?”

“According to Physician Jiang, none of the laborers who went to scatter limewater fell ill. I already reported this to the Duke of Dongying, who has expressed his utmost support and willingness to fund this endeavor. And if we really do manage to contain the plague, he has promised great rewards! But it’s simply too difficult to find a location to quarantine the sick in…” Wang Wen gritted his teeth, “If you’re willing to let us borrow the meditation rooms, I’ll donate three hundred thousand coins to plate the Buddha’s statue with gold!” 

Yet the old monk shook his head, “Since this is Buddha’s intention, I will of course give whatever aid I can.”

Wang Wen delightedly clasped his hands together, “Thank you for your generosity, abbot! Physician Jiang will bring people to the temple tomorrow to clean the rooms and make preparations. Your benevolence will surely save thousands!”

The old monk nodded, “This is my merit and the temple’s honor. Many thanks for your mercy, Benefactor Wang.”

Thanking mercy with mercy, their short exchange was deep with religious meaning. Was there any doubt left for Wang Wen? He gladly saluted the monk once more before reluctantly taking his leave from Huai’en Temple. 

After the departure of their guest, the monk who’d been sitting silently behind the old monk the entire time frowned, “Master, if the rooms in the abbot are used as sickrooms, what shall we do if the monks here become infected?”

“If you fear death, why bother devoting yourself to spiritual pursuits?” The monk said blandly, “Since this came about at Buddha’s will, we may as well abide by it. If the plague really is prevented, our faith is sure to attract more believers than ever before. This is our true fortune!”

The disciple suddenly realized. Even though Buddhism was popular in Bing Province, most of their believers were barbarians. For the most part, the powerful and the noble revered Daoism. If they could spread Buddhism for the sake of preventing disease, they would certainly gain more followers. Perhaps even the Duke of Dongying would convert to Buddhism. How could they miss such an excellent opportunity?!

He clasped his hands excitedly, “I will cooperate to the fullest, and spread the word of Buddha.” 

“Mmm, go then.” The monk lowered his gaze to the scripture once more.

The author has something to say:

In regards to quarantine, there are records going back as far as the Eastern Han dynasty, although it was more like forced imprisonment. There were also rules in the Jin Dynasty forbidding people with sick relatives from attending court. By the Northern Wei, there were specially designated hospitals. People with leprosy were shut away in “sick rooms” in every dynasty. They took disease really seriously in ancient times, it’s just that their quarantine measures weren’t thorough enough.

As for cremation, disciples of Buddhism have to be cremated. Only through cremation can they obtain the so-called sarira. After Buddhism entered China in the Han Dynasty, the common people gradually started cremating their dead too. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it became more and more commonplace. But afterward, when the “cult of rationality” arose to prominence, cremation was banned by the government. So, it should be possible to get people to accept cremation using Buddhism in the Jin Dynasty. 

The Duke of Dongying is Sima Teng, who is also the provincial governor of Bing Province and the Ningbei General. *cough cough* during these times, nobles and officials have a lot of titles, try not to get confused everyone~